Gracefully Falling Down: Elliott: Eleven Months Old

Eleven months! This year is going by so quickly, but we're having a blast the whole way through. I'm loving each new stage even more than the last. It constantly amazes me how much Elliott understands what we say, and how he interacts with us. It may be a little early to claim a love language for him, but he definitely seems to lean heavily towards words of affirmation. This kid will do anything for praise and applause, and it's not hard to teach him new "tricks" as long as we praise him each time he accomplishes it. Something I have realized just in the past few days is that he definitely understands what I mean when I say "let's check your diaper" If he's dirty and has been fussing he immediately perks up and says "puh puh" Not sure how that translates to diaper, but he seems to think it does! I'm also appreciating that when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning more often than not he no longer cries, but just whines and says "mama" Soo much nicer than screaming! He's SO talkative these days, and seems to really be trying to say something with all his babbling. It's so hilarious when he declares something emphatically and looks at you as though he expects you to respond or do something that he's told you to do!

Eating: It seems our boy has a pretty active gag reflex, and therefor is still eating mostly purees and cereal. He'll self feed himself a few different things, but just when I feel confident he's doing better (aka get cocky) he'll stick something in his mouth and throw up. Oh boy... Up until just a couple days ago I have been giving him only the cereal that you mix with breastmilk for a couple of reasons. First of all it seemed there were less ingredients in that one, but then also my Naturopath suspected he may be sensitive to dairy (which is in the "add water" cereals) Lastly, I tried feeding it to him and he refused the first couple of times. So there I was - pumping more than I did in the early days. Like... way more. To make as much cereal as he's been eating I was needing to pump twice a day to get the 10+ ounces I needed, and since he's been eating solids my supply has gone way down. Not ideal. If there's one thing I've learned in the past 11 months it's to try things multiple times before giving up, and thankfully he has recently started eating the "add water" cereals and so far is not visibly reacting to the dairy. Hallelujah! I was beginning to feel like a dairy cow! Another win is that we found a sippy cup he seems to like and he's actually drinking water now.

Sleeping (Night Time): I think, I think we have finally made progress in this category. Chris and I took two weeks to try to "night wean" him for most, if not all his nursing in the middle of the night. The hope was that he would learn that he doesn't need to be soothed by nursing every.single.time he wakes up. 4-7 times a night is just too much for this mama!! He is now only waking 2-3 times a night and I only nurse him once- the other 1-2 times if I can get away with it I will leave him in his crib and pat him on the back. Often he needs to be picked up and rocked back to sleep. No complaints here - 2 or 3 times is a cake walk in comparison to what it used to be!

Sleeping (Nap Time): (Copy & Pasted from last month because nothing has changed!) Naps are going well still. He naps twice a day and usually goes down quite easily no matter what we're doing or where we are. On Wednesday mornings (when I go to my Mom's group) and Sunday mornings when we go to church he will fall asleep easily for the nursery workers and sleep in a crib they have there. It doesn't seem to throw him off either day- he'll often have a longer afternoon nap, but otherwise it's business as usual! I'm very thankful for how easily he naps. I think it will make life a lot easier when I open my day home and have five kids to get to sleep, not just one!

Play: This kid is just so much fun!! He loves to go exploring and gets into everything. We've put up a couple baby gates to prevent him from getting to his favourite spot - the bookcase in the hallway. Oh, how much fun he has pulling books off of shelves!! His favourite toys are still his stand up activity centre, his wooden peg and hammer and wooden stacking rings. Just recently he figured out how to put the rings back on. So smart! He loves to "read" his board books, and especially loves when Daddy reads him his favourite book - Blue Hat, Green Hat. He giggles every time Chris says "Oops!" It's hilarious to watch! His favourite games to play are peek-a-boo (which he will play when he has any type of blanket/scarf/pair of pants... sock- anything really!) and catch. He loves when you excitedly throw anything in his lap and if you get excited when he throws it back.

Movin' Around: He's been walking around the furniture so well, and now will stand up with only a wall and walk along there as well! He will get as far away from the wall/couch as he can and only hold on with the tips of his fingers, but then sits down before attempting to walk further. I can only imagine we aren't that far away from him attempting some real steps.

Highlights/Lowlights: New tooth! Popped through right as he turned 11 months old - on the bottom to the left of his two existing teeth.

The time I brought him into bed to wake up Chris and he stood beside him and shook his shoulders as if to say "wake up Daddy!!" When that didn't work he hit his shoulder saying "da da da"

He learned to raise his arms high up in the air when you ask him "How big are you?" He'll even do it if he hears you say the word "big" in passing! He also says "ba ba" when he does it.

Will give kisses on cue! Watch out though- "kisses" usually means he will maul your face while holding on tightly to both cheeks.

If I ask him "Where is Mommy's mouth?" he will point to my mouth. If I ask him "where is Mommy's nose?" there is a 50/50 chance he'll point to my mouth... sometimes he gets my nose too ;)

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