Blake - 11 Months!

Blake, it's been 11 months since you were born and they've been the craziest, most fun-filled months of my life! I feel like you've had such a huge learning curve the last couple of months and you're picking new things up everyday. Let's reflect on the last month, shall we?

First of all, taking your monthly picture has become a game. This was the best we could do:

Want some outtakes? Ok here you go:

Hahaha, nice try mom.

Memories from the first half of Month 11:

-You learned how to wave and it's the cutest, most claw-like, wave you've ever seen! You love waving bye-bye and will usually wave on command. You also wave at completely random times, like when you want more food. I think it may be time to introduce some ASL signs. :)

-You love crawling everywhere, especially over obstacles like the base of your exersaucer, which is only still setup because you love crawling underneath it. Such a boy!

-You are wearing 12 month clothes usually. Some of your 12 month pants are way too big in the waist but most are beginning to fit. Oshkosh and Gymboree stuff is getting tight (in length) in 12 months so we'll see when we shift to 18 months in those brands. I have a feeling you will be wearing two different sizes for a while depending on brand and whether it's a snap shirt or pants. Makes it hard to pack up whole sizes neatly into bins. :P

-Discipline has been the name of the game the last month. You are learning what "no" means and obedient maybe half of the time. 

-You went to your first Superbowl party! You were a little under the weather with a cold, but you had fun. We left before halftime to put you to bed. Funny how mommy and daddy's Superbowl parties have changed the last several years as friends started having kids. It's kid central and all about bedtimes now! Haha!

-You got your third ear infection. Boo...

-Still no teeth and no signs of any coming soon. The dentist said that is actually a good thing. Who knew?

-You still take two naps a day and both are usually about 2 hours long. Sometimes they are 1 hour long when you're not as tired.

-You moved up to the convertible car seat! Mommy's arm was just about to fall off every time we had to carry you in your infant seat! I think you like them because you cried when grandma had to put you in the infant seat (before her new one came). It's much more roomy for you. We got the Britax Boulevard Clicktight for my car and the Graco 4Ever for daddy's car. So far, we love them.

-You are eating more and more table food. There is nothing you won't try. We still feed you or let you use your fingers. You do not know how to use silverware yourself yet. We've tried a couple times but it was a mess to say the least. 

-You still do not like the sippy cup. I bought a different one with a soft spout like a bottle, but shaped like a sippy cup spout. You are starting to get it we think.

Memories from the second half of Month 11:
-You went through what mommy prayed was a phase (and a short one) where you did NOT want mommy. Daddy, grandma, and Miss Esther were all great, but mommy was not. Luckily this only lasted a couple of days....but it felt like an eternity! Mommy is back in your good grace.
-You have officially weaned yourself of nighttime nursing. We are now down to ONE nursing session a day (the early morning)!!! I do not think you will have any problems weaning of that feed around 1 year either.
*It's a bit bittersweet coming to the end of our nursing journey. I know I will love having my body "back" but I also will miss our snuggles. I have so many sweet memories of nursing you....from feeling like a milk cow in the beginning, to finding sneaky places to nurse you in public, to just not caring who saw us (don't worry, daddy kept me modest), to that beloved eye contact. I will cherish these memories forever.
-You learned how to do "patty cake" (clap) and along with the waving it's the cutest thing ever.
-Grandpa jokes that you like pain because you'll get your fingers stuck in a drawer, whine about it, but then do it again as soon as you get your fingers free!
-You are a true boy. I don't have a little girl to compare you to, but, you love climbing over obstacles, getting into things you know you shouldn't, talking like a monster, "rough housing" with daddy, chewing on Zoey's bones when mommy's not looking, and more!
-We had to do a little shopping because you needed some new clothes! In the last couple of weeks I've discovered that most of your clothes are getting too short. So, it was time to move up to 12-18 month sizes. I had a bunch of coupons and rewards to BabyGap so we stocked up there. BabyGap for the win!
-You BEG for mommy and daddy's food, whether you're hungry or not. It's just way more fun to have what's on our plates. :)
-You still don't say any real words. Mamama and Dadada are sounds you will make but without any real meaning behind them. I do think you are trying to say "hi" and "doggy" though, it's just not clear yet.
-We are transitioning you to size 4(!) diapers. You were peeing through size 3's frequently enough for us to make that decision. You will still wear size 3's during the day until the box is empty but are definitely in size 4's for naps and bedtime.
-You're starting swim lessons! We are super excited about this!!! Since we are around water all the time in the summer we figured we better start young.
-Your first haircut is on the calendar for next month. You have pretty long bangs and long hair in the back as well. A trim is in order!

-You clearly recognize people in pictures now.

-You are beginning to pull up on things. You've been pulling up for a while on your knees; now you're getting brave enough to pull up on your feet.

(The picture above is the first time I ever saw you pull up on your feet! Friday, Feb. 19)

And as always, some pictures from the last month:

Somebody got into mom's coloring stuff...

Checking out my new Sperry's from grandma.

Fun in the bathtub!

"Hiding" in the corner reading

Trying out some summer stuff with grandpa, so cute!

You missed morning nap at mommy's freezer meal party so this happened. :)

I cannot get over these faux wood sunglasses. You got over them pretty quickly. Ah well, we have a little while until summer ;).

Winter baby burrito 

My crazy boys!

 We LOVE you so much Blake! One more month till you have been with us a whole year! Wow!

Blake - 10 Months!

Whoa! We've made it to double-digits. I think it would be safe to say mommy and daddy are now seasoned parents...ha ha ha ;).

Here's what our attempt at your monthly photo has turned into:

And mommy thought it was hard when you were a newborn, HAH!

