The biggest news is that Acelyn has started walking this month! She took her first steps right at 10.5 months and hasn't stopped since. She is great at taking about 10 steps before plopping back down and crawling to where she needs to go. She's scaling walls and furniture, and pulling herself up on anything to help her in between, and she's 100% mobile in all forms! She's very busy and is always on the move.... there's no getting her to sit still for much unless it's Trolls, a song/dance on TV or food!
Acelyn's personality is really starting to come out, and she's a funny little girl with lots of drama and sass to go around. My sweet, tiny babe has turned into one with wants and preferences over the last month, and if she's not getting what she wants, she'll let you know by shrieking as loud as possible! She's great at pointing to what she wants to tell you, especially when we're eating. She's definitely a dare devil and loves to be spun around, thrown up in the air, swinging high on the swings, and wrestling with her brother. Her favorite thing is to be outside and she will stand by the sliding door to ask to go out. If we're inside, her absolute favorite thing is to dance. We typically have dance parties once or twice a day, and girlfriend knows how to shake it! She loves the Trolls and Moana soundtrack, with her favorite song being the "Everybody" song from Trolls. She can be in the other room and as soon as she hears it come on, she books it in, hands waving in the air and bouncing up and down to the beat! She also loves books and has started favoring certain ones: her Sesame Street books, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, the Wheels on the Bus, and her Eric Carle's ABC lift-flap book.
With her funny personality comes her sweet side, too, and Acelyn is always full of kisses for her family and dog dog. She's known how to "give kisses" for a while, but will voluntarily give you them herself by looking up at you and opening her mouth if you're holding her or crawling onto your lap and attacking your face if you're at her level. She's a cuddler and will often wake early in the AM just to cry out for Mama, so we've started spoiling her by bringing her in bed with us and cuddling for another hour or so. (She's our baby and our last... so let us enjoy the spoiling!)
Along with giving kisses when asked, Acelyn is also starting to follow directions well. She can give you something in her hands when asked, or if you ask her to put a toy somewhere (in a bin) she can do that, too. She will follow you by crawling or walking if you tell her to "Come here or follow me!" She also understands "No", and will look at you before doing something she knows she's not supposed to (touching cords or going into the pantry), and most of the time decides its more fun to test Mama than to listen (i.e.: throwing food off the high chair is way too fun!)
Here's what else this munchkin has been up to:
Height, Weight and Sizes:
Still no official weigh in until next month when she turns one, but I'm guessing she's still around 18.5 to 19 pounds. She has definitely lost a lot of her baby rolls this month which makes me sad, and has lengthened out a ton. Her hair is finally starting to thicken up and grow a bit, but mostly in the back and not so much in the front! She sports a cute pony on the top of her head as of lately due to her new, longer locks. She remains in 12 month clothing and is starting to move towards 18 months, especially in summer jammies that we need to stock up on! Her diaper size remains a 4, and she still only has two teeth!
Feeding:
Acelyn continues to grow her palette of finger foods and "grown up" foods, as she eats pretty much what we eat at every meal. She continues to eat a puree or pouch at almost every meal, because she enjoys fruits and veggies and with only two tiny teeth at the bottom, has an easier time with these than uncooked veggies or fruit. She loves mixed fruit cups and continues to love anything with cheese, avocado, scrambled eggs, rice of any kind, and chicken. This girl is not picky and will eat most of anything.
We've been toying with the idea of dropping nursing sessions and just touching on starting our journey into weaning (because with her temperament, it's going to take months!) and discovered that Acelyn does not enjoy bottles, sippy cups, straw cups, regular cups... you name it. She hates it. So it's definitely going to be a process to switch from breast to anything but boob. We're taking it very slow and gentle and I've started introducing a RePlay sippy of both water and milk at every meal, and I'm hoping she will eventually start taking some in and learning to like them. She's been normal with her nursing schedule otherwise, and will sometimes skip out on the 11AM or 5PM feeding, depending on how our day is planned out and how busy she is. She's so opposite of Nolan and how scheduled (and an easy transition) he was, so this is all new territory for us, which is why we're taking it slow!
Sleeping:
Our biggest change this month came with Acelyn's sleep habits... apparently as she reaches one, she also has decided sleep is a challenge. My babe who used to nurse and fall asleep soundly now fights going down both at nap and bedtime, arms flaring, tossing and turning as if she's uncomfortable and wants to put herself down.. but the second I place her in her crib she wants to be held. She also has been waking more frequently during the night, and early morning wake ups occur almost daily, where we've resorted to (yes, we never said we'd do this butttttttt) putting her in the Dock a Tot in our bed for the remaining hour or so before we all get up for good. Although it's frustrating to not have a good groove anymore with sleep, and I know I'm not doing us any good by snuggling and rocking and savoring, I'm totally eating up every second I can, knowing these moments of her being small and wanting to be comforted aren't going to be as often soon enough! We'll work on a better sleep schedule and routine in the very near future, probably around when we plan to wean.
Likes:
Practicing walking, all over!
Dancing and music, especially the Trolls and Moana soundtrack
Sound and touch and feel books
Giving kisses, without prompting
When Nolan "carries" her around
Playing in the mirror
Throwing food off of the high chair
Playing on the push airplane with Nolan (he pushes her, she holds on and walks behind him riding it)
Climbing the stairs
Playing "chase" and "peek a boo"
Dislikes:
Sitting still for pictures
Being left alone in a room (even for a second)
Strangers talking to her (and she will typically give anyone straight face stares when they talk to her initially... even if she's familiar with you!)
Being told No
Diaper changes and getting dressed
When Nolan and I play catch- she gets frustrated like it's keep away!
Happy 11 months, baby girl! ONE MORE MONTH til ONE!
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