I have been so terrible about blogging. I cannot believe I am finally getting to Claire's ten and eleven month update the night before she turns a year! I am going to try to play some major catch up on this blog over the next couple weeks.
Weight: 20lbs (30th percentile)
Height: 28.5 inches (30th percentile)
There have been so many changes with Claire since her 9 month post. At that point she had four teeth. I believe on May 7th her top canine teeth popped then immediately following those the bottom two canine popped. She now has a total of 8 teeth and we have had a break from teething for several weeks now. She was pretty fussy today and this evening so I am wondering if we are about to endure another round of teething.
I would say the biggest changes right after her 9 month post was in the area of eating, sleeping, and mobility. Right after we returned from vacation, Claire started sleeping through the night. She is a very restless sleeper and is all over that crib, may wake briefly at times, but as soon as she finds her blankie she goes right back to sleep. She typically goes to bed right around 7 and gets up around 650ish in the morning.
Another big big change, and the one I am the most sad about, has to do with breastfeeding. Right before vacation we were having latch issues here and there. Claire would have days where she was too busy to stay latched on long enough for the let down to happen. We worked through it and seemed to be fine. On the drive home from vacation she refused to latch on the whole day and literally went the entire day without milk. We seemed to get back on track once home, but that only lasted for a week. Claire again was refusing to latch on long enough for the let down. I finally had to give up and begin pumping. She was getting stressed (and not getting milk) and honestly it was stressing me and making it even worse. So I resorted to pumping 4-5 times a day and she was having full breastmilk from a bottle. I never even got to get the last breastfeed photos like I did with Ella. I figured with staying at home and this being my second breastfed child that the breastfeeding relationship would last MUCH longer than it did. I didn't expect my child to wean herself before ten months. It really did make me sad. It also stunk that my supply wasn't quite what it used to be and was dwindling quickly with just pumping. I tried Mother's Milk Tea and Fenugreek to increase my supply but it didn't really help. So at ten and half months we began the very very slow process of mixing in whole milk. I refused to give her formula at this point. I am happy and proud to say that neither of my children have never been given formula. I really didn't have a choice but to supplement about a half ounce per bottle at the beginning. With my milk supply quickly vanishing we made the full transition to whole milk just a little over eleven months. She seems to be taking to it well and it is what it is.
Claire ended up not being a roller but rather an army crawler. Around the end of May she began to army crawl with the under sides of her arms and literally her toes with her legs lifted slightly off the ground and man can she move fast. Also about a little over a month ago she also started to sit up on her own from belly/side/floor. She actually does this randomly in the middle of the night a lot. About two or three weeks ago she learned to crawl but she isn't near as fast at crawling as army crawl. She may go a few feet with regular crawl but quickly ends up army crawling to get the job done quicker. About two weeks ago she started to pull up on our stairs. Last week she started to pull up on everything else. This week she is endlessly trying to climb are stairs and climb into the bottom shelf of our end table.
She is so feisty. Really feisty. If she has a toy that she really wants and Ella or the dog come near her she will scream bloody murder.
About two months ago she started pointing at everything and saying "that". Especially when its something she wants. And if she wants it really bad its more like "thhhhhhaaaaatttt". Around this time she also learned to verbally identify a duck as well as quack. Everywhere she would see a duck she would yell "duck quack". She also learned to say "aww baby" when she holds her baby to her shoulder and rocks it. She also imitates like crazy. She sees you put sunscreen on, she starts rubbing the same part of her body, you wipe something from the floor, she wipes the floor, she always picks up a brush and tries to comb her hair. She doesn't even wear shoes or socks but she picks up a sock or a shoe and sits down, holds up her foot, holds the sock in both hands and tries putting it on. She can point to her belly when you ask where is your belly and tonight she pointed to a girl in a magazines mouth and I said mouth, Claire immediately took her finger and pointed to her own mouth. She also can point to hair. She yells for Ella and she can say up when she wants up. She loves to clap to a beat and to music and she always yells out clap when she does it. She loves to dance. She cannot help herself but to shake her shoulders back and forth anytime she hears a tune. Anytime I put sunglasses on her she sticks her face out and does this crazy shake/dance of her head and neck. Her thing the last two weeks is dogs. For awhile now she has said "hi dog" anytime she sees Winston but now its any dog or any picture of a dog. She yells "hi dog" and has now added "woof" to it this week as well. She is also obsessed with saying "hi dad or hey dad" to Tom. Even if he is outside and she can see him she will just repeatedly say "hi dad, hey dad". She also makes an elephant sound anytime she sees an elephant. She expressively labels cup and ball. She shakes her head back and forth for no or when she doesnt want something. She is really into playing with little baby dolls this week. She loves her Little Einstein treasure box where you put different plastic coins in a slot. She also loves to roll and throw a ball. She just learned to give a high five two weeks ago and she thinks its pretty cool.
She has become absolutely obsessed with books in the last three weeks and will sit for a really long time with me pointing at the pictures and naming the things in the books. She has to be everywhere her sister and I am. She wants to be near us at all times. She is a water baby. She loves the pool and sticks her face in it. She LOVES the garden hose. She will hold the hose in one hand and her bucket in the other and fill it up or take little sips of water from the hose as she holds it. She loves to spray Ella with the hose and even herself. She LOVES the trampoline with Ella and to bounce or have the sprinkler under the tramp. She loves to crawl in and out of the Dora tent.
She is still my magic baby. She attracts attention everywhere we go. I still cannot take her out in public without someone commenting about her. She just has that gift of making people happy. I hope she keeps that gift for everywhere. I know she makes us really really happy. Life wouldn't be complete without her.
It is so crazy to me that at this time last year she was still in my belly. We were in the hospital awaiting her arrival. In less than an hour my labor was about to kick in and in five hours it marks her arrival. I get so sentimental the week or so before my girls birthdays. About a week before I start thinking oh I was still pregnant, oh I was out doing this or I was still at work or oh I had my last OB appointment, or we ate dinner at such and such hoping to get labor started, and then I start getting down to the hour by hour, minute by minute details. Like finding out we had to go straight to the hospital from the OB with just stopping at home for our bag and a bite to eat at Panera. Checking into the hospital at 515. Getting water broke, starting pitocin, crazy contractions, intense pain, her entering the world, pure/raw joy, elation, love. And just like that the whole experience comes right back to me and, I am just like then, filled with raw emotion and pure joy. I cannot believe in just a few hours she will be a year old. Tonight I put an eleven month old to bed and in the morning I will wake up to a one year old. Happy Birthday Bear.
