Milestones: 11 Months Old

Dear baby Austin, you are not such a baby anymore. This past month you have tried hard to show us how big you are. You have achieved so many milestones throughout the month and I don't know where to begin! However, even though you think you are so big and are proud of your new found independence, if Mom is in the room you turn into a totally different kid. You become whiny and clingy and require constant attention. It's so strange. If I am gone and Dad is watching you, you have a ball doing your own thing, getting into trouble, and rough housing with Dad. Then as soon as I walk in the door, you start whining and suddenly feel the need to be held, the whole independent act disappearing completely. This has made going to the gym difficult because you cry and cling onto my clothes for dear life when I drop you off at daycare. I feel awful and am thinking about you during my entire workout. Maybe that's the problem..... you have the power to manipulate me and you know it.

You are soooooo intelligent! This has been apparent from the beginning but we are still finding ourselves in awe of how much you understand and how determined and sneaky you can be when there is something you want but shouldn't have.

You hear the word "No" a lot and that has in turn become a part of your vocabulary! Not only do you say it, but you understand what it means! When I caught you in the cupboard this morning trying to climb up onto the top shelf, I told you no and you instantly backed down and crawled out of the cupboard. Whenever you find the remote to the TV and we catch you, you throw it down and say "no-no" and shake your head vigorously from side to side. When you are about to jump off the couch and break your neck, we yell "Austin NO!!" and you quickly sit down, shaking your head and repeating the word. It is so cute that we end up smiling or sometimes laughing. We try not to because we are trying to be strict with you but it is so stinking cute we can't help ourselves! An example of one of those moments was about a week ago when you bit me on the shoulder really hard. It scared me and before I knew it I was pointing my finger at your mouth and yelling NO! Then, as if it were a reflex of your own, you bent down and bit my finger! Yes..... I laughed hard. I couldn't help it.

Your vocabulary consists of: Mama, Dada, No, Sa-dee, and hi. The last one is my favorite. Every time you come around the corner, you look at us and say hi! Sometimes when we are on the floor, you will come up behind us, giving us a hug or a kiss and say hi! And then there's the adorable moments when you hide behind the couch and then pop your head up and say hi! You are just too cute :).

Your new trick is pulling the child-proof outlet covers from the power outlets. I couldn't figure out how you were doing it until I caught you in action one day. There is a little piece in the middle of the cover that you push in to pop the cover out (meant for adults). Well, your sneaky little ingenious mind learned to pull that little lever out (instead of pushing in) and used it to pull the cover off. Like I said, you are too smart.

You started walking this month! Crawling is still your main method of transportation but you are walking more and more every day. We started off by making a game out of it and  you would hold onto the couch and then take a few steps into our arms. Next, you started making rounds around the house by holding onto the walls and furniture. Now, you just get up and walk whenever you feel like it! You have really good balance and we find you just standing independently a lot of times. You stand and watch your show, or you stand and drink out of your sippy cup. I think crawling will be a thing of the past very soon. We are actually really excited about that because it opens up a lot more opportunities for us to go do fun things!

Now for the sad news.... you gave up nursing on your own about a week ago. It was so strange. You just stopped! It went from being something you couldn't live without to something you didn't want anything to do with. The weird part is you still want the milk, but you want it from a bottle. I thought it was just a fluke at first and kept trying to "trick you" into nursing but you got really frustrated with me and I knew that you were trying to tell me you were ready to be a big boy now. I vowed to breastfeed you until you were 12 months old because of the health benefits that nursing brings so you have now made my job much harder! Now I have to pump a bottle for you throughout the day. However, you have also made my nights easier! I refuse to pump in the middle of the night and give you a bottle. It's just too hard and takes too long. So we are now sleep training you! You had gotten to the point where you would only wake up once or twice at night and then I would nurse you back to sleep within minutes. But now that you aren't nursing, you are learning how to put yourself back to sleep! That means I have gone almost a whole week without having to get up with you at night! WAHOO!! My brain hasn't quite figured it out yet though so I am still waking up throughout the night and listening for you/wondering if you are okay. And then there's the times when you wake up talking and wanting to play and I lay there waiting for you to figure out that nobody's coming. It doesn't take you too long to go back to sleep. I have gotten a lot of well meaning advice from fellow mothers about sleep training and how I have done it all wrong by letting you take the lead in this area. But I don't think I would have done it any differently. You have been an awful sleeper since the day you were born, but you have also decided on  your own time frame how to put yourself to sleep. I have just been your partner in the journey and I feel proud of us both because I never had to sit there and listen to you scream while I "ignored you for your own good" and you found your own strength and ability to train yourself! High Five Buddy!!!

