11 Months Update

Our little boy is 11 months old. I know, I know. Where does the time go? This is the last month he is technically our baby. Next month Max will be our little toddler! Holy cow, how is that possible? I still reminisce on when I was pregnant and when Max was a newborn. That seems so long ago...much longer than a year ago. I often look through pictures and videos of the first few weeks and think, "Wow, I don't even remember that!" Is this how every year will be?

It took three days of our chair photo shoots to get this shot.

I feel like I don't have as much to update on, he is just excelling even more in all of the skills he has already picked up on. We were all sick again unfortunately, which means less sleeping and less eating...but more pooping! There is nothing worse than having a sick child, except if you are sick along with him. That totally happened. Sometimes it feels like this family just can't get a break! We are all good now, thankfully. We have to get ready for a big party coming up soon!

Height/Weight: Max went to the doctor on 2/19 and weighed 22.4 pounds, so we will stick with that. I still need to measure how tall he is. Once I do, I will update.

Sleeping: Last month I was raving about how we are finally sleeping really good again. Not so much this month. We can blame it on the sickness and ...you guessed it... teething! Max needed extra cuddling at night due to the pain he was in. Speaking about his sickness, Max had an ear infection in his left ear again and had fluid in his right. He was coughing pretty good, had fevers, and the thing that really worried me and was the deciding factor on taking him to the doctor was his labored breathing. Thankfully he tested negative for RSV and just had some sort of virus. He was given amoxicillin to combat all infections. Todd and I had no idea he had an ear infection; he showed us no signs.

This month, Max started a new thing where he would wake up in the middle of the night and be wide awake...for at least an hour! Boy, was that tough. To make it even worse, he only wanted me and would only go back to sleep with me. He would wake up and whine/cry. I would go in there and he would stop whining once he saw me. However, if Todd walked in there to calm him down, he would continue whining and then flat out start crying/screaming until I came in to settle him down/nurse him. Then I would be up with him for at least an hour.

Overall, Max slept through the whole night [only] three times in February...that's a far cry from the seven times in January. I would say on average, he woke up two times a night. While in his crib he sleeps all over the place. We will find him on his back, stomach, side. He will be on one side of the crib, and then the other side the next time we check on him. Its actually fun to see where he ends up.

We had to move his crib down to the lowest setting! That was a little sad. He is growing up and we can't stop it. The reason for the move? He managed to fall out of his crib one night. He was really upset and Todd and I were going to let him cry for a few minutes. Next thing we know, we hear a thud and I knew immediately what had happened. I ran to his room and he was already crawling back towards his crib, so I knew he didn't hurt himself thankfully. He also stopped crying as soon as I picked him up, so I knew everything was ok. I wasn't ok though! I hate that that happened, but I know he will fall many more times during his childhood!

Eating/Feeding: Breastfeeding is still going strong. I would say I nursed him quite a bit more in February because that is what Max wanted. He turned to be for comfort while he was sick. With that being said, I noticed he spit up more than normal. And unfortunately, I couldn't just wipe it off and go on with my day when he would spit up on me. Now that the is eating "grown-up" food, his stomach is definitely producing more bile, meaning his spit up smells like throw up. Disgusting! That's all I will say about that.

Max loves scrambled eggs, cheese, and pasta. We tried toast with cream cheese (instead of only spreading yogurt) this past month, and he loved it. With the illness, Max did lose his appetite, so some days he barely ate anything. I hated that! But I know when I am not feeling good, I don't want to eat, so I understood. It definitely did not make meal time fun though. He did gradually get his appetite back. He loved the Bruschetta Chicken Casserole I made one night, as well as the meatloaf dinner we had. He gobbled that down!

I should mention here, the week before Max got his cold, he had another virus that was passed from the sitters. He had diarrhea. For four straight days, Max would come home in a different outfit that I took him in and one day he went through three clothes changes. Poor boy! So to try to combat that, we were told to give him regular yogurt because of the probiotics, not baby yogurt. Yes, February was a tough month for this little one! We are very lucky he likes medicine! He actually gets excited to take his medicine. Lets hope that lasts.

Behaviour: This boy is everywhere and in everything. He is still crawling everywhere, and crawls very fast! He is cruising ALL of the furniture and walks pretty easily when you are holding his hands. He is able to easily move from a piece of furniture to another (example: going from the couch to the table nearby). That being said, we have had to really baby proof everywhere he can reach. He has broken one glass candle so far and has knocked over so many objects. Our house is becoming bare of all knick knacks. We got him to try walking with his walker at the end of the month and boy did he go! He used to fall to his knees once he started pushing it forward, but not any longer. He walks! And laughs the whole time. It is so amazing to watch.

Moving to the kitchen. He loves being in the kitchen. Especially now that he knows how to open the cabinet and pull out the tupperware. He really gets a kick out of that. And makes a mess at the same time. We still have to pick up the cat food and water bowls because that is what he goes for first when in the kitchen. When he does make it to the cat food before we get to him (remember he crawls very fast!), he likes to stick his hand in the food and just move his hand, making all of the food come out all on the floor.

He is not a fan of reading, but he is a fan of pulling all of his books off of his bookshelf. He learned how to put the ball in the center of his activity table and knows exactly where the ball goes when he lets go. He started saying "da" and "dada," much to Todd's happiness. He learned how to slide on his tummy in the bath. He would be sitting and then fall onto his tummy in a sliding motion and would just do it over and over again. He has learned to go up and down the one stair at the bottom of the stairs. He thinks it is hilarious. His laugh is the best. We didn't get much laughs this past month with him being sick for 2-3 weeks, but when he would, it would lighten my day.

I mentioned how he was teething. We still have no teeth and I was for sure we would see them. I know teething can cause all the symptoms of a cold and some days he wouldn't even let me touch his gums. That was new. But when I could touch them, I could feel his gums were starting to get indentations where his teeth would be. That was a good sign! Still, we ended up with no teeth, but I am sure they will be here soon!

Max is still in size 3 diapers and has been wearing size 9 and 12 month clothes. I have put the 9 month pants in storage as the legs are too short now. He is still fitting in 9 month onesies, but the sleeves are short as well!