Monthly Archives: November 2012

Dear William,

This week on 11/29/2012, you turned 51 weeks or 11.72 months old.

This past week we had Thanksgiving, your first.  It was pretty special, because on Thanksgiving we’re supposed to focus on the good things in our lives — whatever things or people we find to be a blessing or an encouragement — and then we eat a bountiful feast with our loved ones.  We visited your father’s parent’s house.  All of your living grandparents were there, as well as your cousins, Huck and Milo.  You had a fantastic time playing with your cousins, and they acted as your own personal entertainment.  They danced for you, talked to you, chased you, even built you a fort out of the couch cushions!  You thought they were pretty funny and spent a lot of time either watching them, open mouthed, or laughing at them.   You were having such a good time!  The afternoon moved into the evening and the time we should have left to get you home for bed came and went, and I knew there would be a price to pay, likely in the form of a meltdown when we got home, and likely an additional night waking, but I let you stay up past your bedtime.  Both “prices to pay” came true, but after your 2nd wake up, you ended up sleeping until nearly 8:30am the next morning.  Shocking!

Some of our neighbors have put up Christmas lights, a lot of people start decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving.  Your father suggested we take you over so you could see the lights, we wanted to see what you thought before we made arrangements to walk through some extravagant neighborhoods in the month of December.  You looked, your eyes open wide and I could see the reflection of those Christmas lights in your eyes.  You smiled and said, “Wow.”  Just like that, you summarized what reporters try to say, using hundreds of words, about Christmas light displays.  I guess we’ll be going to those extravagant neighborhoods.

Foods:  Since you were 11.5 months, I decided to also let you partake in the Thanksgiving feast (with the exception of the really sugary foods) — just like the little human you are.  Over the months of eating, you’ve sampled most of the foods that were served, although a new one this week was cranberries.  You weren’t terribly fond of the surprising tartness of one of the berries, but as is usually the case, despite the scrunchy face you kept going back for more.  Also, this week, your father and I had buck-fitty hot dogs at Costco, since I refuse to let you eat that crap (ha), I let you instead have some raw onion pieces.  You juiced them, like you do most of your food, and I sat there all proud that my baby boy loves onions, just like his parents do.  I also froze a mix of bananas and plain Greek yogurt in smaller “rocketship” popsicle molds, instead of the bohemoth molds you’ve been eating from that I used last year for myself.  Fortunately, as I prefer you to hold your own food (nobody puts food in baby’s mouth but baby rule) these are more your size and so you can hold them all by yourself, which thrills me and thrills you even more.

In addition to the “regular” words and sounds you say, you added some new words this week:  “ball” and “up.”
Regular words and sounds:  Mama, Dadda, Cat, Pffft (hissing), Awwww Awwww (high pitched bird cawing), this (finger point), that (finger point), POP (popsicle), Nanananana (banana), Nana (milk sign) for nursing, Bye Bye (waving), Haaaaaiiii (hi), Waaawaaa (fake crying), Uh oh (timed perfectly with dropping something), Uh uh uh uh uh uhhhhh (timed with something you shouldn’t be doing).

Developments:  You are weighing in at 28 pounds 1/2 ounce, 31 inches tall.  You are wearing 18 month sizes, some 24 months.  Diaper stuffing, I mostly double stuff your diapers these days, especially since you’ve been loving nursing.  We measured you for shoes, and you wear an Infants size 6, Extra Wide.

Steps!  You are taking one step here, one step there, carefully and cautiously.  You took one step one night, then the next night you took 2.  The next night you took 3.  Working your way up in number, slowly but surely!  So exciting and so bittersweet all at the same time.  Then, last night, you took 5 little controlled baby steps, while saying “Ball! Ball!  Ballllll!”  Even timing your speaking with your steps, which makes me think that since you’re talking and walking that it should count for even more!   http://youtu.be/fBDOPmkpGIE

Bath time, you love naked crawling … one night this week, though, we let you loose for your naked crawling time, and you crawled up and down the hallway once, and then crawled right into the bathroom and stood there by the side of the tub looking over your shoulder at me, waiting for me to lift you in.  I let you play in the bathtub sans water this week, while I folded laundry sitting there watching you.  You had a grand time, so maybe that play time has increased your bath time comfort level? I noticed this week when I rinse your hair, you tilt your chin to your chest, so you get less water in your eyes. Smart kid.  Then you like to lick the water as it comes by your mouth.  Better than dipping your face in the tub, I say.

Wednesday night, it was the funniest thing, your pant leg had ridden up on your calf, so I reached over and tugged it down.  You were standing there, busy playing with the magnet on the refrigerator and you stopped, looked up at me, quirked a smirk, sat down and reached down and deliberately tugged the pant leg back up, then stood up and grinned at me, quite pleased with yourself.  Smarty pants.

