Tuesday 20 November 2012

They Change So Fast!

It has been 3 weeks since my last post and Ethan has changed so much. I am amazed at how fast he grows and changes and learns in such a short period of time.

He is full force with the sign language right now.  Whatever I show him he picks up within a day or two.

At eating time, he signs when he is "all done" by clapping his hands and bringing them outward like he is swooshing his plate away.  And I know he knows what it means because when I offer more food (if I am spoon feeding him) he refuses.


Now that he is walking (and trying to run now), he had his first major accident.  He got his first fat lip and let me tell you, there was blood everywhere! Here he is showing me his boo boo.

Talking about boo boo's when he hurts himself, he cries and points to where it hurts.  As sad as it is that he hurts himself on a regular basis, I think it's so cute that he points ;) It definitely helps me out to know where he hurt himself so I can make it better!  We are lucky though, because he only cries for about 15 - 20 seconds and then he is ready to move on.  I couldn't even tell you when he was upset for more than that long on any account.

We have adopted an "Elf on the Shelf".  Her name is Claudine and she will officially be joining us on December 1st.  of course Ethan is too young to understand what she is about, but I'm sure he will have fun "spotting" her on a daily basis until Christmas :)   (Really, I am more excited about it than he probably ever will be!  But it will be fun and it will be a cute tradition for us to start!) If you are interested in Elf on the Shelf, you can click HERE and read all about it!


His birthday party is in less than two weeks, and I think it's all pretty much organized.  We will be having a few photoshoots next week with him - His Cake Smash, 1 year photos (done on the same day) and then his Christmas photoshoot as well.  I'm pretty excited for them.


Thursday 1 November 2012

11 Months

Ethan will be 11 months in just a couple days....I cannot believe my little boy is going to be less than a month away from being ONE YEAR OLD! He is going to be a toddler!

There has been SO MUCH going on this last month, I don't even know if I will be able to write it all down!  I will do my best to write what I can.

WALKING
As of today, Ethan is officially walking.  He can walk all around the house.  If he loses balance, he doesn't fall on his bum, he just bends over, gets his stance and picks right back up.  It is bitter sweet.  It's nice that now we will be able to go play outside, and he can explore, but I am constantly watching and worrying that he's going to smack into something lol.  I guess in a few weeks it will be better since he will only get better at it.

NURSING
He is weaning.  Instead of 8 times a day, we are down to 3 or 4.  And even those 3-4 times are getting shorter and shorter.  I do not feel sad that he is weaning.  It is time.  We will definitely make it one year of breastfeeding, probably a bit longer.  When I go back to work, I would rather it not be a shock to his system that I am not around at his disposal...

I have incorporated homo milk (half homo, half breastmilk) in his night time bottle....oh yeah, we give him a bottle before bed now instead of nursing because when I go back to work he will not be able to be nursed to sleep....and that's just a bad habit anyway!  Why homo milk do you ask?  Well, I tried to give him some formula (silly mama) and he took about half a swig and threw the bottle down.  'Nuff said".  I do not have enough stock in my freezer to last us a month, so I mix half and half.  For one bottle a day, I'm ok with him having homo milk.  He's a great eater, he still nurses, and he's doing well.

PERSONALITY
He most definitely has a personality now.  He is sweet and loving, and so very talkative.  Baby talk of course.  He loves giving hugs and kisses, and he's really starting to just hang out and chill with me a few times a day.

He also does not like when he doesn't get what he wants, and proceeds to throw a bit of a tantrum.  It is SO HARD not to react, but I just ignore his behaviour and offer something else he can play with.  They do not last long, but they last long enough for me to question "What the BLEEP am I going to do" lol.

NIGHT TIME SLEEPING
Well this one is not on my favorite list, but we are getting better.  He is still waking at around 3:30 or 4am, and then again at 7am.  We got rid of the 12;30 wake up, but we really need to work on these other two.  I think this will be the worst to wean him from - not so much the 7am one (because it's done for selfish reasons so I can get an extra hour or so of sleep - so I nurse him) but the 3:30 one has to go.  Although the last couple nights it's been later and he nurses about half the amount that he usually does - so maybe, just maybe he will be weaning!  (Oh do I hope so!)


GROWTH
He is still in the 50 percentile.  He's a bitty baby.  He's still wearing 9 month clothing lol.  12 months is waaaay too big on him.  He is eating a lot more now, so maybe he will pack on some pounds and height :D

EATING
This kid eats everything....we share our dinner altogether every night.  It is wonderful.  A typical day is like this:

Breakfast:  Fruit puree and cheerios (this is all I can get in him in the morning - he's just like his dad - doesn't care to eat one bit in the morning).  So I just do the baby food puree because at this point, I am not whipping out the blender when it's easier to just open a jar  -  oh the crunchy mama I am lol - at least they are organic!

Lunch:  crackers, cheese, fruit - all cut in cubes.  I have done this for lunch for a long time.  He just loves it.  Sometimes we change it up and have leftovers from the night before, but mostly this is what he will eat.

Dinner:  Whatever we have.  He eats lentil loaf, chicken, soup, etc..... whatever we eat he eats.  This definitely forces me to cook healthy and salt free....and that's ok!

Snacks: Baby cookie, fruit, cheese, breastmilk,netc.... we are not picky about this.  Usually whatever I snack on he will have a bite.

We are starting to let him eat from a (plastic) bowl.  He does very well - eats from it and leaves it on the tray.  But when he is done eating, he will play with the bowl, look at me and tip it - so I know the queues and remove it when he starts lol.  Next will be a spoon.... I'm just not ready for the mess yet!  He will take the spoon if I preload it and put it on his highchair tray - and gets it in his mouth 90% of the time.

He drinks from a straw now.  It's neat to see him learn all these new ways of drinking.  His main drink in the sippy is water, but sometimes I will put milk in it and he is not a fan.  But he's getting used to it :D
Sorry no eating photos - so here is one in the kitchen ;0)

PLAY

He is bored of his toys.  Now he plays with boxes, toys that are too old for him, paper, etc.... you get the point.  He is more interested in walking and exploring, learning how to open and close doors and drawers and helping me with laundry (aka throwing the clothes all over the floor).

He enjoys the early year centres, but right now I'm paranoid about sickness - I know croup is going around and I don't want to have him deal with that if he doesn't have to.  So in a few weeks we will resume.
He likes to climb in the box - that's his form of play. Then throws the toys everywhere!

His birthday is coming up soon, and so I am in high gear for planning.  It's pretty much all sorted out, just have to mail the invites tomorrow and wait for the responses.  We are pretty sure most people that are invited will be attending.  It should be fun, I'm excited to see his face when we bring the cake out!  I will be sure to post photos (that will probably be my next post lol)

Enjoy the photos and learning what's new with our little (big) boy.    Here he is in his Halloween Costume.  A cute little skeleton!