Eleven Months

Neil is eleven months old today! I can't believe we're going to have a toddler in another month. Holy cow!

I think, for me, more of his growth has been in how he looks to me. I watch him play right now and he just is starting to look so much older. His hair is growing in, he's standing up a lot, and just the way he looks around he looks more like a person and not a baby.

He really wanted to get that sticker off. And we really wanted to distract him.

Neil crawls around pretty quickly and I can no longer use my leg to block him- he has learned how to crawl onto and over things. He pulls himself up all the time and sometimes stands up on his own without holding anything for a few seconds at a time. Dave and I watch him and when he doesn't realize it he's really not holding onto anything. He's getting really good at just lightly touching something and moving around, grabbing things with his free hand.

Neil also lets you know if he doesn't want to do something. He is very good at pushing hands away now and only does something if he wants to.

Reading with Uncle Alex

Neil is hilarious when it comes to music. He loves to clap to both Bingo and If you're happy and you know it. And he bounces up and down (dances) to pretty much any music.

Still only one tooth but the drooling is stepping up again right now so we'll see if more are coming! I still don't have a good picture of his first tooth.

We went to my parents' for Christmas and I am very happy with how Neil is around other people. We need to keep showing him pictures of the rest of the family though just to make sure he remembers who is who. But he especially took to my sister Megan, which was funny. And seemed to really be comfortable with pretty much all of my family.

Speaking of Christmas, what a blessing he is! He can open presents, definitely. It takes some time but he rips off paper a bit at a time and then he notices that there's something in there and gets excited. It makes me wish we had taken some video of this.

Food wise we do more finger foods than purees now and when I make food it tends to be finger foods instead of purees (I just skip the puree step). I made a sweet potato recipe (scalloped sweet potatoes) that anybody could eat for Christmas dinner and I had to mess with the ingredients but it was tasty if you like sweet potatoes.

We're still on breast milk although I'm going to start scaling back the month of January. I'm going to drop from 2 pumps at work to 1. I'll still pump in the morning before work. This could be touch and go for a bit. I found out that daycare has consistently been dumping milk, which is honestly heartbreaking. If I had known, we could have adjusted. That's why I'm upset. I just wish they had told me. Meanwhile I've been sitting and pumping for 20 minutes at a time at work just to get every drop I can. It's NOT fun. The other thing daycare is doing is giving him solid food before milk, which is making him full. They want him to use a bottle to fall asleep for his afternoon nap. I have finally given up on asking them to do milk first. I don't want to come across as super controlling but it does bother me. There are two girls there who are about a month older than Neil, though, and I do know that neither of them are on breast milk anymore (and haven't been for months), and when they eat Neil is opening his mouth to eat. I guess this is a disadvantage of daycare. (There are advantages though- including him learning sign language, being more comfortable around different people, etc.)

We went through a biting spell with Neil. I am ashamed to admit that I pushed Neil pretty hard away from me one time. It was a gut reaction. I've heard the advice to push their face into you so that you can't breathe, but that would just get them to let go. My problem isn't him biting and holding, it's just biting for a second and letting go. It still hurts! And the day I had my automatic reaction he had bitten me 3 times already on one side. I felt so so guilty after but at the same time he hasn't done it again. And I'm hesitating admitting this in public because it is not the way I wanted to react, pulling him away really hard. But I did it. Once.

Neil really likes to point at things now

Neil has also started pointing a LOT. And he's really talking but most of the time we have no clue what he's saying. We finally figured out he says "tree" (Christmas tree) and there are times he repeats us. I can't remember if I said in past months but he says some form of kitty or Tigger (our cat's name). We definitely hear the "t" and it's two syllables, with the t every time. So I'm not sure if he's saying both kitty and Tigger or what's going on there. And of course he says mom, dad, etc quite a bit. He also is getting really good at signing milk if that's what he wants, as well as waving bye and blowing kisses.

