Ahhh, 1 month until my baby is a year old! I am in full blown first-birthday-party planning mode, although I’m trying not to go overboard with it. Social media sets the bar high with birthday parties, but I’m determined not to go crazy!

Age: 11 months on 27 September 2015
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 30 inches
Teeth: 4
Clothing Size: 12 months & 12-18 months
Diaper Size: size 3
Milestones: cruising, climbing stairs, taking steps, waving, pointing, handing us items, shaking his head “no,” a lot more babbling, saying “Dada” and “dat” (that), vocal volume (whispering and yelling)

Sleeping: I’m getting really used to broken sleep at night. We’ve had some pretty rough nights this month again. We were dealing with yet another Mental Leap (Wonder Week #7 – The World of Sequences), which really hurt Gerrit’s sleep. Sometimes it seems to affect him more at night (we’ve had up to 8… yes, EIGHT night wakings), while other times it really kills his naps. He had days of 30-45 minute naps (normal naps are 90 minutes to 2 hours) as well as a few days where he totally boycotted nap time and skipped one completely. Those were fun days.

Unfortunately, most of Gerrit’s nights had 5 or more night wakings. I’ve tried just rocking him back to sleep, but he gets really mad if I don’t offer the boob. And I’m not in the mood to argue about it at 2 in the morning, so boob it is. Despite all the wakings, he still managed to get between 10 & 11 hours of sleep most nights, which isn’t terrible. I’d really like him to get 11 hours a night, but you can’t force a baby to sleep. Or if you can, I haven’t figured out how!

Gerrit had 3 days this month where he only got 1 nap in. It really pissed me off when those days happened. I take it personally when I can’t get him to nap for some reason. But I used to feel the same way when I couldn’t get a kid to nap at the CDC I worked at too. I saw it as a failure on my part if a nap was short or if it got skipped completely. Why do I feel that way?? Like I said above, you can’t force a baby to sleep. Most days, his nap hours totaled between 2 and 3 hours, which is good. Apparently, babies this age should be sleeping at least an hour per nap, so Gerrit is pretty much on track.

I feel like Gerrit does pretty well with making up sleep when he doesn’t sleep well. For example, if he doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night, he tends to sleep better for naps. And if he gets crappy naps, he tends to sleep in the next morning for me, which feels awesome. I have read that babies often sleep really poorly when they are learning to stand and walk. So I hope that when he conquers that milestone, he will sleep better! I just have to keep hoping for improvement.

Eating: My son has been obsessed with my boobs this month. I mean, Gerrit wants to nurse all the time! I feel like he often just wants to comfort nurse and get some cuddles, which is totally fine. It’s when he wants to comfort nurse while standing or climbing that doesn’t work so well. I’m thankful he isn’t too bad with his teeth with all the moving around he does. Crazy baby.

In terms of solids, Gerrit was really hit or miss with meals this month. Sometimes he did pretty well, other times I felt like he just played around and made up for it nursing later on. I’m really trying not to worry about it, since I’m told “food before 1 is just for fun,” but he is quickly approaching his first birthday. I don’t expect his eating patterns to change overnight, so I am a little concerned. He’s still gaining weight, but I wonder how much of that is from breast milk and how much is from solid food.

Mommy Update: I’m hanging in there, haha. The broken sleep has become normal to me again, and I don’t like that. I’ve needed a nap nearly every morning when Gerrit naps to try to make up some lost sleep. I really want to start getting away from the daily naps since I need to start the job hunt. I don’t want to start a job with my body being used to getting a daily siesta at 9:30 in the morning!

Despite dealing with another Wonder Week, Gerrit has not been terrible mood-wise. I feel like a lot of the “neediness” he normally displays is coming through with the constant nursing and wanting to be held. It’s easy for me to get him to smile and giggle, and he loves playing and interacting with me. When he is a little moody, he really just wants Momma. I feel bad for Andrew when he’s like this, but I don’t know what I can really do about it.

I have been tackling some cleaning and organizing of my craft things, which is something I get done during Gerrit’s afternoon nap. I usually put on some HGTV and get to work (except today… I’m blogging instead haha). This alone time is really good for me. I don’t love cleaning, but I love having some time to myself. So important for me!

Best Moments: I feel like Gerrit has learned a LOT of new things this month! It’s been so fun seeing him master new skills, especially the physical ones. He has come a long way with balance while standing this month. With better balance, he’s also gotten more confident with standing and taking steps. He technically started taking some steps last month, but it was more “moving his feet while falling” haha. I went back and added it to his milestones from last month, but it has really improved in September. Andrew has estimated that he can walk 6-8 feet by himself when he’s focused. We are so proud of him! Practicing walking has been a fun activity for the three of us to do. When Andrew gets home from work, Gerrit can walk between the two of us with lots of cheering and someone to catch him when he loses his balance. Plus I hope it tires him out for bedtime! 😉

I also have loved watching Gerrit’s new facial expressions and hearing his new sounds. I have come to realize that I am always asking him, “What’s that?” both in the house and out and about. I thought he was starting to say “dada,” but instead I think he has been saying “dat” (that) when looking at things outside and around the house. Sometimes he whispers, “Dat” while pointing at something. It’s so cute! Happily, he has also been saying “dada,” although we’re not sure if he really pairs it with Andrew yet. When I ask him, “Where’s Dada?” he looks for Andrew though, so I think he understands the connection to some extent.

