Myles Monthly: 11

As you may know, I didn't decide to start my blog until my son Myles was about 8 months old. And well... now he is 20 months old! So I am focusing on getting caught up with monthly updates and monthly favorites, so I can get, and hopefully stay, up to date with current times. 

  June 15th- July 14th, 2013

Statistics

Born: 7 lbs 6 oz and 19.5 inches
Eleven Months: Not sure but I don't think he grew much, if at all.

  Health

Health was pretty great this month. No colds or other scary new habits, which is a complete blessing! Taking care of a baby/toddler full-time is hard enough.. and then throwing a sickness in the mix... eekk! 

The only small concern I was beginning to have was his weight. From when he was born until about 7 months, he was in the 70-95% for his weight. This made me happy because that meant he was getting enough nourishment through my breastmilk. One less thing for this anxiety-ridden momma to worry about. However I noticed that over the last few months his weight gain pretty much stopped. From 3 months to 7 months, he gained over three pounds, but from 7 months to 11 months, he only gained one pound and a few ounces. I knew it was because he became active with crawling/standing/walking, but it still worried me a bit. He was up so high in the percentiles, and then he dropped all the way down into the 20s. His doctor never mentioned any concern, so I never brought it up with her. It still sat in the back of my mind though, especially because we struggled with getting him to eat real food. He diet was still 90% breastmilk, and at 11 months, I wasn't so sure that that was enough. He didn't have any other symptoms like being tired, sunken eyes, not sleeping through the night, etc., so I figured he was just slimming down and starting to take more of his genetic physical shape. I think he is perfect being strong and lean, I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't malnourished or anything; and, at this point, he seemed to be just fine :)

He finally got some more teeth! We hadn't gotten any new ones since his first two came in during month seven. He got all four top middle teeth in at once. I didn't even know they were coming in. I only noticed one day when he was laughing and happened to tilt his head back. When he did that, I could see all four teeth poking through his gums! Yay for more teeth... the sooner they all come in, the better!

Eating
Still going strong with breastfeeding, of course! As I have mentioned before, he is a little obsessed with breastfeeding, so I knew weaning would not be in the near (or far) future. He usually ate about every 2-4 hours depending on how occupied he was. Like I mentioned last month, he is definitely a comfort nurser, but he is also a bored nurser. Our time spent at home is in direct correlation to how much he nurses. If we were home most of the day (bad weather, sick, etc), then he would nurse more frequently, but if we were out and something had his attention, he would be fine for hours. That is still how he is now.

He was slowly eating more and more foods, but nothing too significant. I still couldn't get him to eat an actual full on meal. It bothered me a little, but since he was still breastfeeding so much, I knew he was at least getting good stuff from me. I offered him all kinds of different foods throughout the day and put him in his highchair for meal times so that even if he wasn't really eating much, he would at least get used to the routine. Most of the food I offered him during these times ended up in the garbage disposal or in our dog's mouth. At the rate he was going, I wasn't sure he would ever really eat. Luckily, most of the stuff he did like was nutritionally dense. He liked chicken (grilled), french fries, plain pasta, eggs, beans, and cheese. He would usually eat those when offered (although in pretty small amounts). Other than that, most of his real food diet consisted of fruit. He loved his fruit, especially blueberries and strawberries. He pretty much would always eat them.

He also learned how to drink from a straw this month!

Sleeping
Same as last month; and no complaints here! He was still sleeping 8 hours in one stretch at night, from about 10pm-6am. Then I would bring him in bed with me to nurse and sleep on-and-off until we woke up sometime between 8am-9am. 
He would typically take 2 naps a day: one mid-morning around 11am-12pm and one mid-afternoon around 2pm-3pm. He was still only going down for about 30 minutes, but it was better than nothing and a much needed break for me!
 

First sign of toddler mode: falling asleep on the floor playing with his toys!

Sleeping at the beach under an umbrella :)

Outings

Brace yourself... this month was crazy for us! So much happened in 30 days, I don't even know how we made it through alive! It was the most hectic, emotional, physically draining, amazing, and fun month we had as a family of 3. 

Well, let's get started:

• First off, we took a day trip to Lake Geneva, Wi. This place is the cutest little town. It is a very touristy area, so they have all sorts of fun little activities to do. The best part and the reason we went was the beach! This was Myles' very first beach experience. Myles loved every second of it and only agreed to leave because he fell asleep in his stroller while we were walking around. Most of our day was spent checking out the sand, shoveling blueberries down our throats, and chasing ducks. He really had a blast playing with all of his toys in the sand and building castles with my aunt. We even got to sneak in a little ice cream stop before we left! A really great day spent with our favorite people. 

• In keeping with the water theme, Myles got to go to the outside waterpark/pool with grandma! I like this one because it has a fun little kids area but it's small so I didn't have to worry about Myles getting too far away from me or him getting lost in a sea of kids. He loved all the spots where water was squirting out and of course all the wheels. It was nice having my mom along because I even got to relax in the sun for a bit! All around win!

