22 Feb Delaney Diaries: 11 month check in!
Happy 11 months!! I cannot believe that when I am writing to you next time, I will be writing to my one year old – fighting back tears. I am in disbelief – how is my baby is almost one? And how am I almost 30? When the heck did this whole life thing happen? We have a pretty big month coming up, little girl! Two big milestones for us both.
I think I realized for the first time this month that you really aren’t my little baby anymore. You have morphed into this curious, super happy, very active little girl – and I know that we have so much fun in store for us.
I can’t even look in your direction with smiling the biggest of smiles. Who knew an 11 month old with a very limited vocabulary could actually make me laugh out loud. Your smile is contagious. Showing off those little Chiclet teeth (4 on top, 2 on the bottom) – the cheese is so big it seems like it almost hurts. Your laugh is infectious. You have a little ticklish spot right under your armpit and you start cracking up before we even touch you. It’s like music to my ears and I think I would do whatever I could, all day long, just to hear that little giggle.
You love to babble, squeal, grunt, and mimic us! This month you have even added a few new “words” to your vocabulary. Mama, Dada, ball, baby, Papa/Poppop, please (sometimes) and you say hi to everyone! You pull down my shirt when you want milk, suck your thumb when you’re tired, clap your hands, sign “more”, give BIG HUGS (lay your head on our shoulder and squeeze), and put your hands over your ears and say “oh my goodness!” and lift your arms when you want to be picked up.
One of my favorite things about you is how engaging and charismatic you are. There’s something about your expressive eyes and big grin that draws people in. You are so interested in everyone – you will try to crane your neck to see what people around are doing and work to get their attention.
You definitely are a people person. You’re pretty good at playing on your own, but you like others to be around you and not left alone. Typically if you discover that we have left the room for a second, you come scooting after us to figure out where we ran off to. You love to snuggle, climb over us and “wrestle”. This may be the reason that you actually attack your cousins and little friends. Still working on the whole concept of being “gentle” over here.
Feeding
All things considered – we’re doing very well! The boob biting has definitely been more of a regular occurrence and you still find a way to make my face bleed with your sharp nails every now and then, but we’re still BFing strong! You are down to 4 feeds a day now and I can sense that we may be dropping another one here soon.
You always get in a big feed in the morning upon waking up – typically around 7am. Between 8 & 8:30 we sit down for breakfast (usually eggs, pancakes, some fruit, maybe a veggie!).
After your nap you feed again around 12:30 and then we do lunch around 1:30 (usually leftovers like chicken, veggies, beans, etc.).
I feel as though that afternoon feed around 4:30 after your second nap is more out of comfort and a lot of times if you’re distracted or if we are out – you’d have no issue skipping it or maybe replacing it with real food.
Finally after dinner at 6 – 6:30 (some sort of protein and veggies), you take your last milk feed right before bed around 7:30pm. Some nights it’s me and some nights it is Daddy (if I am at work). I am glad that we have been switching up your nightly routine between Dad and I, so that you have gotten used to both!
I feel so fortunate that breastfeeding has gone so well for us so far. It has definitely become more like acrobatics over the last few months, for you squirm all around, kick your legs, flail your arms, easily distracted by others in the room and will even sit up to feed. I still cherish those moments with you so much and I have felt myself over the past month really pausing to savor that quiet time with you – especially in the morning and at night. We lock eyes and I know there is absolutely no where else I’d rather be. There are times when you’ll pull away and give me the biggest grin, let out a few baby coos and get back to work. My heart just might burst one of these times.
I often get asked how long I plan to breastfeed and I really have no set limit. My original goal was always a year, but I never put any pressure on us. My idea is that I will let you call the shots. When you are ready to drop another feed, we will drop it. When you are ready to transition completely, we will do so. I always said that if at any point it just wasn’t working for either of us, then that is when we would call it quits. Right now, things are great, so we will keep on trucking!
As for real food, I joke that you are following a strict paleo diet. You love your PROTEIN, girl. No matter what is on that plate, you will pick through everything else to get every ounce of meat (chicken, beef, pork), fish (looove salmon) or egg. (especially soft boiled). You also love beans, peas, blueberries, mushrooms, sauerkraut, beats, sautéed spinach, cabbage, bananas with peanut butter, oranges, strawberries, usually avocados (sometime you’re picky), sometimes sweet potatoes. You’ve been quite picky with the rest of your vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots etc. I’m not stressing about it too much, but instead just keep trying different ways to prepare it and continuing to offer you plenty of opportunities to eat and try new things!
Still eating with our hands, working on asking for “more – please” and not screaming (MOM! The Meatloaf!), as well as teaching you that when you start to throw your food on the ground – it goes away. We’ve been taking that as a sign that you are “done”, but explaining to you that we sit until everyone else is done too.