 

Some fun moments over the past month:

Taking our morning walk. You are perfectly content to sit there and drink your bottle.

From the minute Dad gets home, you are in his arms. If he tries to put you down you throw a fit and he falls for it every time so he picks you right back up again. Yesterday he didn't get to eat his dinner because he can't multitask like Mom can. So this is what you guys did instead while Mom got to relax and actually eat a hot meal! 

 



You love looking out the window!

Walking around the house with Dad.

You were pretty excited when Grandma P. came back from her trip to Florida!

Your first balloon! You went with me to the Sprouts grand opening and you kept jealously looking around at the other kids with their balloons. It made your day when the nice lady came and gave you one of your own! You are still playing with it and I keep cringing, waiting for it to pop in your face whenever you bite it.

Days later and you've still got your new friend.

Now that it is so hot outside, you and I share a green smoothie for breakfast every morning. You love it and it is a sweet memory for me :).

You sleep like a stink bug with your blanket underneath you. It's so cute!

We have all been sick this past week and even though you didn't feel well, you had so much energy! So we built a fort for you to play in to keep you busy :).

Trying out this vapor bubble bath to help you with your head cold. You loved it and it seemed to help. Dad keeps stealing it and using it himself because it works so well!

Helping Mom pick tomatoes from our "urban garden."

 

Giving kisses. You are such a Momma's boy!

Taking a ride in the shopping cart. I love your crazy hair! It makes me smile every time I look at you :).

One day I found you in a pile of movies holding onto this DVD. You were hugging and kissing it and every time you would go in for a kiss, you said Mama. I'm guessing you think I look like Kate Hudson?? I'll take it!

The huge mess you made when I gave you a nutria-grain bar. I didn't mind the mess because you were enjoying yourself so much!

You LOVE my keys. Whenever my purse is in sight, you dive right in for the keys.

Playing with my shoes.

I took you to the park because you were teething and so miserable. It was a beautiful day and all you wanted to do was play in my purse!
 

I was sitting on the floor, watching your movie with you because you were grumpy and miserable from teething and it seemed to be the only thing you wanted to do. Then you reached over and grabbed my hand and we sat there holding hands! It was so sweet, I tried hard not to cry :).

We finally put up a baby gate because you were so obsessed with the stairs. We caught you more than once trying to climb over it and a few times you almost made it!

You deserved your own water bottle after how sweet you were today. There was a little baby around your age crying at the gym daycare and you crawled over to him and started hugging and kissing him. After that, your refused to leave his side and when I came to pick you up you were both sitting on the sitter's lap because you wouldn't let her pick the other baby up without you being there too! Melt my heart :).

Swimming with Dad and wishing you were big enough to play with the "big kids."

Getting some swim lessons.

You are so clingy to me. If I don't feel you constantly tugging on my dress or pants then I know you must be doing something mischievous.

Peeking around the door to see if I am still there watching you before you go do something naughty.

Someone found the animal cookies!!

Learning to walk!

Reading your books.

Such a happy baby!

Hiding under the table.

Just chillin' out while you watch Baby Einstein.

You absolutely love Mama's hair. Your favorite is when I have it in a ponytail and I whip it back and forth in your face. Full out giggling ensues!

You are so happy when you wake up from your naps! When we hear you stirring, Dad and I race each other up the stairs to see who can be the first one into your room to see your face light up!

Oh Austin, you make our life complete :).