Saturday, August 13, 2011

11 months old

Oh we're getting so close to ONE!  Just a few more weeks!  He's definitely getting more and more independent by the day and more vocal as well.  Just after last month's post, he started saying Momma all the time and may even know what he's saying.    I think it's interesting how his first words are Daddy and Momma.  Jack's first words were uh-oh and duck.  But Jack probably says Momma and Daddy a few hundred times each, every day, so I think Max caught on to those a bit sooner.  


When Jack was this age, I was laid off and home with him so I have fond and vivid memories of this stage with him.  Max does many of the VERY same things Jack did and sometimes I even see the same little looks on his face.  They were both very into tupperware and the magnets on the dishwasher.  Max LOVES the electrical outlets, just like Jack always did.  Max seems to be getting feistier in his "old" age and a little less laid back.  I think this is about when the same thing happened to Jack.  


He's not walking but he is taking a step here and there and standing on his own for a few seconds.  I don't think he'll be 15 months old when he walks alone like Jack was.  He doesn't seem to like his new shoes.  He still crawls funny, pushing off with one foot, and he takes that shoe off all the time!  I hate shoes too so I can't really blame him.

He still likes his paci sometimes but it definitely becoming less dependent on it.  That's a good thing, I know, but I'll admit, at times (like when he wakes far too early and I want Jack to stay asleep), I wish he liked it more.  

He had a rough time teething this month too and still really doesn't have any new teeth to show for it.  The poor little guy got blood blisters on his gums from teething!  The pediatrician said they'd go away on their own, and they did, but I don't think they felt too good.  I didn't have much luck getting a picture but you can kind of see the one on top, where his front right tooth would be.  


Sleep is still a challenge.  Some nights he'll go all night, or almost all night.  Other nights he's up 2-3 times.  There seems to be no pattern or predictablity.  I never really anticipated how worried I'd be about the 2nd child waking the 1st.  Our house is pretty small and the boys sleep on opposite sides of the same wall.  It doesn't take much for one to wake the other, at all.  I'm sure my sensitivity to this has created this monster.  I'm just not sure how to change it what to do differently.  So it goes.  It could be worse, for sure.


I don't think Max is as smitten with solid foods as he once was.  I'm not sure why.  He will eat most any fruit you put in front of him but most other things he'll throw in the floor or spit out.  He wants nothing to do with you putting a spoon in his mouth either.  He never really turns down a cracker or a chance to grab something off Jack's plate though. He has formula during the day (2 5.5 ounces at school each day and then 4 ounces with dinner when he gets home) and nurses in the morning and at night.  It's working really well and I only wish I'd started this sooner.  I don't ever have to pump, yet he still gets breastmilk and the comfort from nursing.  I worry a little bit that he might not ever want to give it up, even though I am hopeful he will soon.  I'm really ready to get back to eating dairy and soy!  We tried giving Max yogurt 2 times this month. The first time went great and I was so hopeful that we were outgrowing the milk allergy.  But the second time...well...it seemed clear we weren't after he was up screaming 5 times that night. :(  Oh well, I feel certain we'll outgrow it one day!  Jack was 18 months before he could tolerate it, so we probably have a while to wait.  For the most part I think the Prevacid is working great for his reflux...either that or he's just outgrowing it.  We'll never really know which I guess. At the doctor's office when he went to have his gums checked out, he weighed 22 lbs 4 ounces.  That's not much more than he weighed a few months ago, but he's definitely getting taller.  He can barely fit in his footie pj's anymore because he's too long!  He's wearing some 6-12 months stuff and others, like the pj's in this picture are 18-24 months.  Just depends on the cut I guess, but most of his stuff is 12-18 months at this point.


He gets into anything and everything he can.  Jack's not thrilled with this, but is learning to put things he doesn't want messed with, in his room.  Max loves playing with the sorting blocks and stacking rings but also likes anything he can chew on.  He LOVES music and will stop whatever he's doing to dance when a song comes on.  He's more into looking at books on his own than listening to us read to him, but Jack will often "read" Max a book before bed anyway.



Max also brought home his very first piece of artwork this month.  I'm pretty sure he had some help with it, but I think he did great! 




He's not the easiest baby in the world I don't think but not the hardest either.  And he's happy and healthy and makes us all smile.  It's so much fun watching him figure things out and be so proud of himself when he masters a new skill.   We sure do love you Super Max!


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