12 months- one year!

I'm not sure how it happened but a year just whizzed on by!  Somehow my newborn is now a babbling pre-toddler.  He is trying so hard to walk and stand independently.  He is developing a super great personality.  He has his opinions and he lets them known.  He is beginning to challenge me as a "single mom" in the evenings but I love it all!  He is quite possibly the best thing to happen to me.  I really wish that I could have stayed home with him this past year and really gotten to savour all those baby moments.  But, I'm thankful he has been in good care during the days while I am away.

Food:  He eats about every soft food that I give him.  I'm too chicken to just hand him crunchy veggies so he drinks his veggies in pouches that I make.  He just started on cow's milk and he is doing great.  We mix it with breastmilk and warm it and he drinks it just fine!

Sleep:  Finally, we have a baby who sleeps through the night.  Once in a while he'll need to nurse in the night but overall I have been getting 7-8 consecutive hours of sleep when I go to bed at a decent time!  It feels amazing!

New things: Steps- he has been taking them a short distance. I extend my arms as far as I can and he walks to me.  He gets so proud of himself and has his own sound he makes when he gets to me.  It is similar to my high-pitched "Yay!" when he gets to my arms.  Then he hugs me tight.  Best feeling ever!

He continues to love dogs, balls and clanking items together.  He is my little engineer because he is always turning things over trying to figure out how everything works.  He loves trucks, my dad and his funny noises.  He loves to watch Paw Patrol snuggled on my chest with  a bottle.  He has a short attention span for books but the board books with puzzle keep his attention.  He just loves to hear mommy's voice.  He is still a morning person but generally is happy all day.  His best time is definitely morning though.  He is growing so much and generally just loves life.  I am so proud to call him my son!

Ordinary Night

Just in case you wondered what an ordinary night with my 11 month old looks like...

10 Months...

I'm pretty disappointed with myself that I am just now writing this and Caleb is 11.5 months old.  I will do my best to make this post accurate though.

Eating:  Caleb is more interested than ever in table food. He watches mom and dad eat food and starts "chewing" like it is so cool that we do that.  I give him tiny bites of my hamburger, eggs, etc and he likes everything I give him.  He only has two teeth and gags pretty easily so I try to keep it to soft food that dissolve easily.  He isn't too picky about food.  He still nurses or gets a bottle every 3-5 hours and has only had breast milk in his life.  We are introducing the sippy cups and he doesn't fully get it just yet.  I still have to tip it back for him and he gags on the diluted juice.  He isn't used to how fast the liquids come out.

Sleep: This boy likes to get up 1-2 times a night again.  We were seeming to only get up once for a while but that didn't last. He has consistently taken two great naps each day.  Usually one hour in the morning and 1.5-3 hour naps in the afternoon.

New and interesting things: We are standing up all the time and love to grab on to pointer fingers and toddle around the house.  He is an active guy and I love just seeing his little mind think as he learns new things.  He still loves books but wants to turn the pages faster than I can read.  He likes wood puzzles.  He started really getting into balls and throwing them around.  He is pretty happy as long as momma is nearby.  Caleb learned to wave to people so now when he sees anybody he instantly waves- so cute!  I think he started signing for food at ten months but his daycare provider and I didn't realize what it was until he turned eleven months.  It is more like a sign for "a" waving in circles but it is clearly what he wants.

11 months old

Oh, this guy!

I love him!  Words can't describe how blessed I am to see his smile each and every day!  He has truly enriched my life in a way that only other mothers could understand.  I can't believe he is nearly one year.  

Food: He eats just about everything we do now that is soft. His favorites are: pasta, pizza, cheese, blueberries, veggie straws and anything in a pouch.  We love the Plum Organic's smoothies!  He can put down a lot of food already!  He is learning to drink diluted apple juice from a sippy cup and is getting better at it but mostly just sips it to his tongue and then spits it back out!

Sleep: He has finally started sleeping longer stretches at night.  I have been dipping into my freezer stash of frozen breastmilk and been giving him a few extra ounces on some nights and he sleeps from 10-5 now.  I feed him at 5 and he sleeps til 8 or so for his daddy! Also, I should add that he sleeps in the funniest positions!

Interests and new things: He loves dogs still.  He discovered Paw Patrol and we watch it nearly everyday to wind down before bed.  (Mommy needs the snuggles and downtime.)  He continues to love bath time but there was a short phase where he hated getting his head rinsed.  Mommy quickly learned to give him another cup to hold  and he is perfectly content again.  He is pulling himself up along furniture and getting where he wants to go.  He is starting to mimic sounds- "meow, woof".  He loves to play with other children.  He loves to share toys!  He love to grab people's noses because when he grabs Grandpa's nose, he always says "BEEEP!!"  He still is so easy-going and always happy.  He does let his opinion known though if you are doing something he doesn't like he makes these faces or squeals at you. He also learned to make this new furrow face and duck face and cracks me up with them.  He loves music but especially piano I think.  He learned to drink from straws, unload "help" with the dishwasher, and he wants to hold his own spoon.  He does surprisingly well with it but it can be frustrating for both of us for time-sake so I have been making more food mixes in pouches again.  But generally, he will eat what I'm eating when we eat out and then I will give him a pouch pumped full of veggies and nutrition!  He has become opinionated about going to bed- he doesn't like to go now so usually he cries for about five minutes and then just zonks out.