We’ve also been working on sippy cups. I finally found one that you like! It’s called the BBox and it uses a weighted straw and you seem to love it! The others you just couldn’t seem to “figure out” and the ThinkBaby stainless steel was just a little too heavy at this point.
Sleep
All good here! I know that our next baby is going to hand it to me, but right now – you like your sleep & we’re rollin’ with it. Knock on wood. A typical day looks a little something like this…
7am – Wake up & feed
7:15 am – Play
8:00 am – Eat breakfast
8:30 am – Play, errands, go to work with me!
9:30-10am – Nap
12 – 12:30pm – Wake and feed
12:30pm – Play, errands
1:30pm – Lunch
2:30pm – Nap
4:30 – 5pm – Wake and feed
6:30pm –Dinner
7:30pm – Feed & Bed
You seriously make it so easy. You go go go and then all of a sudden, like clockwork, you stick your thumb in your mouth, put your head in our lap and you’re ready for bed. You’re still using a sleep sac, the sleep sheep noise machine and at night we will put on the humidifier. In the evenings we’ve tried to stick to a routine where we read a book, feed and then recite the quote that is hanging on the wall in your nursery. You’ll become so accustomed to it that even when we aren’t at home, you put your head on our chest, wait for us to finish and then sit up and smile. My heart. Then it’s onto your belly and usually you’re out.
We’ve had some minor hiccups when traveling, and have found that you are partial to your pack ‘n play, but other than taking a few extra moments to fall asleep, you’re doing just fine. I am interested to see how you do at the beach this summer!
Lastly, you had your first stomach bug this month. We were in Virginia and caught a little something making for a fun clean up of the carseat (hey, it was about time we washed that thing). The bug lasted for a few days – vomiting and some poop issues, and although you never acted sick, it broke my heart see you throw up 🙁 .
How am I doing?
Physically, great! My abdominal split has started to heal, largely in part to giving myself TIME to heal and also due to my gut health seeming to improve. I cut out gluten about 2 months ago and it has made a WORLD of difference. My digestion has improved (less constipation – sorry, less bloat, less pain), which decreased stress on my belly split and allowed for things to “knit back together”, and since my body was finally functioning more efficiently, it was if all this pent energy was released! Because of this physical stuff starting to work itself out, my mood has changed 110% percent. I think I was just defeated about how things were going in that respect and it was taking a lot out of me.
As for my career, I thought that maybe at this point we’d have a more secure childcare routine, but I am just not ready. Your dad and I juggle schedules, I have found ways to work around our time together, include you in my work day and somehow make it flow! I have the most wonderful clients who allow me to bring you along to training sessions and I am able to get a lot of work and client calls done while you’re napping. We’re taking it one day at a time and utilizing help from family when we’re in a bind! I feel so fortunate to have a career that makes being home with you or having you with me possible! I am sure that things will start to develop differently here in the next few months, so for now I am just enjoying our time together and even though it’s hectic, I wouldn’t trade this time for the world!
I can’t believe that just a year ago we were preparing your room, celebrating showers, wondering what you were going to look like, be like, how our life was going to be different with you in it and just hoping for a happy healthy baby. Now, I can’t imagine a second without you. When you are sleeping, we want to wake you. When we have taken a night or even an afternoon away from you, we talk about you the whole time. You are our world, Delaney Wilson, and I can’t thank you enough for making it complete!
Likes:
Meat! Protein! Fats!
Rolling around on the floor – tackling, climbing over us, etc
Being tickled
Engaging with anyone and everyone
Kids and babies your size
Walks and just generally being outside!
Dislikes:
When we leave the room
If I hand you off to someone else, or if you see me after you wake up
Being overtired
Getting your face and hands wiped
11 month favorites:
Play:
Books! Especially Names and Faces book from Pin Hole Press that Aunt Sarah & Uncle Rick got you
Bath Tub stacking cups
Banana toothbrush
Anything that she can climb on or stand up at!
Pots and Pans – going through the cabinets
Chewing on wooden puzzles
KidKraft Kitchen – obviously a bit too young, but loves standing at it, opening and closing doors, and answering the phone
Abbey Caddabby doll – Bri was so excited to get this for her. We will ask her where Abbey is and she goes and gets her!
Hazel Village Bunny – “FeFe” – I had my eye on these little guys for a long time. I just love how simple and cute they are. We bought this for her in NYC back in December. She knows her names FeFe and loves to nibble on her ears!
Sleep/Travel:
Not too much new here. Still working with the essentials:
Cloud B Sleep Sheep
Halo Sleep Sac
Viks Humdifier with night light
DoTerra Lavender roller ball, especially when traveling
Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
Bob Revolution Stroller – finally whipping this baby out & it rides sooo nice!
Eat/Drink:
B.Box Essential Sippy Cup
Avanchy Suction plate and spoon
Bumpkins Waterproof Splat Mat
IKEA Antilop High chair