Being away from home really screwed up Neil's routine and sleep. We're trying to get back into that. But he's still on 3 naps a day- one about an hour after he wakes up, a second in the early afternoon, and a 3rd when I get home from work. I still really cherish our cuddle time after work- that still tends to just be a short (30-60 minute) nap.

Holding one of the props we were using to try to get him to smile

While we were home we visited a friend how has a 2 and a half year old son and 7 month old twins. It was really nice to see Neil interacting with other kids and at one point both Neil and the 2 and a half year old were standing at the window looking out. It just made me feel really sentimental for some reason. And I know he interacts with kids a lot (at daycare) but I don't really get to see it so it was nice to see him play with some other kids.

Some stats that I haven't typically included (this is for you, Colleen, when you get here, ha!):
Size 3 diapers
Size 9-12 clothing except Gerber. And he can even fit some 6-9 clothing now.

We don't weigh him or measure height so we'll have to wait for his 1 year appointment for those.

Christmas Day 2013

We had a lot of fun for Neil's first Christmas. He is old enough that he actually did open presents, although it took forever and he was sometimes more interested in the wrapping paper or the tissue paper than the actual present. But he's also playing with the presents as well.

This was the first present he opened

Looking in his stocking

 

Loves tissue paper

 

Neil's presents to most of our family were various mugs with handprints and footprints on them

 



All the toys, and what does he go for? The iPhone... Go figure!

 

 

 

 Merry Christmas everyone!



The Boy Behind the Blog - December Edition

So not only did Dave answer the questions but he wanted me to post videos too. Who knows what he'll want in next month's blog post. ;)

1. What is your favorite cereal? 

My favorite cereal. hmm... anything with a good toy inside! That's what it was when I was a kid. I really liked this one as a kid:

haha!  

Maybe now, I think it would have to be Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

I love that stuff!  

Honey Nut Cheerios is pretty good too and comes in a close second.

2. Pancakes or waffles? 

Yes, please! I like 'em both. Maybe pancakes wins out slightly more.

3. What is your favorite holiday tradition? 

I don't know if I have a favorite holiday tradition. I don't know if I have any really. I mentioned last month that having tomato juice at dinner is a Thanksgiving holiday tradition, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite. For a Christmas holiday tradition, I mean beyond the regular stuff like decorating n'at, visiting family, exchanging gifts, etc, I don't think I really have any. Maybe we'll start a really great Christmas tradition in the next few years with Neil.

4. Finish the sentence: All I want for Christmas is... 

an official Red Ryder carbine action two hundred shot range model air rifle!

I'm just kidding. heh heh! Maybe just some tinker toys...

5. What was your best moment of 2013? 
Rush into the R&R Hall of Fame? Pirates making the playoffs for the first time in 20 years? All of that is overshadowed by the birth of our son. That is without a doubt the best moment of 2013. And looking forward to many more great moments with him and Jen in 2014 and beyond!  

Visit with Santa

I keep thinking, this is going to be my best Christmas ever. I've had some good ones, but to be able to watch Neil experience it for the first time is going to be exciting. He's at the point that he is learning a lot right now and it's just awesome to watch. I know I've said it before. But it does change your focus, your priorities, and how you look at things.

We took Neil to see Santa and had to go twice. The first time he just wanted to be held by me and we didn't get any good pictures. We did get the classic one of the kid crying in Santa's arms, reaching for their parents.

The second time we stood in line for an hour and a half. I thought this was going to be a bust as well because it was past his bedtime and he was definitely cranky by the time we go to the front of the line. And then the camera stopped working and they had to reboot their computer. But, I have to say, the photographer and assistant were great and got Neil to smile and not to be looking at me and wanting me to hold him. I guess it really does depend on the person and I appreciate them taking the time to get a good picture for us. In fact, we had a few to choose from. And the worst part is, I didn't even say Merry Christmas to them! Those poor people had a long line that was going to go over the time they had left and they were having issues with their equipment yet they were nice and friendly. Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the 2nd session.