linden | eleven months

Here we are in the home stretch of Linden's first year.  This little boy has fit right into our mix of crazy.  This past month he has developed quite the personality and has no issue with letting you know when he's mad.  We can tell he's starting to understand phrases and what they mean and will even react the same way Conner does.  It's most noticeable when he's getting into something that poses a risk and I tell him "No, No".  His look at me, shake his head no and then drop his little head down like he's so sad for disappointing me.  Sweetest thing ever.  I even catch him crawling toward something like a nightlight which he knows he is not allowed to touch, and will stop and shake his head no... and then continue on to said nightlight to try and play with it.  He totally anticipates my reaction!

Linden, you are the perfect addition to our family.

 

LAST MONTH: 

 

THIS MONTH:

 

EAT

I've noticed he's developing his own preference for foods.  The days of him being so accepting of all veggies are diminishing, so I have to get creative from time to time to make sure he's getting nutrients from plant foods.  I love the pouches that mix veggies and fruit and so does he so that is sometimes our go-to to get veggies checked off the list.  Other times, if he sees me eating it, he will want it too, and will gladly accept it.  I've yet to find a fruit he doesn't care for.  Eat can eat strawberries like it's nobody's business and if he sees me eating peanut butter banana toast he will do everything he can to get it from me.

 

This past month we weaned from nursing and have switched to bottles only.  I had enough milk in our freezer to allow him to continue drinking breastmilk at daycare and a bottle of breastmilk when he wakes up.  At nighttime though we do anywhere from 2-4 oz of formula.  (We use Earth's Best Organic Sensitive Formula).  With his first birthday just weeks away and our supply of frozen milk diminishing, I started offering him regular dairy milk at meals to get him used to the flavor.

 





SLEEP

I feel like it took us forever to get this little boy sleep trained, but he has become one of the best sleepers I have known.  The nighttime routine is so easy for us: bottle, read, prayers, and in the crib he goes.  He puts himself to sleep quickly and will rarely cry these days.  Even if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he puts himself back to sleep without any tears.

As far as naps go, he still takes his two naps per day.  He'll go down at 9:30 for his nap and around 2:30 for his second nap.  The first nap is usually the shorter nap and we usually end up missing it on Sunday because of church.  At this point he doesn't do well skipping either of his naps, so I anticipate he'll keep this schedule of 2 a day for a while.





PLAY

This little boy is playful.  He loves being around Conner and the boys will play with all of their trucks and trains - playing side-by-side but separately because every parent knows that sharing is not an inherent trait.  He loves being chased and is starting to catch on to hide and seek.  At night while Joe is out hunting we always migrate up to Conner's room and play with all the trucks up there.
 

 

Baby Misc:

Cruising around everywhere, but still crawling.  Thought for sure he'd be walking by now.
His vocab is growing! Mama, Dada, Dog, Uh-oh, Bye, want that
He waves and says bye to people
He loves anything with buttons and a screen
Loves bath time!
If he can reach a light switch, he will turn it on/off a hundred times
He's grown a close attachment to his blanket that Nana made him
He loves to pretend like he's talking on the phone
   

 PHOTO DUMP