Teething:  You are teething again.  You’ve had some really tough times this week when the pain is getting to you and you just stop playing or whatever, and scream/cry. You bite Froggy, you bite your popsicles, you even bite your hands and wrists leaving teethmarks on yourself.  It’s so sad.  Although when you’re teething, your latch gets a little pinchy, thankfully you don’t bite me anymore.   I think it’s probably your upper two bilateral incisors, because when you’re teething the upper teeth, they seem to hurt you more than than the lower ones… Tylenol, or as we call it, “medicine” is your friend.

You have started to multitask while nursing… it started with a spinning toy I bought you at Walgreens.  One presses a button and the insides of this toy lights up and spins.  You love the thing and wanted to nurse but didn’t want to let go of it.  So, you nursed and pressed the button, watching the thing light up and spin.  http://youtu.be/lCjwoOmc49w

Sleep:  Your sleep has been great this week.  Wakeup around 6:30am, sometimes later.  Nap have been good, over the holiday weekend you were back and forth between 2 naps and 1 nap.  Bedtime around 7 to 7:30pm.  I’ve been pushing our overnight nursing back to around 4am.  I’ve been toying with weaning this nursing, meaning that if you don’t wake for it, I won’t dreamfeed you, but I’m not ready to do that yet.  I promised myself I would keep it until you were a year old, for several reasons — it keeps my supply up; it keeps my period from returning; it’s less milk that I have to pump during the day; it’s precious time holding you that I don’t get otherwise; and it allows me to check on you in the middle of the night to make sure you’re OK.  The only benefit I would get from NOT doing it is uninterrupted sleep.  So we continue on.

In addition to being enamored with Asian people, you have added elderly people to your list of preferences.  You will spot an elderly person out of a crowd, focus, and draw them in with smiles and laughter.  Fortunately for you, old people like babies.  We were in Costco this past week and you did this to a nice elderly lady, she was IN LOVE with you and even asked if you were like this all the time (yes!) and commented that we are so blessed (yes, more than she can imagine).  She was so tickled to be grinned and laughed at by you.

Things I want to remember about you this week:  How you and I went for a walk and ended up at our neighborhood park with “big kid” swings.  I wanted you to swing, but it wasn’t safe for you to do so by yourself, so I held you and we did the swing thing… you thought it was great, laughing and snuggling with me.  How I took you to the ocean for the first time to watch the sunset, and you were a little scared of the enormity of the ocean, but were fine as long as you were close to me.  How you wanted to nurse so much over the Thanksgiving weekend that I was taken back in my mind to when you were a newborn.  It was time consuming, but that’s OK, because it reminded me to slow down and enjoy the closeness with you.  How your father babyproofed his XBOX, building a box around it with a hole in the wood for his controller’s signals, and the first thing you did was to poke your finger in that hole.  How I learned that when driving you around when it’s dark outside it’s best to leave the dome light on so that you can see me, otherwise you spend the entire drive fussing and crying.  How you initiated an elaborate game of peek-a-boo while we were driving home one night that went on for about 15 minutes, you pulled the hat I wasn’t wearing over your face and hid and then after a minute (literally) of hiding, you lifted the hat and grinned at me waiting for me to acknowledge you.

And so the holiday season has begun.  The weather is getting chilly again.  As I brought out my winter pajamas this week, I realized that the last time I wore these jammies was last year when I was still pregnant with you and then when you were a newborn.  And so when I hold you close when you’re nursing, I’m feeling a lot of nostalgia for that time when you were so small that I could nurse you and you still fit on the nursing pillow without having to cross your leg and hold one knee up.  There was one morning this week when your father was still in bed and so I brought you in there instead of nursing you straightaway.  You melted into his arms and tucked your head in his neck and you and your father snuggled quietly.  I took a picture, and I look at that picture and while it’s not perfect in lighting or composition, it’s perfect in the emotions revealed.

This year, I am so thankful that you are here so we can make memories such as this, in the quiet stillness of the early morning hours.  The bliss of love from the protector of our family, to the innocence of you, our son.

Love, Momma

This week on 11/22/2012, you turned 50 weeks or 11.49 months old.

Over the weekend, since we were traveling last Monday, we attended a makeup music class on Saturday morning.  Because of my work schedule, I usually show up for the last 20 minutes of these classes and this was the first time I was able to attend one of your classes from the start, and I was left in awe of your teacher.  She is incredibly talented, energetic and actually makes the class fun for the adults, too.  Plus, I was envious of the facility where this class was held, in the recreation center for a community whose outdoor pool is still heated… in November!  If you know me, you know I’m all about outdoor swimming pools!

That afternoon we headed to Downtown Disney to meet up with some longtime family friends for dinner, since they are unable to make your birthday party next month.  It was a true joy to see them and catch up, and I was so glad that we were able to make it happen.  Afterward, you and I went into Disneyland to have our picture taken in front of the big Christmas tree… this is something I hope to make an annual tradition.

