Emelia at eleven months

Emelia turned 11 months on September sixth and now it’s the 13th, so she’s practically on her way to college now, but I needed to get this up and you guys, my baby is almost one how did that happen????

Also, chair pictures are now pretty much impossible to get.

• 

• 

Nicknames: Meals, Mealie, Squish, Squishy Face

Weight: about 18.5 lbs

Length: ?

Teeth: 4

Diaper size: 3

Clothing size: 12 months, but can fit into some 9 month clothes

Eating

She’s been doing so well with foods now. Hamburger still gives her a lot of trouble, so I’ve scaled back on it. But besides that, she doesn’t gag nearly as much as she was. And she hasn’t done a bad gag in the last month, so she’s getting better at maneuvering food around. She’ll even now spit out food that she has trouble with, so I’m glad about that.

She’s been loving pizza, grilled cheese, strawberries, cottage cheese, cornbread, spaghetti, tilapia, broccoli, pancakes, bits of my take-out burritos, carnitas, black beans, and Cheerios. She gets 1-2 meals a day. I switched out her infant high chair and she’s now in the booster seat with the attached tray. I think she likes it better because she can get at her food easier and it’s so much quicker to clean.

We’ve been working on sippy cups more than previous months, and she’s getting a little better with them, but she still spends a lot of time chewing on the nipple. Chris can get her to drink up to 2.5 ounces of my frozen milk, so we’re making some progress with that.

She’s been nursing about six times a day. Apparently, pinching is the theme of the month and I have tiny bruises sprinkled all over my breasts. Sometimes when she’s nursing right before bed, she’ll pinch me so hard the pain will shoot up into my head. Trying to stop her is pointless because it just makes her frantic and she stops nursing. Sometimes it works to cover my breast with my hand until she forgets about it. I may bring a chewing necklace to the glider with me for nursing to sleep so she can maybe get distracted by that, because it’s been…a bit difficult mentally, powering through that.

Sleeping

Her naps (especially her afternoon ones) have been a hit or a miss. A good nap is considered an hour and a half for us, but there were several times this month where she either flat out refused her nap, or it lasted just over an hour. So I’m not sure if this is another regression or what.

Though there are still some rough evenings where it takes her awhile to get to sleep, she’s been consistently sleeping from 7:30-8:00 pm to 5-6:00 am every day. Then she’ll nurse and usually go back to sleep until anywhere from 7:30-8:30 am. I can’t complain about that.

Milestones

Sitting up, army crawling, and going from belly to sitting is no big deal. I don’t have to put anything behind her now, and it’s rare for her to spill over backward. She’s done remarkably well at catching herself. We had virtual therapy a few weeks ago and I learned she’s favoring her left side while getting into a sitting position. So we have to work on helping her use her right arm to push up. We’ve also been working on helping her practice getting into a standing position since she’s not pulling up to stand yet. She is, however, trying to pull herself up including in her crib so we’ll have to move it down to the lowest position. I’ll put a couch cushion on the floor with something enticing on top and she’ll work on getting her knees up and pushing to get herself onto the cushion. She does love to stand at the coffee table, but I’m helping her up and holding onto her the whole time.

She’s been clapping her hands a lot and doing some waving. She also is back into shaking her head back and forth, like she’s vehemently saying no to you.

Health

Emelia has four teeth, her two top and two bottom teeth. I bought some teething gel that we’ve used a few times, but overall, her teething has been going pretty well. I know she has some trouble going to sleep at night because of it, but so far we haven’t had to use any meds. There was one night I had to go in twice before I went to bed to nurse her and I wondered if she’d be up again, but she ended up sleeping the rest of the night. I know nursing helps her, so I’m fine with it. I know the day will probably come when we’re dosing her every night with Motrin like we did Olivia to help her sleep, so I’ll take what I can get right now.

We’re continuing physical therapy monthly.

Personality

She loves hollering and squealing. She loves observing her surroundings and watching us go about our day. She’s getting LOUD. She loves screeching at the top of her lungs, particularly when we have her in the high chair to eat, and her food hasn’t been placed in front of her.

Likes

Army crawling everywhere. Especially where she’s not supposed to go. Playing with her big sister’s toys. Musical toys. Touch and feel books. Being read to. Playing in the ball pit. Eating. Nursing. Being greeted after naps. Walks. Her Gigi and Pop.

Dislikes

When she can’t go crawling away when she’s being changed or dressed. Her last diaper change for the night.

Undecided about

Car rides. Strangers.

Looking forward to

Well, we ended up canceling our North Shore vacation (weird, because we’ve always gone). With Olivia’s carsickness, my subsequent anxiety over it all, and the pandemic messing with our usual routine up there, it’s just better to skip it this year. It makes me sad, but it would be a whole lot worse if this was a normal life. But we don’t even know what stores will be open, what restaurants we’d get to go in to. If it rained, there aren’t any options for indoor stuff. So, that sucks. If I could leave the baby, it would be Chris and I taking a weekend away, or me going up there alone for some R and R, but alas… I’m a nursing mom. Who doesn’t feel like pumping anymore, who has a baby that scoffs at milk unless it comes from the tap.

But I’m looking forward to hopefully having a near-normal birthday party, even though it will be combined with her sister’s. I’m looking forward to cooler weather, but I hope we can still get some days in our pool before we have to put it away.

Past monthly updates

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months