Luke's 11 months!!! + ramblings

well, actually he's 11.5 months but who's counting?! i've been such a horribly bad blogger but have had so much going on around here lately. i still don't have my laptop back to tip-top shape and it's hard working from a brand new computer that needs some major love... all while planning luke's birthday party (which seems to be taking up every waking minute that i'm not doing everything else!). so, i'm putting aside 10 minutes to say "hi" and give a short update of what we've been up to.

luke is super crazy at 11.5 months, lol. he's into playing really rough, like charging me and biting me... he's in to leaping into our arms and has just started taking steps/leaps at 11.5 months (anywhere from 1-2 steps pretty infrequently, still, at this point). he's kind of doing it right along with standing alone. he's still a super super SUPER nosy kid, just loves to people watch (so much so that i'm often quite embarrassed when, while in my arms, he whips around me, strains his neck and contorts his body just to look at someone on the other side of me.... all just to STARE EXPRESSIONLESS when they talk and coo and caaa at him!). seriously, he's sooo rude!

let me put this into bullets since that's an easier read (skip it if you must, this is for me ;)

11 months

- 25 lbs, 30.5"

- eating three balanced meals/day + 1 afternoon snack

- mommy has stopped pumping at work/during the day (::chanting:: allelujah!). my feelings about this (excitement, liberation, joy) surprise me! i totally thought i'd be saddened about the weaning process but let me tell ya... margarita here i come ;) i'm still nursing him in the mornings when he wakes up and in the evenings (to sleep still). i'm sure the morning and nighttime nursings will be a lot harder to drop.

- at 11 months Luke started sttn, about 10 hrs/night and still taking two naps (a 2-hr morning nap and 1.5-2 hr afternoon nap).

- luke babbles "mama" and "dada" often, usually repeats us when we say it but will sometimes surprise me with a "mama" and then a kiss. melts my heart!

- showers us with wet, slobbery kisses all day long, love it!

- he's practically running along the sofa and ottoman, definitely a risk-taker m little boy (hits his head a lot on the way down, too :(

- has 7 teeth now. 4 on top, 3 on bottom.

- he loves begging for food, lol, seriously. he'll eat all of his huge dinner (protein, veggies, grains AND fruit) and still comes over to ask us for food.... AND eats as much as we give him. i just don't get it.

11.5 months

- sleeps a solid 11-12 hours every night without interruption! i'm still nursing him to bed but think he's trying to put a stop to that (refuses the breast and doesn't cry or fuss when i put him in bed, awake).

- has recently been shortening his afternoon naps so may be starting to transition into 1 nap/day.

- since he's taking a short cat-nap in the afternoons, he's yawning by the time we get home and start dinner.

- LOVES solids. i'm still making all of his food and he seems to be loving it. it's a lot of work now that i'm back to work but the rewards (his enjoyment) are so worth it!

- instead of giving him cow's milk twice/day, i'm mixing Enfagrow with breast milk (i still have a stash to take him well through his 12th month). he seems to really love it!! yay!!! my mil no longer has to chase him around the house to get him to drink his milk!

- drinks from a sippy (since 10-months). that transition was easy since he never took a bottle.

- he's talking so much at 11.5 months (what a change from a month ago!) and has such a...... determined personality already (takes after his mama!).

- still takes daily/nighttime baths and loves them (though he's afraid of the new bubble machine :( he'll actually jump up into my arms, in like .2 seconds, if he even catches a glimpse of it :( i've since removed it from the tub but he's still afraid of the spot it was in, boo, i traumatized my son with a dang bubble machine!

- he's just such a big boy already! he's long and appears to be thinning out (but again, i don't understand how when he eats so dang much!). he's losing his baby chunks and it makes us sad :(

- he has such a little personality on him, kicks his legs/feet and flails his arms whenever in protest... which seems to be more and more often these days, lol.

- he understands "no" perfectly well, though he isn't always so obedient.

- for the most part, like 99% of the time, he's a happy, nosy, calm boy who loves to play "chase" with mommy & daddy and give kisses. we can't wait to see what this next month has in store for us and him!

mama

- it's hard to consider myself; where i am, where i want things to go, even who i am without luke sometimes. this past year (heck, year and a half really!) has been dedicated to luke. taking care of his needs, trying to do all the "right" things, all while neglecting my own (what?! i have needs?!). now that i've started the weaning process it actually feels good to consider myself an individual again. i know that must sound strange but really, it's how i'm feeling. instead of the sadness that i thought i'd feel, it's been rather nice not having to strap a machine to myself for 10-15 minutes twice/day (go figure). i think i was glowing with excitement the first day at work, pump-free, feeling a sense of oddity and loss of identity without my trusty pump-in-style at my side, worrying about where i'd be at 10:30 and 2:30 to pump!

- which brings me to... WORK! ahhhh! again, i worried this would be so hard but oddly enough i find it so natural. i love the routine of it all, in all it's craziness of course. i love that M-W-F's i take ds to the grandmas and T & TH the hubbs takes him. i love that we both want to be the one to pick him up at the end of the day, to see the joy and excitement in his face when he looks up and sees our face and/or hears our face. i'm sure this won't last.

- i hate that i feel work compromises my efforts at being the "best" mommy i can be. i'm tired at the end of the day and though i give luke my "all," realistically, the "all" at the end of the day is a crappy second to my "best."

- i love work, though i just started my "real" work this week, but yeah. i love the work i set out to do everyday. it makes leaving luke a little less painful that i leave him for this "job." i do hope, however, that i never regret my decision to be a "working" mom. it wasn't until i had luke that the thought of being a sahm ever even occurred to me. i came from a single parent home (a little self-disclosure there ;) and so i never knew that not working wold ever be an option. anyway, my ultimate goal is to work shorter hours/day (whose idea was it to work 8hrs/day, 5 days/wk anyway?!) so i can be home more for/with my family.

- to be continued, so much for a 10-minute post.....

i leave you with Luke's 11-month pictures, and again, i can't control my crazy click-happy finger on the shutter... i'm definitely making up for the lak of pics/posts by putting all 20 pics here :0

nosy!!

love love his expression here... again, nosy ;)

the end....