Our babies are 11 months old today!
Wow...in a mere month they will be one year olds. I don't know how that is possible.
These pictures are from this morning, before Church, and they aren't that great. Well, at least they aren't that great of Luke. Our smiley boy just didn't have a smile in him this morning. We are
still fighting the Colds That Will Not Die in our house, and Luke had it come back with gusto on Friday. We even went to the urgent care after a particularly nasty (and heart stopping for Momma) coughing fit. The doctor we saw thinks there is a chance he has developed a sinus infection, so he is on antibiotics. Plus two more doses of steroids. Plus a nifty little inhaler complete with baby mask. Good times. Luckily, Luke things the mask and inhaler are hilarious, and so far has done nothing but smile and say "dadadadada" when we put it over his mouth and nose. That friends, is grace.
Here's to hoping we are finally on the up swing of illnesses around here.
Anyways, while the verdict is still out as to if the steroids opened up his airways sufficiently, we do know for sure they made him irritable, fussy, and downright unpleasable. Hence the lack of smile on his face during our photo shoot...
So, what are you two up to at 11 months?
-Still wearing size 3 diaper
-Luke wearing 12 months clothes, Abbey wearing 9 month and even still squeezing into a few 6-9 month!
-Eating 3 meals of table food a day, and usually at least 1 snack, if not 2.
-Going to bed between 6:30-7:15pm each night.
One of the most interesting developments of this past month is I think we
actually have a schedule down. I can't believe it has taken 11 months. Well, we've had schedules before, but they have been short lived before
something changes. We've tried to put you both on the same set schedule a few times, and it just hasn't been what works for our family. You've had the same bedtime (and bedtime routine) for months and months, but that's been about it for set times of day. It's seemed like whenever we had what felt like a predictable schedule, you two would change your awake time, or need naps sooner in the morning, or need a later afternoon nap, or be able to tolerate a longer period of wakefulness, or whatever. It's
crazy to me to read all these other blogs where the babies just fall into a predictable schedule early on and stick to it. That is SO not you two! We finally gave up trying to force anything many months ago, and we've just embraced the fact that we are lucky enough to have either one of us home with you at all times, or your caregivers come here to the house, so we have been able to accommodate each of your individual sleep needs. That being said, it's been SO nice to have you BOTH on the same,
predictable schedule. It's made appointment scheduling and outings SO much easier to plan for! Here's how it's been the last month or so...
6:00am ish - wake up, nurse
7:30amish - Breakfast
9:00amish -nap (usually nurse first)
This nap is anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours
usually a snack after nap
12:15ish -lunch
2:00pm - nap (sometimes nurse first)
Same thing for this nap, anywhere from 45 min to 1.5 hours
nurse after nap
5:15pm -dinner
6:00pm- bath
Then lotion, jammies, nurse, family story and prayer time, and to bed. Depending on how tired you guys are, and how bath time goes, actual bedtime is anywhere between 6:30pm and 7:15pm.
I wondering if we would need to make your bedtime later as you moved into toddlerhood, but I checked in our book
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins, and it states an appropriate bedtime for 12-15 month old is anywhere between 5:30pm-7:30pm. It's funny, 5:30pm seems
crazy early to me, but
Dr. Weissbluth preaches an
early bedtime for
better sleep, and for you two - so far- it's rang true. You guys sleep
best and
longest when we have you in your cribs by 6:30pm.
Of course, now that I have declared all this to all of blogland, it will probably be out the window tomorrow! Ha!
And, to each of you...
Lucas, my sweet son. Oh how miserable you were yesterday and today. It's hard for me to see you so unhappy, because normally you are the happiest, sweetest boy with such a pleasant, easy going disposition. We can tell you just don't feel well. Your poor little nose is all red from being wiped so much. Bless your little heart! We are praying that God heals your little body quickly. Thankfully, you are still eating and drinking just fine, and you are nursing just as well as ever. This one of the
many times I am so glad I have been able to breastfeed you, because I love that I can comfort you and cuddle you in such a way.
When you aren't feeling crummy, you are so much fun! You love to smile and laugh so easily. Sometimes, all Daddy or I have to do is just
look at you and you burst into giggles. It delights us! You are so content to just roll around and crawl around on the floor and play with toys. You are becoming much more "rough and tumble" these days...you love to be thrown on the couch, and you think it's the best thing ever when Daddy lets you wrestle with a pillow. You love playing with balls and you LOVE bouncing up and down while standing and holding on to something. Your legs are so strong! You are getting more and more brave each day. Daddy and I are going to be very busy chasing after you!