Grocery shopping with you has become quite the entertainment.  Ever since you made the connection in your brain and you now know that we are buying food, you stare longingly at anything we put in the cart and if you get your hands on it, in your mouth it goes.  I thought the banana last month was funny (embarrassingly so), but then the next week you tongued an ice cream box, and this week you wanted to bite into a raw onion.  I swear, people are gonna think we starve you!

You are weighing in at 28 pounds.  Clothing sizing is the same, 18 month and some 24 months. New words you’re saying this week:  “Wow!”  Your Grandma D. says that came about after library story time, one of the books emphasized that word.  You demonstrate that you have an understanding of a lot of things we say and you are quite the little repeater.  Sometimes you’ll be protesting your diaper change and I’ll interrupt your complaining with a great big “Waaawaawah!”  You’ll look at me and repeat my mournful sound.  The other thing I’ll say is “Stop!”  You respond by looking at me and saying, “Pop?”  ha

New developments:  Climbing!  There’s a toy that has been in your play yard all this time and someone thought it a good idea to bring it into the living room.  Toy rotation, I think they call this.  The problem is that it’s the perfect height of a step and you discovered this and now use it as a step ladder and push it around to various things you want to reach.  When I discovered you doing that, a couple days went by and I put it back in your play yard.  It’s perfect for a newly sitting baby, but not so much for a baby who’s working on walking.  I’m thinking that toy is going to be one of the first ones rotated out after your birthday.

On 11/21, your sixth tooth emerged through your gums, your bottom right lateral incisor.  Clapping!  You clapped your hands for the first time after your music class last Saturday!  Blowing!  You blow out with your mouth… you’ve been “hissing” for awhile now, but the blowing is new, just in time for your birthday cake?  You intentionally blew out your nose and then inhaled, copying me one morning, now we just need to expand that skill to blow into a tissue.  A few weeks ago, during bath time, I started sliding your bath toys off the duck tub’s head into your bath with you, and now every time you get in the tub you look expectantly at the toys sitting on the ledge of the bath tub.  Your Grandma D. says that when she heats your milk during the day, you mimic her swirling the milk by moving your arm in a swirling motion.  Ripping things up!  You love to rip things up: magazines, newspapers, aluminum foil and paper coasters.  You figured out how to turn on your father’s projector with the remote control.  You also figured out how to pull your father’s laptop off the desk and onto the floor, that didn’t end well for the computer.

New Food(s) this week:  Beets.  You recognize the word “banana” and have for awhile, what I didn’t realize and your father did, is that you will come crawling from across the room if asked if you want one.  Unfortunately, banana sounds much like your word for nursing and so you make the milk sign for it while saying “nananannaaa.”

Things I want to remember about you this week?  How you reach for me in the mornings and make the milk sign desperately while saying “NAAAANAAAAA”.  How when you’re nursing and waiting for a letdown, you impatiently sign “milk” with your hand, and when the letdown happens, you stop signing and start moaning. How when you’re done nursing one breast, you’ll pull off and wave at it and say “Bye, bye!”   How one middle of the night nursing you pulled off in the middle of nursing and, concerned, I waited to see what you would do… you blew, and then latched back on and continued nursing.  How when I wanted to bake the gingerbread dough this week that I made last year when you were a newborn, I pulled out my cookie cutters and let you play with one of the boxes while I used the other one.  You examined each cookie cutter intently, one at a time, and then decided it would be a good idea to upend the thing and spread them across the kitchen floor.

How when you sleep at night, no matter how I lay you in your crib you always end up on your tummy and work your way to the end nearest the sound machine.  How when you’re concentrating on something, you have your mouth wide open.

In the mornings, our routine is that once you wake I nurse you and then give you a couple minutes on the floor in your room with your Book Nook while I prep your diaper by double stuffing it.  I pick you up and we look in your closet to determine what you will wear, you grab hold of the Mickey Mouse Medellion.  Then I change you and dress you and we exit your room and go find your father.  One morning this week I told you, as usual, “Let’s go find daddy!” Except your father was still in the shower and instead of going in there, I was planning to hold you a bit longer.  You started to cry and wiggle, so I let you down thinking you wanted to play.  The second you got to the floor, you hustled yourself into the master bedroom, around the corner and pushed open the bathroom door, and started banging on the shower door.  You were going to say good morning to your daddy, regardless of where he was!

Every day that goes by, you become more of your own person, with your own personality and your own preferences.  Parents who’ve gone down this road before me used to say stuff like, “It’s so fun to watch them discover things.”  I understood what they were saying, of course, but to watch it in motion, watching it happen before my very own eyes and know that the things I say and the things I do are a crucial part of your development, it’s an awesome and somewhat scary thing.  Much like when you were a newborn and I found you watching my every move in the mirror when I changed your diaper and I started smiling nonstop, now I find myself evaluating the things I say and the facial expressions I use around you.  You are an awesome kid and I don’t want anything I do to change that.

Love you forever,
Momma