Tuesday, August 9, 2016

My Dear Little Man, 08/09/2016

Dear Goob,

It's been many months since I last wrote about your growth. You just hit the 11 month mark, weight about 26 pounds, are 11 inches in length, and are fitting nicely into 2T clothes and size 5 diapers. After your lower lateral incisors cut in May, you cut all upper incisors over the course of a month. You are currently working on canines, and they are a beast! I can see them slowly working downward, and you are a drooly mess.

You hair continues to grow! It's a pretty reddish/gold mix. The back and sides grow really fast, so we've given you several more haircuts. 

You began cruising in May and started consistently walking with assistance at the beginning of July. You are now able to balance independently on occasion, and have even taken a few independent steps! It's fun to watch you balance perfectly as you're distracted. As soon as you notice you're balancing without anything to hold to, you pitch toward the nearest standing object.

You are saying 'nana', 'dada', 'mama', 'dddd', 'ttthhhhh' and snuffle with your wrinkly nose. You sing along with us, high five, clap, and can point to lights and your tongue when asked politely. We are working on ears and nose.

You're eating solids regularly now and are down to four nursings a day and are doing well with a soft straw sippy cup. We will probably wean you soon. I decided that it would be wise to re-introduce your food sensitives in my diet prior to weaning you, just to see what your reaction is and to provide you with the food proteins in a secondary form. We've done wheat and walnuts, neither of which seem to do much. I'll do almonds and then pecans over then next week or so. Fingers crossed for good diapers, smooth skin, and a happy disposition!

Your favorite food is spaghetti. You also love cheese, bananas, and black grapes. You try almost everything and end up eating it, though we've had to reintroduce a few foods to help you acclimate. Peas, for example. And cottage cheese. You are hesitant about a lot of textures, and I've found it helpful to either mash or puree things at first. I did this with broccoli and avocado. 

Over the past few weeks you've begun playing constructively instead of deconstructively. For example, rather than emptying the legoes all over the floor when we put them away, you help to clean up. You help us unload the tupperware from the dishwasher, load laundry into their respective machines, and have started building things with legoes, rather than dissembling everything that papa makes.

You love bathtime and taking walks in your stroller. You LOVE books, especially the cozy classic style books, where classics are simplified to a single word and picture per page. For example, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, and War and Peace. You love opening and closing drawers, cupboards, and doors. We've baby proofed the house up to your current level, although you opened the fridge for the first time this morning. We may need to get an adhesive belt, similar to one we have for the oven. You still persist in playing with the living room lamp, despite knowing it's a 'betise'.

Last week you scurried under the one of the futon style couches, continued all the way to the back near the wall, and carefully navigated out the side. It was pretty funny to watch. You also enjoy turning over the rocking chair footstool. You'll rotate it onto its side, then upside down, onto its other side, then right side up. Repeat.

You LOVE animals.

Your sleeping schedule is pretty awesome, although naps are still hit and miss. Right now, for example, you woke up from your morning nap after 20 minutes. I'm choosing to let you stay in your crib, even though you are upset. A typical, good day looks like 7am wake, 10-11ish nap, 3-430ish nap, 730 bedtime. You are sleeping through the night! And everyone is happy about this.

Some of my favorite things about you and your current stage: you have such a great sense of silliness and humor. You love to play peekaboo and chase. Your favorite spot is behind the rocking chair. Yesterday you crawled back there with a carrot to chew on (teething) and Teddy, and I joined you with my book. We spent several minutes snuggled up back there. You are also a hugger! You will often crawl up to us and wrap your arms tightly around our necks, especially if we ask for a 'hug'. You are so curious and so fast. You love learning and trying new things.

You especially love when Papa and I are in the same room with you, even if we are all reading or doing our own thing.

You are a lot of work and whole lot of laughter and joy!

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