It's a new year and we've officially left behind the year of your birth. Mommy was a little sad about that to be honest. But, we love you more and more each day and LOVE watching your little personality begin to peek through. It seems like the newborn days are so long gone (that mommy already has baby fever). Ha ha! Truth be told, you don't need a sibling yet, but, I sure do miss those newborn snuggles, even if I was a complete walking zombie.

Anyways, on to our look back at the last month!

Memories from the first half of month 10:
-You started crawling on Jan. 1, 2016! Happy New Year! Here's to exploring! At first you were very slow but it only took a day (literally) for you to speed up. It took about a week for you to figure out how to crawl on the kitchen floor because it's slippery.

"Mom, it's hard to crawl on this floor...I think I'll just lie down for a bit." 

-As a direct result of becoming mobile, your new favorite pastime is "chasing" Zoey. Poor dog. Every time you get near her she moves (because you like to grab her fur) and then you follow her. She's not so sure about your new found ability. You also LOVE her bones. You make a beeline for them, ignoring all of your stuff....of course.
-You do not seem to like beef flavored baby food. Everything else is good.

-We started some Stage 3 baby foods but we are giving you more and more table food as well. The majority of your food is still Stage 2. You still do not use your fingers very well so we spoon feed you. I let you practice using your fingers with puffs, but you don't like those very well. They don't have much nutritional value so I'm not too worried.
-We give you a sippy cup with water every now and then. You don't like it. I think the flow is too fast for you. Your bottles still have the slow flow nipples. Of course I just returned all of the medium and fast flow nipples because we weren't using them and now I wish I wouldn't have. I think eventually you'll get used to the faster flow though. I'm going to give it some time.
-Mommy and Daddy took you in for your 9 month pictures. Technically you were 9.5 months, but, close enough. ;) You were such a good little boy and the photographer said you were one of the easiest kids he's photographed. Phew. You did get a "boo boo" during the shoot. You were on a chair that had the legs cut off and you started rocking your body (one of your favorite things) back and forth and before mommy could catch it, the chair fell backwards and you bonked your head. You got pretty upset and cried, so a few pictures had teary eyes, but you recovered quickly and we got great pictures. Here are our three favorites:

Memories from the second half of Month 10:
-You LOVE dinner time! You usually eat all of your food right before daddy gets home and then stay in your high chair while we eat. Daddy feeds you from his plate too and you can't get enough. Little piggy! Usually it's bedtime by the time we finish eating so I nurse you (more food!) and it's off to bed.
-On the weekends you love taking "big boy" baths in the tub. I have to support you so you don't keel over and bonk your head (not speaking from experience or anything) but you love it! We have lots of fun bath toys; Boon toys are our favorite. And, FYI, during the week, grandma baths you when you are with her. I wouldn't want anyone to think we only bathe you on the weekends!
-You are still in your infant car seat but I think the transition to  the convertible car seat will be soon. I don't know how much longer mommy's arms can carry you in it! We've already purchased two convertible car seats for each vehicle. I'm just trying to wait for the snow to go away....which I'm sure will be a long while. It's so much easier to get you buckled up inside and just snap the car seat into the car base. I'll sure miss that!

-You are already a pro crawler.

 And with it has come a mischievous streak. Which leads me to my next point...

-We have had to start disciplining you. I have literally no idea what I'm doing (there's some honest mom talk for you), but, you are trying to get into things you shouldn't. At our house it's the TV table drawers and dog stuff (bones, toys, dog dishes, and the baby gate separating you two) and at grandma's it the electrical outlets. Right now we are saying "No" and sometimes slapping your hand. Often you will pout and then smile and try again...little goober! Sometimes we just physically move you. We'll figure it out in time.

-You love, love, love daycare and your "friends" there. You literally cried when I picked you up to go home last week. Breakin' momma's heart just a little bit. ;) Actually I didn't take it too personally; I'm glad you have so much fun while I'm at work!

-You are loud! When you talk or cry it's loud! I've realized this more lately.

-Ironically, compared to my last statement, you are awesome in church. The last four or five Sunday's you've sat through church without a pacifier and been quiet and good! I just bring a whole library of books for you, specifically the ones with "feely" things and you're happy. 

-Our FAVORITE store, BabyGap, is closing it's doors in our mall. Mommy is devastated. Good thing I can still shop online. :)

-Mommy has been on the lookout for new shoes for you. You're going to need more practical walking shoes soon enough. I just can't believe how much they cost! They sure are cute though!

-You still don't have any teeth! The dentist said that's a good thing and that you're less likely to get cavities. I guess I'll go with him on that.

-Even though you don't have any teeth, you are getting more and more comfortable with table food. Sometimes we don't even feed you baby food you just have different things that we have in the kitchen.

-Your clothes sizes range anywhere from 6 to 9 months to 12 to 18 months, depending on the brand. You are long and lean so you grow out of most things in length first.

-You are pretty much over your exersaucer now. You loved it for a long time but get easily bored with it now. We've left it up to contain you in the morning while we are getting ready. If we put it away the changing table will be the only piece of baby gear left in the living room. 

As always, here are some pictures from the last month:

Chilling in my new Christmas present!

And going for rides!

"Give me all the toys!"

This is how we contain you now!

Taking silly pictures with mommy :)

Getting some reading done at B-dubs

"Helping" mommy sort clothes

And having fun with our socks!

You're a side sleeper (like mommy) but every so often you sleep with your butt in the air! Hahaha!

Playing in the newly discovered water dish...

Meeting your new best friend, Isaiah, for the first time!

Sleepy eyes

Crawling under the exersaucer is your favorite

Reading "Bubbles, Bubbles" with daddy!

"Racing" Zoey for the ball

Who says you can't go for walks when there's a foot of snow? :P

We're hardcore

It's been 10 months of happiness Blake! Can't wait to see how much you'll grow and learn in the next month!!!