Eleven Months Old

Eleven Months Old

His stats (from BabyCenter):


Height: 31 inches (between 75th and 90th percentiles)
Weight: 24 pounds (between 50th and 75th percentiles)
Head Size: 19.5 inches (above 95th percentile)


So he stayed the same on head size and height and dropped a pound this month. It must be all of the walking/running he's been doing lately!


What he is doing this month:

• He walks! He still falls, but he is getting more coordinated and is able to 'correct' himself more and more. In correcting himself, he sometimes breaks out into almost a run. A very wobbly and funny-looking run.
• He seems to be 'getting' his toys more lately and is figuring out how they work which has been fun to watch. For instance, he already knew how to push the lever on his gumball machine to make the gumballs drop out (toy gumballs, not real gumballs), but now he has learned how to reload it so that the fun can continue on. He's learning to push buttons to turn his musical toys on/off, and he is figuring out the pop-up toy that has a switch, slide, button, key, and toggle switch on it. He still prefers closing all of the trap doors on that, but he has learned how to open a few of them.
• He is sleeping well at night, except for the past few nights! His 8th tooth popped through the other day but has since disappeared, so it is teething and possibly a growth spurt. He looked bigger to me yesterday! I have gotten up and nursed him three nights this past week, I believe, and he has gone right back down, thankfully.
• As for naps, he remains steady on the good morning nap (an hour to an hour and a half) and crappy afternoon nap (30 minutes). I read, though, that he still needs that 2nd nap, so I'll stay the course for now. I guess some rest is better than no rest. He has taken two fluke 1-hour afternoon naps over the past few weeks, but the 'norm' is 30 minutes. He wakes up very cranky after the 30 minutes (but will not go back down--I've tried waiting it out), so we've been taking that time to snuggle down in the basement under a blanket until he feels up to playing again. Although I hate that he doesn't sleep long enough, I do love the snuggling.
• He is nursing 4x a day now. I had dropped it from 6 to 5 because he'd started biting me (Homey don't play that.), then from 5 to 4 when his lunch became more substantial. We are also trying to get him proficient at using a sippy cup for water, gearing up for the transition from breastmilk to cow's milk sometime after his 1st birthday. He drinks fine out of a sippy cup, but we still have to help him tip it up (he's more interested in chewing on the spout).
• As for solids, we are slowly moving away from the purees (2nd foods). I still add in some fruit puree with his cereal/yogurt in the morning or vegetable puree with his cereal/meat in the evening, and then we offer either fresh soft fruit or steamed vegetables with his meal, too. His favorite fruit is blueberries (I've been buying frozen and thawing as needed) and his favorite vegetable is parsnips (I cube and steam a batch every few weeks and thaw as needed). I am still introducing two new foods a week, and he's been pretty agreeable until this past week when we introduced cantaloupe. He would put it in his mouth but then a few minutes later, the pieces were finding their way back out. Not as puke, just on the tip of his tongue. Like, 'Eh, I changed my mind.'
• Last week, Kevin got home from work, and Lewis very clearly said, "Hi, Dada!" Nothing since, but very exciting to hear that first clear phrase (or so it seemed). :) His only 'words' are Dadadadada (Dada), Mamamamama (Mama), and Dududududu (Dog), but he doesn't use them indiscriminately yet.
• The changing table has become a Mama/Dada vs. Baby Lew wrestling match. He has started flipping over, getting on his hands and knees, and then sits on his butt. He seems to realize the danger of going off the edge and is cautious about sitting up, but it makes diaper changes and dressing pretty frustrating at times. We try to distract him with his hairbrush, lotion, orajel, shoe, sock, etc., but he inevitably wants to get upright and get the one thing we haven't already handed him (i.e. his vitamins...he likes to chew on the bulb of that bottle). We are hoping it is just a phase and will pass soon.
• He goes through periods where he points a lot or waves a lot. He'll also high five pretty well when asked.
• Current Tooth Count: 7 (4 up top, 3 on the bottom...4th on the bottom was visible for a day but has since disappeared)

Phew! So that is Lewis at 11 months!


He was especially cheesing it up this morning for his monthly photo, so here are a few outtakes: