11 Months Old

11 months is the cutest...We Love Syd!

one week old:

one month old:

two months old:

three months old:

four months old:

five months old:

six months old:

seven months old:

eight months old:

nine months old:

ten months old:

eleven months old:

EAT:

Nothing new since her 10 months post, except more fingers foods.  She wants only finger foods now, yet she still has zero teeth.  It gets tricky.  I have to find new ways to get her to eat the pureed stuff now because she screams and just wants finger foods.  None of us can eat in front of her now without getting yelled at because she wants some.  She will eat anything in finger food form: small bits of whole wheat bagels, yogurt melts, puffs, black beans, peas, corn, carrots, apples, mango, avocado, pears, blueberries.  She's also had a couple of bites of donut this past weekend to keep her quiet. :)  I've been adding in some dairy to my diet, and since it is going so well, I'm slowly starting to add some to hers as well.  She had cheese for the first time tonight, so I hope it doesn't hurt her.  I really haven't seen any signs of the milk protein sensitivity this past month...no spitting up and no diarrhea.  I'm dreaming of an easy transition from breastmilk to whole milk sometime in the next few months.

The bottle feedings are going okay, as long as it is breastmilk only.  I tried for several days in a row to add in an ounce of formula and she wouldn't take it.  Even when I would let her get really hungry...WOULD NOT TAKE IT.  Have I mentioned how stubborn she is?!  She's also still on sippy cup strike.  

SLEEP:
Pretty much the same as her 10 months post.  She's been consistently waiting until around 5am to wake up and eat, then she usually goes back down for a couple more hours.  I guess I'm okay with this 5am waking...gives me a really long stretch and she's quick about eating and going back down.  Plus, she's cute...so what am I gonna do?!

She did let me rock her the other day...a rarity.  I loved every minute.

PLAY:
She's everywhere, all the time now!  Walking everywhere.  She loves to do laps around our house...through the kitchen, living room, entryway, dining room, and back to the kitchen.  She'll just walk in circles for the longest time.  Millie likes to walk with her and pretend they are going places together, like the store.  Syd likes to be chased by Millie, and she'll laugh and speed up when she hears Millie coming.  Syd also likes to chase Millie in the pink car.  Millie thinks of it as keep away.  Sometimes things get a little crazy and someone ends up hurt.  I'm just hoping this makes her a tough kid because there's not much I can do about it.  She received this awful looking cut/scratch/shiner thingy last week when she tripped and plowed into the sideboard of our bed.  Made me so sad.  Look at those amazing cheeks.

She's started patting when you pick her up...little lovins.  It makes me smile.  She'll play peekaboo a bit, but she usually doesn't get the cover over her face.  She puts it by her ear, like this pic below, then brings it down quickly.

She clapped for about 2 days at the end of March and won't do it again.  I guess she doesn't see the point.  No waving either.  Meh.  She does still like to dance though.  She loves to swing at the playground.  She loves to ride in the shopping cart, which is brand new!  She had the best time last week looking around at everyone.  She's so easy to please. ;)

Around this age, Millie went through a planking phase.  Syd is doing the same thing, except she keeps laying down on her belly instead of her back.  She'll stay for awhile, just looking around.  She'll usually start giggling if Mills comes over to investigate.  I love watching them interact.

Mills loves to push her in the swing; Syd loves when Mills pushes her <3

Dear Syd Pid,

You're such a doll with the softest skin and big blue eyes and feathered hair.  You're still such a little angel.  I'm constantly amazed at your patience (except when it comes to eating) and ability to entertain yourself.  You've been saying "hi" a lot lately, and I'm sure you don't mean it in the correct way, but it still cracks me up.  We always say "hi" back to ya.  Eleven months is such a fun age, and I've really enjoyed doing more with you this month....taking you places and letting you experience our outings instead of keeping you in the Ergo carrier so much.  You like to be down and walking, and you're ALWAYS trying to eat things off the ground, so it is a full-time job.  I'm not sure why you like the taste of mulch so much. ;)  I'm looking forward to seeing you go to town on your birthday cake next month!  Can't believe my Syddles is going to be one.  Sweet sweet sweet baby of mine, you are loved more than you'll ever know.  

