The Lovely Years: Jillian: {Eleven Months}

Jillian –

You are eleven months old today! The next 30 days better drag, because I’m not ready to have a 1 year-old toddler! According to our at-home measurements, you are 17lbs, 13 oz and 28-1/4 inches long. You lost a little weight after your sickness this month, but I know you’ll gain it back soon enough.

You have some 9 Month outfits, but they are mostly summer/warm weather clothes. You wear 12 Month clothes, even though they are a little big. You wear size 3 diapers. We have to buy either Luvs or Pampers Cruisers because you leak otherwise.

Eating is good if you’re in charge. On most days, you have 3 bottles of 6-8 oz of formula, then 1-2 oz in a sippy cup. You seem to skip your lunch, but you have been eating 6 oz of baby food for breakfast and dinner. You snack on Cheerios, bites of mama’s banana, and a sippy cup of water. Sippy cups with straws, or regular cups with or without a straw seem to be the type of cup you prefer. You are better at sippy cups with spouts, but you don’t like them as much.

You have 3 teeth, and they are all on the bottom! Your top teeth are slowly coming in. You’ve worked hard on them this month. Hopefully they’ll make an appearance soon.

You are all over the place! You crawl like an expert, you can pull up to standing, and you are easing into cruising right now. After a few days of injuries, you are hesitant to go from standing to sitting, but you do try occasionally and are usually successful. We met with a physical therapist this month, and she said you’re doing well. Just to be sure, she’s coming over to the house tomorrow. I’m hoping she’ll give me some tips to help you stay safe at home. You love being passed from person to person, and you don’t seem to have much stranger anxiety. You do get a little upset if I leave your sight on certain occasions, but you are such a social butterfly that you get over it quickly.

Sleep was a challenge this month. For a while, you would sleep until 4 or 5 a.m., but it was teething pain that woke you up. We could get you back to sleep if we laid you on our chest on the couch. Then your sleep got really out of whack when you got sick :( Hopefully next month will be better. You still take 1 or 2 naps a day for 1-2 ½ hours. Sleeping on your tummy with your butt in the air seems to make you the most comfortable. We put you down on your back, but you almost immediately roll over.

You still talk as often as you can! It’s clear that your first word is coming soon. You can say “mama” and “dada” clearly, but you getting close to other words like “bye”, “no”, “duck”, and “cup”. We can tell you are working hard on new consonant sounds, and you are getting really good at imitating us! You may not say the word correctly, but you can get the correct vowel sound, and number of syllables.

When you play, you play hard. Not only do you crawl everywhere and get into everything, you also really concentrate to figure out new toys. If we give you enough time, you usually make connections when you’re given a new command. You have to observe long enough to understand. You are definitely a big thinker like your dad. You follow simple commands and understand when we are asking you questions. After learning to clap, you stopped waving for a little while. Now you do both again and love showing off your “tricks”. However, you usually don’t do them consistently if we ask you to. You have to want to do your tricks :)

You had your first official fever and ear infection this month. For 3 days, you had a temperature that fluctuated between 98.7 and 102.3 degrees. It made for some long nights and I was very worried about you a few times. Luckily, it was some bug that worked itself out. Unfortunately, you developed a rash and ear infection almost as soon as the fever was gone. Luckily, your doctor is great and got you medicine quickly. After just a few doses, you were back to your happy/active self again! I know you need to build up your immune system, but I felt so helpless. I hope I made you comfortable enough to be a calming comfort to you baby girl.

We celebrated Halloween this month! You dressed up as a Queen Bee and even went to our church’s trunk or treat event! We didn’t get any candy since you can’t have it and I probably shouldn’t have any either ;) We kept it low key, but you seemed to have a good day overall. It’s hard to believe that you only have 1 more major holiday to celebrate as a first. This year has truly flown by.

Jillian, you are our greatest joy. We cannot remember how we lived our lives without you! Even on your sick and fussy days, we would rather spend the day and night cuddling with you than do anything else. We love you so much my dear :)

A few outtakes: