Caleb’s Eleven Month Update

The Numbers

As of our last pediatrician visit for his cold/stomach bug/ear infection, Caleb was weighing in just above 18 lbs.  As always, he’s still our little guy and I’m soaking it in because I can still carry him on my hip without getting exhausted! He’s pretty close to being entirely in 12 month clothes, although he does rock some 9 month onesies every once in a while. 

Some Milestones

Crawling, crawling, crawling! Good heavens, this kid is fast.  When we flew to California over Christmas he randomly started crawling on his knees instead of army crawling and he’s been a little speed demon ever since.  The first week or two he got LOTS of noggin bonks as he learned to get around without hitting his head on the floor and cabinets but he’s seemed to recover quickly.

His first goose egg 🙁

He’s also been pulling up on everything, including his crib! We had a couple rough days when he first discovered this where he would pull up on the crib then stand there and cry because he didn’t know how to sit down.  Luckily it only took a few days of that for the novelty to wear off and now he’s much better at sitting himself down if he needs to.  He’s not attempting walking yet but he will pull himself up on his little plastic walker and take a few steps, so that might be in our future!

One last fun one is waving. Caleb has started gleefully waving hello and goodbye with a big smile on his face and it is SO cute! He looks so excited to respond to a wave or initiate one and I love that he’s discovering social interaction like that.

That red hair though…

What He’s Liking

Floor vents, outlets, electrical cords, pulling things out of drawers, dog food/water – basically anything that is not a toy and Caleb is all about it.  His newfound crawling speed means he has a whole house to explore and he is taking full advantage. We did about as much baby-proofing as we could and now spend most of Caleb’s awake time trying to redirect him to things he’s supposed to play with.  This stage is exhausting!

Climbing is another newfound love.  One morning I ran upstairs to grab something and as I came back down 20 seconds later saw Caleb had already climbed three steps up the stairs by himself.  What in the world?! We’ve since practiced it many times together and he is quite the little climber.  Thank goodness for our new safety gates so we don’t have to keep an eye on the stairs 24/7!

What He’s Disliking

Like every toddler in the history of the universe, Caleb is NOT a fan of when we take things away from him.  Oh the tantrums, y’all.  He will scream this super throaty, high pitched shriek, arch his back and kick his legs, and let out some big ol’ alligator tears if we take something from him (like a fun computer charger and other things like that).  I’ve been reading quite a few parenting books these last few weeks as we try to figure out how we’ll handle teaching him boundaries and such, and I know we will have our hands full as he gets bigger and more strong-willed.

When mom doesn’t let you eat dog food…

Another dislike is being SICK.  This kid has been sick for about 70% of his life and it is so pitiful.  In the past month, he had a cold/cough that lasted 3+ weeks, a nasty stomach bug that our whole family got, an ear infection, and two teeth to top it all off.  I get so jealous of moms who say their kids only got sick once or twice in the first year.  How do they do it?

How He’s Eating

I felt like Caleb was making great progress with table food and he was being brave to try all sorts of different foods that we were eating.  But after a week or so of not eating well because of that stomach bug, it seems like he regressed a bit and got more hesitant with even table foods he had happily eaten before (like bread, bananas, cheese, etc).  Although this is totally understandable, I’m getting antsy to get out of the baby food stage and into more table food.  I’m hoping over the next few weeks he’ll get his confidence back, start diving into more table food, and expanding that little palette of his!

How He’s Sleeping

Aside from a few middle of the night wake-ups when he was teething and sick, Caleb continues to be my champion sleeper for the first big chunk of the night.  Even if he does wake, he’s usually pretty good about fussing for five minutes and putting himself back to sleep.  His struggle has always been and continues to be the early mornings.  I think this kid has slept past 6 AM less than ten times in his entire life.

It seems like I’ve tried everything to get him to sleep later – letting him nap more or less during the day, playing around with when he goes to bed and his wake-times before bed, letting him fuss or trying to feed him and put him back down when he wakes so early.  No matter what I do, this kid is just my early riser.

My little face-down belly sleeper…

I’m learning to go with the flow and embrace that this is just part of who he is.  I try to be consistent with how I handle his early waking but also know that ultimately, the time he wakes up is out of my control.  All I can do is go to bed early so mama gets her sleep too! I have a feeling that we’ll start transitioning to one nap shortly after his first birthday and I’m (not so) secretly crossing my fingers that he’ll start to sleep a little bit longer with that big nap transition.  For now, I’m just trying to roll with the punches and love my little early bird.  Thank goodness he’s so cute!

A Parent Update

With each month that passes, we grow to love this kiddo more and more.  I love his sweet smiles and the way his face lights up when he sees us.  I love his curious heart to explore and climb and discover the world around him.  I love kissing his warm, soft little belly when I unzip his pajamas to change his diaper in the mornings.  I love when I get him up from his naps and he rests his warm head on my shoulder.  I love how he giggles and bounces when he hears a song he likes and I love how he presses his face against the window to make silly faces while I take out Olive.

When I look back at pictures from his first few weeks, it blows that I only have one more month until this sweet baby boy of mine becomes a toddler.  This first year has gone by so much faster than I thought it would and I know things will just get faster from here on out. Where did my little baby go?

Caleb, we love you more than the moon and the stars and believe that each and every day we get to spend with you is an honor and a gift.  Thanks for letting us be your parents! Happy eleven months, my sweet boy!