Egg Hunt

Last week, Millie's school had an Easter egg hunt.  This was Millie's first experience hunting eggs...we had to practice a little at home beforehand.  It has become a favorite game and we've had to hide eggs around the house daily since then.  She'd prefer if we put treats in eggs, like they did at school. ;)  She had such a good time and it was fun to watch her with her friends.

Ms. Kimber's 2 year old class 2013-2014

Mills & Sawyer

...and they're off!

<3

Currently

It's like this: your kid turns two and you're terrified of the "terrible two's".  You make it through 2/3 of the year thinking, meh...this isn't so bad.  Then...SHAZAM.  What. Just. Happened.  Our happy Millie turned into an angry tween.  In fact, she'll tell you "I'm angry!", but she can't tell you why.  There is no rhyme or reason.  The strangest things set her off, and if you don't let her do something herself, it is cause for meltdown.  If you make her share or take turns with other kids...meltdown.  If you put the lid on her cup yourself or take her shoes off yourself...meltdown.  She wanted to do it.  Then she throws stuff and kicks things as her little outlet; poor Syd and Beansie have taken a beating lately.  We've hit ALL of the stereotypical milestones for bad toddler behavior, and potty training is taking it to a whole new level.  We definitely waited too long to start and there is no part of her that wants to please us, these days.

Thankfully, the temps have warmed up because the girls don't wear much clothing these days.

The lighting is terrible, but can you see the chocolate on Syd's face??  Me: "Millie, did you give her chocolate?"  Millie: "no".  Really?!  She's already lying to me?!  She also lies about her pants being wet.  Sigh...

Last weekend, I ran a local 5K.  Run is such a strong word.  Jog...jog is definitely a better description.    My time was 32:56, but I didn't walk at all...so I'm okay with it.  I really don't like running.  I wanted to do some races to set exercise goals for myself, but man, my body hurts...knees, feet, back.  I can't imagine how people feel who are training for marathons.  No thanks.   I have one more run at the end of April to fulfill my New Year's resolution and then I'm going back to my normal aerobic-type exercises.  It did feel good to be out exercising so early in the morning with others though!  I'm so used to exercising alone now; can't wait to get back to a gym some day.

Syd has that little tongue out ALL THE TIME.  She is the cutest.

Just to get out of the house, we made a little venture to Boingo Bounce earlier this week.  I knew there would be potty accidents, but we can't stay home forever.  We met another friend there and it was really fun!

Millie & Elle had so much fun together

Elle is the best poser in town.  Cracks me up every time.

Syd's ticklish.  And apparently, she has Spring allergies.  Her nose has been a bit gunked up this week.

How can she be so sweet and then, all of a sudden, be yelling at me to not pop her bubbles?  Or touch her foot.  Or take her picture.

She's outside, undies only, yelling to people on the walking trail "hello, my name is Millie".  I'm going to have to be better about putting clothes on her this Summer.  I say that with so little conviction...it's not worth the fight.

Syd's toes are sooooo long, I'm surprised she's not holding the bottle with those monkey feet.

Super, triple sweetness will be 11 months next week!

Real talk: there has been a bit of a dark cloud hanging over our house since the beginning of 2014 when we found out that Bubba was gone.  The Winter blues, cabin fever, terrible twos, potty training, cranky sick babies, etc. have all contributed, and I'm ready to get back to our happier selves.  I don't really have a plan to get there, but I think the Spring weather and getting back outside is helping all of our moods.  This stay-at-home-mom business is way tougher than I thought it was going to be.  I didn't really have any idea what I was getting into...does anybody?!  There are just so many things you can't understand until you have kids.  I really had no idea.  I feel like some days there are hundreds of frustrating/exhausting/annoying things that happen and only a handful of good moments.  But the thing you can't describe to your pre-kid self is that those good moments are glorious and totally make up for the other stuff.  Most of the time.  Sometimes it doesn't feel like it at the end of the day, but the next morning I wake up and am still so happy to see each of their little faces.  Some days I question my ability to stay home with them and do right by them...other days I know I'm what's best for them.  When those girls have babies some day, I want them to look back at this blog and get a good feel for what our life was like.  I don't want them to think it was all cake...it wasn't.  It's hard and I really struggle with my patience and understanding.  But I also don't want to write post after post about how hard it has been...because in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't.  I do know this.  We are all healthy and have everything we need.  I am so grateful for this.  It's just hard to remember that at 4pm on a Tuesday when Millie is yelling at me for giving her the small goldfish crackers instead of the big ones.  We are working on using our "kind voice". ;)  Also, I'd like to apologize to all of my sisters-in-law and brother for being so indifferent when you guys had small children.  I just didn't know.  Leann (you especially for running a daycare) if I had known how much you were craving adult conversation, I would've driven over on my lunch hour at least once a week!