• Spending lots of time with family: I made sure we got to see as much family as possible this month before we headed out to California. This month we finally made it across the country in a move we had been talking about for years. It was not an easy decision by any means and it took a lot of time, money, and sacrifice, but we figured we would regret it if we didn't at least try. My biggest worry about moving so far away was that Myles would miss out on being with his family. Almost a year into our move, I still struggle with that now. What I have learned though is now that our time with them is limited, the quality of that time spent together has gone up tremulously. I (re: my mom) always make a point to get extended family together to see Myles at least once when we are in town, which is also what I did before we left for the first time. 
• Myles and I went to see my cousin's boy play in a football game one Saturday morning. Afterwards, we all went to grab some grub and custard at Culver's. In true Myles fashion, he had no interest in the ice cream, but had a blast crawling all over the table to get to each different person to play with.

• In the beginning of June, Mark went to California for two weeks to find us a place to live. It didn't seem too hopeful at first, but at the last minute (literally the day before he left), he was approved and chose a house for us. He wouldn't even show me pictures because he wanted it to be a total surprise. While he was gone on that trip, I sold all of our things that we weren't taking with... about 75% of all our belongings. We weren't taking any furniture because it wasn't worth it. Nothing we owned was worth enough to pay to have it moved. After Mark came back, he took a couple days to load up our car/van with everything we were taking and then drove the 2,000+ miles from Illinois to our new home in California. Then a couple days later, he flew back to Illinois to say goodbye to family and see his grandfather who was in town. Myles got to meet his great-grandfather for the first time and have another waterpark day (this one indoors). The next day we went swimming again this time with all of Mark's close family. I was so happy that Myles got to see his cousins before he left as well. They are really great with him and I hope they can keep a close relationship.

•  Before we all left, Myles celebrated his first 4th of July! It was a gorgeous day so we spent most of it outside. We stopped by my dad's for a bit to visit and let Myles play with all his Papa toys. Then we went to Mark's sister's house for a little cookout action and let the kids get some time together. Lots of good eating and water playing ensued.

• The next day Mark left again. This time he took my car filled with the last of the stuff Myles and I were living off of. By the time Mark made it back, he had to leave again the next morning to come pick Myles and I up at the airport. The best part was that my Florida bestie and her son Ryan flew in at the same time as us! It just so happened that Angela had some time off work and had nothing planned. Although it was a bit chaotic, it worked out perfectly and was so worth being able to see them for a whole week! I hadn't seen her since before I got pregnant with Myles and missed her something fierce. Our house was in no way put together but we didn't care... we were really only there for sleeping anyway! Their visit was so much fun and I can't wait until they come back... hint, hint!

Our first full day together was spent at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. This place is awesome and is on the very top of my list for places to go for family fun day. Since moving we have gone to a lot of places in the Bay Area (with still so much more), but I am still calling this my favorite place. It is pretty much 4 different mini parks all in one: theme park (rides, games, etc.) waterpark, aquirium, and zoo. This place really has it all and is perfect for families of varying ages. Both Myles and Ryan, 7, had tons to do and stayed busy all day. I even  stayed entertained; if we had more time, I would have rode some of the big roller coasters! Seriously, I can't praise this place enough.. GO (if you are in the area)! 

Water feature for the little ones.. Myles was digging it :)

Water/animal shows: they had a regular dolphin show and a Cirque de Soleil one (awesome)! We also checked out all of the marine animals (heaven for me): this walrus was the cutest! They also had one of those underground shark aquariums that you get to walk under.

They even had a couple of rides that Myles could go on (he just had to be able to take a couple steps on his own). One was a jeep safari and the other was a submarine that went up and down. I can't wait to take him back this summer to get on some of the cooler rides now that he is bigger!

Bugs Bunny play area.. Myles loved trying to climb on everything like the other big kids.

The next day we ventured into the city to check out some tourist spots. We didn't have a plan, so we ended up just wandered around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf for a couple of hours. We had talked about doing a cable car tour, but never got around to doing it before it got too late.  

I swear he had fun... most of the time anyway!

The rest of the days were spent at the beach, park, and any other outdoor activity we could think of. Even though these two are years apart, they were so cute playing together. Myles would watch Ryan do crazy stuff and just laugh at him, especially if it involved balls.   

  They didn't have to be at the airport until late Sunday, so we hit up the Chuck E. Cheese before they had to go. Myles' hadn't been since his 6 month birthday back in Illinois, so it was really neat seeing how much he had changed. He was really interactive and much more into the games/rides. It was a good thing Ryan was there; he was able to show Myles the ropes! 

