Tomorrow you turn 11 months!
You are eating less and less "momma milk" and more and more table food. Some days I am scared that you are self weaning, and other days you make up for your minor breastfeeding strike. There were days that I looked forward to you feeding yourself all on your own, however, each time you refuse the boob I am terrified that our breastfeed days are numbered. I love holding you close and cherish our sweet moments together. But you call the shots and I prepared to support your independence.
Table food: You eat it all big guy. You love blueberries, egg yolks, hamburger, steamed greens, and mushy veggies. You are never satisfied from eating blueberries. I think you could eat them all day. Each morning I wake up with you and put you in the high chair while make coffee and check email. When we can keep them on hand I feed you blueberries. And you sit in the chair until I can't justify giving you another berry. With all other foods you will sit and eat for about 15 minutes.
You love playing with other babies! I love watching you play too. You favorite friend is big brother Georgie. You pretty much idolize him. All he needs to do is walk by and you crack up laughing. You and Isiah like to crawl chase each other around. You love spending time with Ezra, who you are going hiking with today, Theodore, Eleanor, Lucy and Ayla. All of us mommies have been bringing you guys together since you were in the wombsies. And of course there are you adopted big brother Eli and Corbin. You spend one day every week them and you love it! They are also your Tiny Gym buddies while Susi and I go to Group Power (I gotta keep this momma strong to keep up with you!).
MovingYou are moving, climbing, crawling, standing. You are an active baby and I wouldn't be surprised if you were up and walking any day now. But take your time kid, I don't know if I am ready to chase you around any more than I do now.
Pooping
You are pretty good at pooping on the potty. I am not sure if you know how good you are or not. If I don't catch it on the potty first thing in the morning, I let you run around the house bottomless and I chase you around picking up your deer like droppings. This is not an ideal arrangement but it is still 100 times better than scraping your poo from a cloth diaper.
You are so happy outside. If you fall inside I take you outside to stop you from crying. You stop as soon as you cross the threshold. You like to sit in the garden while I weed, and I let you sit as long as you wish as long as you don't eat rocks. Some days you manage to do well, but mostly in only takes a couple of minutes. And then you are on my back, which over play you protest. I try to get on weekly walks and hikes and you get so cozy on my back you fall asleep immediately. I am taking pictures of our moments so you will know you did spend time in nature.
CareMost days you are with me all day long. I couldn't be happier about this arrangement. When Susi takes you for a four hour stint, I miss you. I need this time to get work done, and with you here it is impossible. Susi puts you in the backpack and takes you on all sorts of errands with Eli and Corbin. A couple of times you have been in the care of Annie, a shared nanny with Lucy's mom, Angela. You like this arrangement because you get to play with your good buddy Lucy. This summer you have spent Wednesdays all day long with Poppa and Brother. You are thrilled to have the time with your boys. And on Friday we celebrate family day. Georgie is here and we all make and then eat family breakfast together. The rest of day is spent gardening and cleaning/fixing the house. Every other week or so our neighbor Jeanine likes to take you to her house for a couple of hours. She has been looking over you since you were a really little guy. She was the first person to watch you!
WaterYou are water baby. You were almost born in the water but you were a little stuck on the home stretch of being born. Now you love baths! I could give you a bath every couple of hours and you couldn't get enough. You especially enjoy bath time with brother and couple of toys. Your favorite bath toys are shampoo bottles. Susi, the boys and you and I went the public pool on the 4th of July. You were pretty amazed at all the people and all the water below and shooting out of sprinklers from above. You held on tight to momma and spent some time getting comfortable before feeling safe. It wasn't too long before you thought you could handle it on your own, and then I had to pull you tight.
You are incredibly independent. I often am chasing you around, and less often are you looking for me. You are not afraid to climb, craw under anything. At the Wacky Bounce House, I couldn't take my eye off of you for a second.
Teeth
We are still waiting to see you pearly whites. I guess you are on the late side of budding out. You got a great gummy smile and no one seems to be bothered by that. You handle most foods too just fine.
DaddyYou love your daddy. This morning when he left for work you were calling out for him. You went to the window to watch him ride his bike off to work. You fall asleep in Dads arms almost every day, he has the magic touch to soothe you into dreamland and I am little jealous.
Sleep
You have always been a good sleeper. Since you were born you slept and fed through the night with rare wakings when you were sick and there were a couple of mysterious wakings where you sat up. You were always incredibly easy to put back to sleep. You are a crappy napper, no offense. Sometimes you nap three times a day, sometimes they are long, but you are incredibly unpredictable. I have no idea what your plan is for a nap schedule and I am terrible at scheduling so sorry about that.
Diapers
I just watch you pull off your cloth diaper. If it were up to you, you be naked all the time.