A Few Sydney Milestones

A few quick notes about Syd:

Over the past 4-5 months, Syd has become extremely stubborn when it comes to bottle feeding.  I know it is because it happens so rarely that it is confusing and foreign.  Understandable.  However, I have a few things coming up in the next month where I'm going to need to leave her for longer than a 4 hour period, so bottle feeding needs to become a reality.  I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and April 1st sounded like a good time to try.  Yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of my parenting journey thus far - dealing with potty training PLUS trying to get Syd to take a bottle PLUS pumping.  It was worth it though...day 2 of the bottle feeding is going fantastic!  The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems book was a big help here.  I stuck with it all day yesterday and Syd figured out that she needed to accept the bottle if she was going to eat.  She also took a bottle for JKK last night.  Today, I breastfed her for her first 3 feedings and then after nap I plopped her down next to Mills and handed her a bottle...voila!  She took it with zero problems!  It only took one day to get her back on track with bottle feeding....what a humongous relief!  I'm going to give her a bottle once a day to keep her used to it.  Hopefully in a week or so, I can start adding in some formula just to supplement my (extremely) low supply of frozen breastmilk.

Another big step: sitting in the wagon seat like a big girl!  Thank goodness this thing comes with seat belts...Millie is such a woman driver ;)

Her hair is getting long enough to blow in the wind...and it is hard to describe the color.  I would say it is sort of an ash blonde, although it looks light brown here.

We had a little playground outing this morning too; so nice to be back outdoors!

Loves the swing, of course

Today was the first time (to my knowledge) that she's stood up in her crib

And here's the best pic of the day: Daddy with Woody and Buzz!  JKK is in NYC today on a business trip and look who he ran into.  Best daddy ever to take this pic for Mills!

Nana Came to Visit!

My mom came to visit last week...thank goodness.  I needed a dose of momma time.  Never long enough but thankful for the quality time we do have together every few months.  Plus, I know we get to see her in May for Syd's birthday...yayyy!  It always seems like she comes to visit when we have something big going on: sleep training, taking away the paci, potty training, etc.  Each time, I think "gee, it would be great if I could focus on her more instead of the current issue at hand".  Although, now that I really think about it, I'm realizing that this is just life with small kids and there will ALWAYS be something going on that feels like a huge issue.  Anyhoo, this time potty training was the issue, but I was able to get some one-on-one time with her also (and some margs and guac) -- thanks JKK!

Thursday we made cupcakes after nap time...not just any cupcakes, but teddy bear cupcakes with eyes and ears!

Mills & I got to break in our new matching aprons from Mary Sharp...love love love them

That Nana...she's funny

Friday, Millie went on an outing with Nana to celebrate her potty training success (see the potty chart?) - They visited a local toy store, and Millie had the best time shopping with Nana!

Friday night, Nana got to babysit while JKK and I went to a charity event <3

Saturday was (almost) warm enough for a picnic in the park

It was a tad chilly, but the kiddos were glad to be outside after a week stuck indoors focusing on the potty...I'm so sick of saying that word ;)

Syd's walking everywhere now - see video of our little zombie  About a week after her 10 month birthday, it clicked...and we hear those tiny feet shuffling all over the house now.  She leads with the left foot...we call it the "sidewinder".

Arkansas born and bred :)

nighttime naked time

Bye bye, Nana...see you soon!