Milestones

• Crawling up and down stairs: Before we left Illinois, Myles was really starting to excel in his gross motor skills. I took this video one day just to see what he would do. He was playing with my set of keys and when they dropped down the stairs, I was very surprised at what he did:

 

• Strong legs: This kid was becoming so strong. Like I talked about earlier, he was moving so much now that he had stopped gaining weight and started losing his baby fat. In its place he gained muscle. Whenever I picked him up, he wasn't that heavy, but he was super solid. He was so determined to do everything that he would try and try until he did it himself. He became the king of the Tippy Toes, always trying to reach something that was bigger than him (mostly things he wasn't supposed to be into). His calves got super toned from that... wish I had his determination and legs :)

• Adventuring on his own: I have mentioned this playworld before in other monthly updates. We went a lot because it was free for under 11 months and under. All the times before this, Myles would just stay on the floor or the bottom level of the play area; he never ventured any further up. But for whatever reason, this time he decided to go on an adventure:

The video stops when he gets to the top of the left side. He was sketched out by the netting material for the tunnel. I had to put my hands through the holes and grab onto his hands so that he felt safe enough to go across. I was so proud when he made it to the other side... then he started banging on the glass for me to come get him :)

• Blowing bubbles in the tub: At swim class, I would blow bubbles and show Myles in hopes that he would learn by example. It was something we did at every class, so he had been exposed to it for months now. He hadn't tried it in the pool, but one day when he was taking his bath, he leaned over and blew bubbles. I didn't get a video of the first time he did it, but I do have this one from my Instagram.  

•  Copying and repetition:

• WALKING: This is probably one of the biggest milestones in the first year (or so) of a baby's life. To me, walking signifies the beginning of the transition from baby to toddler,and boy did that transition happen fast with Myles. After seeing how much things changed after the crawling stage began, I had no intentions to push him to walk like I did with crawling. Honestly, I was pretty terrified of him being able to walk, so I let him take his time and work it out by himself (90% of the time). However my urgings to slow him down didn't really have an effect on young Myles, as he decided it was time to take his first steps on June 18th (10 months and 4 days). At first it was just a couple steps here and there, fall on the butt, then crawl the rest of the way. This lasted about 2 weeks. Then one day he discovered that when he fell down he could just stand back up again... from that moment on, he was a walker. Once he figured that part out, he would take his steps, fall, stand back up, take his steps.. repeat..repeat. Everyday after that, his walks would consist of more and more steps before he fell, until he was full on walking by July 1st (10 1/2 months). I had to write a post about his new found mode of transportation entitled "We've Got a Walker". You can see the videos of his first couple of real walks there.

• First plane ride: Last, but certainly not least, Myles rode on his first plane. He actually did quite well; no ear problems and no real crying. It went much better than what I was mentally preparing myself for. It was certainly no easy task doing it by myself, but Myles was such a good little trooper. I even got compliments from some other passengers. And for all that could go wrong, I was just happy to have made it to California and our new home safely and with most of my sanity still intact.

Funnies
I had to add a new category this month because I found a couple of hilariously cute pictures that didn't fit into any of the other areas. 

• As I was going through all of our things to get ready for the move, I found this Pooh Bear costume. It was 12 months, so I knew that he wouldn't be able to wear it for next Halloween. It was too cute to just get rid of without him ever wearing it, so duh.... I put him in it and oh my heavens, it did not disappoint! He was mad within 30 seconds, but he was the cutest with the little ears and big ole belly :)

• Trying on my aunts glasses at dinner. Something about a little boy looking like a nerdy, old man is just about the cutest thing ever!

• This is Myles stuck under his crib. For any one who has been reading these monthly updates for a while now, I'm sure you can guess what he was trying to get. Apparently the ball was so cool that it was worth crawling into the deep, dark abyss that is under his crib to retrieve. He made it in just fine, but when it was time to get out, he couldn't figure out how to get his big dome through the tiny space. He was super mad (in the bottom picture) while I let him struggle for a minute until I helped him get out.

Likes

• My daddy's dog, Abbey. Myles was super interested in Abbey whenever we went to visit. He always wanted to play with her toys and chase her around. Abbey was getting older, so I am glad Myles got to spent some time with her before she passed away.

• He finally started getting into books. I was beginning to think he was never going to want to read/look at books, which made me sad, and also worry a bit. He is definitely way more of a physically active personality type and excels in that category, so it is harder for him to sit and be interested in books. This month though, we found a couple of books that really held his attention, which was so awesome to finally see happen. I love reading with him and seeing him be captivated by the story. I can't wait until we can get into actual story books!

•  His bike: I talked about Myles' love for this tricycle in his 9 & 10 month favorites post and it continued to be a hit this month as well. He just thought this thing was super cool and I loved it because it kept him occupied when we went for walks, and I was still able to control where we were going.

 

• And of course, still all of the typical things that have been his favorites since birth: breastfeeding, being held my mommy, balls, and chewing on any/everything.
  

Dislikes
Same as last month, and actually for a while now:

• Being confined: He didn't like being in anything that held him down, i.e. car seat, stroller, high chair. He would be okay for a certain amount of time (maybe 10-15 minutes), but when he wanted out, that was it. He would have a tantrum until someone got him out. The biggest problem this month was the car seat. Once we moved, he hated being in his car seat again. He cried 75% of the time he was in it. Sometimes I would play or sing his favorite Hoopla Kidz songs and that usually calmed him down. But it only lasted for so long. 

He also only lasted so long in a stroller, high chair, or cart. When he was over it, he would start screaming until I got him out and held him.

 

Come back to check out my favorites from months eleven & twelve!