You are a really good sleeper right now, and that delights us too =) You have been going to bed easily and staying asleep until your sister wakes you in the morning. If you two didn't share a room, I just wonder how late you would sleep in the morning! A few of your naps have been disturbed lately due to coughing, and that's hard for all of us. But, you are usually pretty quick to rally and we love you for it. You still sing with us sometimes when we are rocking you before bed time, and just tonight we could hear you singing through the monitor after Daddy had left the room. It's so sweet!
You have such a tender heart. You are so sweet to your sister, always giving her kisses, and
usually not throwing a fit when she outright steals your toys from you. You are a cuddlebug with Daddy and I on your terms. I say that because lately you'd rather be busy than be held! You love to explore and play and be free. But, when it's time, you are still an affectionate little guy.
Speaking of exploring, you sure are into everything these days! You love to crawl down the hall and push open doors and see what you can find behind them. You love to go into the kitchen and open up the
one drawer for you kids and pull out all the tupperware. And your FAVORITE thing to do is open and close your dresser drawers. I swear, you could do that all day long!
You have started doing the most adorable thing lately: we introduced the word "no" a little bit ago, and you've got the hang of what are no-no's around our house. You will look at the remote on the coffee table and get a serious facial expression and shake your head back and forth. It's so hard for us not to bust out laughing!
You are a great little eater, and your favorites are cheese, green beans, cinnamon raisin bread, yogurt pancakes, eggs, and your very favorite is macaroni and cheese! (A boy after my own heart =) )
You are such a joy to be around, sweet boy, and your Daddy and I are so pleased God chose us to raise you.
And Abbey, my sweet little daughter, you have grown leaps and bounds this last month. Well, not in size, you are still such a little Peanut, but in development. You are moving all over and can pretty much get anywhere you want to be. Within a span of only a few days, you were pulling yourself up on everything and cruising all along the furniture. You look so adorable to me, because you are just so petite that at a glance you look too young to be doing all these things. But you've got
big personality! =). You have such a strong will, my dear. Sometimes I totally dig it about you...like when I watch you refuse to give up on trying to do something you want to do. Sometimes I don't really dig it about you...like when you fight me because you don't want to do what I want you to do. You do not hesitate to let me know that you are NOT pleased with my plans for you, and you will twist and turn and wail in an attempt to get out of whatever it is. There are times I think it would be easier to try and diaper one of the cats. You have a flair for the dramatic to be sure =). I am trusting God will use it for His glory!!
You have been a pretty good sleeper too lately, although you are known to start chatting in your crib a little too early for the rest of us...sometimes around 4:30 or 5:00am we will hear you in there jabbering away, thinking it's time to get up. We wait to see if you'll fall back asleep on your own (which I think has only happened like twice) and then Daddy goes in and lays you back down (you are usually standing up) and gives you your binky back and tells you it's still night night time, and
*usually* you will fall back asleep for a bit. We've been setting 6:00am as our limit for the earliest we will start our day around here. And although today it was 6:24am, it's usually like 6:01am that we hear you again =). That's okay, I've waited years to be awoken by the sounds of a babbling baby through the monitor.
It helps that you wake up SO happy. The other morning while I went and got settled on the couch to nurse you and your brother, Daddy went in to get you both up and changed, and as soon as he walked into the room you let out "HI DADA!" in the most cheerful voice. Melted him. And me.
Your favorite thing to do lately (besides steal whatever toy your brother has) is go sit and read books. You love to crawl over to your little shelf in our living room and you will look through book after book. You also sit so well when we read to you. I love this!
Your comprehension of verbal instructions is amazing us everyday! Just today we were playing in your nursery and I said "do you want to read
10 Little Ladybugs?" (your favorite book) and you said "da!" and I said "go get it then", and you got off my lap and started crawling to your bookcase!! Daddy and I were stunned!
You also love the toy remote that makes animal sounds and plays songs. You LOVE music. You almost always start to be-bop up and down when a tune starts to play!
You are still a great little eater, and your favorites lately have been cheese, yogurt pancakes, chicken nuggets, bananas, and spaghetti.
Your little smile is becoming even more precious as your teeth come in. You've got 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom.
Your little blonde hair seems to only want to grow right down the center, which would be perfect if I wanted you to sport a mohawk, but I don't. I am working on getting it to sweep to one side =).
You are so much fun, sweet girl, and Daddy and I are delighted God chose you to be our daughter.
We are ridiculously proud to be your parents.
Love,
Momma