Gerrit has definitely been trying to copy more of our facial expressions, and it cracks me up! I’m aware that I make a lot of exaggerated expressions when I interact with him, so I don’t know if that’s why he has recently been making more funny faces or what. He has also acquired some vocal volume! I already mentioned that he whispers “dat” fairly often, but he has also learned how to shout and screech too. We had one dinner where he was yelling happily about something! Andrew and I were pretty amused, although we have no idea what he was telling us.

Likes & Dislikes: Gerrit still loves moving! He no longer army crawls at all; he’s on all fours anytime he’s not standing or trying to walk. And he’s speedy! I suspect that once he gets this walking thing figured out, he will not be walking… he’ll be running everywhere!

Gerrit still really likes his books. He likes to read one over and over before moving on to another one. Once I say, “The end!” and put it on the floor, he picks it up and hands it back to me. He still loves his lift-the-flap books, and I continue to tape them when he rips another flap out. One of these days he’ll learn what “gentle” means, right??

He also has shown more interest in that caterpillar toy in the picture above. He’s had it since Christmas, but just recently started playing with it. He also likes this caterpillar toy and reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Not sure if there’s a theme here or just a coincidence, but I’m always glad when he starts playing with new toys!

Gerrit has started showing interest in his stuffed animals. He really doesn’t have many since he didn’t care much about them in the past, but he likes to give them hugs and kisses, which is adorable. He’s also become very attached to Lamby, the little lamb that Andrew bought for him when I was early in my pregnancy.

He likes to suck & chew on Lamby’s ears and tail. It’s cute but kind of gross. Lamby takes frequent baths in the washing machine, pretty much anytime he starts smelling funky. I’ve also purchased Lamby 2.0 if/when it’s necessary to replace the original or at least give the original Lamby a little break.

Speaking of Lamby, Gerrit also really likes to throw everything out of his crib at nap time. If he doesn’t go to sleep right away, all of his stuffed animals and blankets end up tossed out onto the floor. And if I take my time getting him up from a nap, I also end up having to pick up all of the contents of his crib. He likes to drop his cup onto the floor at meals too, so I guess gravity is just fascinating for a 10 month old!

Gerrit is really enjoying playing on his own a lot more, which is wonderful for me. He will play with his puzzle pieces, plastic plates and bowls and measuring cups, his magnet blocks (a new favorite… anyone need an idea for a birthday gift? wink wink), and books. He loves dragging around plastic spoons and chewing on them too. Unfortunately, when he’s playing alone, the only thing I can really do is go on my phone. I tried working on my weekly menu & grocery list, and he was way too curious to let me get away with that! So that’s the goal: Gerrit playing independently while I do something productive!

Some of Gerrit’s dislikes? Getting his diaper changed. Well, really just putting a clean diaper on. As soon as his diaper is off, he rolls and scrambles away, usually to go stand and look out the window with a bare tush. He also is such a wiggle worm when I DO get a hold of him again. Along the same lines, Gerrit is a handful when getting his pajamas on. I certainly work up a sweat getting him ready for bed!

Gerrit still dislikes it when I do anything without him. Cooking dinner is the big one. I’m thankful Andrew is usually there to distract and play with him, but Gerrit still frequently gets underfoot while I’m cooking. I’ve tried putting him in the Ergo on my back, and he wasn’t pleased with it. I tried putting him on my hip in the Ergo, but I didn’t get it figured out before Gerrit got sick of being jostled around. So that’s on my to-do list. I would really like to figure out a way to cook while holding or wearing Gerrit.

The only other thing I can think of that he really dislikes is getting his face washed after meals. He’s getting better about it, but for awhile he got really upset with me when I wiped his mouth.

Memorable Events: Shortly after Gerrit turned 10 months old, we were invited to join our friends at their family’s beach house on the coast for Labor Day weekend. It was hot and humid, which meant we had to battle the mosquitoes, so Gerrit and I didn’t spend a lot of time outside. We still had fun though! I know Andrew had a good time: he got to try his hand at clamming and went for a few kayak rides.

Gerrit enjoyed playing with his friends Nathan and Audrey inside. Nathan is 2-1/2, so he is just fascinating to Gerrit! And Audrey is 6 months younger than Gerrit, so he is intrigued by her, but seems confused by why she won’t play with him haha.

Andrew even took Gerrit for his first kayak ride! Apparently Gerrit really enjoyed it — he loved checking everything out!

After this kayak ride, Andrew and I took Gerrit swimming in salt water for the first time. He loved it! He is such a water baby. I think the salt water probably surprised him a bit, but he really enjoyed splashing around with us.

Another fun event was checking out the children’s museum in Raleigh. It’s a little above Gerrit’s level right now, but he absolutely loves exploring new areas and seeing other babies and children. I can’t wait to take him again!

Marbles, the museum, was so cute. It’s really geared toward preschool and elementary school aged kids, but I was happy they had an infant area for Gerrit to explore. We let Gerrit check out a few other areas, but it will be easier once he’s walking and not sticking absolutely everything in his mouth!

So that was Month #11! Sleep was crappy, but the wake time hours were great! I just love our little guy so much. He brings us so much joy and makes us smile every day. It’s amazing watching Gerrit learn new things and gain confidence with his new skills. I’m so thankful for another month of being at home with him to see things from his perspective and share all of his memories.

Happy 11 months, my sweet Gerrit! I can’t believe how big you are and how close to your birthday we are getting. We love you so much!