Pearls and Perfection Problems: October 2015

How Old: Eleven Months
Weight: (17lbs 7oz around the 10th percentile)
Length: (27 1/2 in around the 25th percentile)
Clothes: She is in mostly 12 month clothes and jammies. She is in size 3 diapers, but we have already said once that box is empty we will probably move to size 4 diapers for length.
Sleep: Oh my! Do I even want to talk about it??? Well, let's just say mommy and daddy have not been too good at disciplining sleep this past month. At every vacation she ends up in the bed with us after midnight or so simply because she wakes and fights going back to sleep without us... new, unfamiliar place creates some insecurity. After our trip to Hilton Head at the end of August, she continued to wake somewhere between 11:30 and 1:30 each night and wanted to eat. So Daniel would get her out of her crib and bring her to me to nurse her. Many nights due to exhaustion, I would fall asleep nursing her and BAM... she would end up sleeping the rest of the night in our bed. I know, I know... You don't have to preach to me!! (Although she is simply the BEST snuggle buddy ever!!) So we went on our final trip for a while with my college roommates and their families at the end of September. After that, we have been trying to gradually get her back to her bed for the whole night and cutting out the nighttime feedings. It is a WORK IN PROGRESS :) But honestly, my heart is torn in many directions through it all. I LOVE waking up to her snuggling next to me and getting her sweet morning kisses... but I know that she needs to learn to sleep all night in her own bed again. Everything I have read said it takes 2-3 weeks of consistent AT HOME sleeping to be successful with this. That is why we have waited so long because honestly since June we have not had 3 consecutive weeks that we have been home. Naps are great as usual!! She takes 2 naps a day and her bedtime is around 7:30-8:00.
Food: She is nursing 4 times a day and once in the middle of the night and then she has been cluster feeding close to wake time (4am-7am). With the cluster feeding, I feel that I am probably not producing enough milk during the day for her so she knows to cluster when I am the most full in the early morning. Because of this, I started putting 2 Tbsp of whole milk in her oatmeal twice a day. I started this 2 weeks before she turned 11 months old. That way she is getting 4 extra ounces of milk a day. I am preparing to begin weaning her from breastfeeding one feeding at a time per week and replacing it with whole milk. Hopefully by the time she is one we will be mostly weaned at least for the day time feedings. This week I started with the 3:30 afternoon feeding and she spit the whole milk out, so I still had to nurse. I continued to give her a sippy cup several times each day of whole milk, but she still does not like it much. So then, I decided to mix half whole milk, half breast milk and warm it and she took it. I have a particular girl on my hands :) SO, as of the last few days, I discovered that she will only drink a full feeding of whole milk if it is in a bottle (not sippy cup) and if it is warmed. I am still giving her sippy cups of cold whole milk at her meal times, but she will only take a few sips. We will keep working on it!! She is eating breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner of regular food and homemade purees. She has tried most every fruit and vegetable, chicken, turkey (doesn't like), salmon, hamburger meat, breads, cheeses, pasta, whole milk, etc. She loves most every food but her favorites are cheese, bread, pasta, peas, green beans, chicken, bananas, grapes, and pears.
Here is her schedule give or take 30 minutes.

6:30 Wake/Nurse

7:30 Oatmeal (mixed with whole milk)/Fruit/Water

9:00 - 10:45 Nap

11:00 Nurse

12:00 Starch puree/Pick up foods/Water

1:30 - 3:30 Nap

3:30 Nurse/Snack (teething biscuit/diary or fruit/water)

5:30 Oatmeal (mixed with whole milk)/Veggie/Pick up foods/Water

7:30 Nurse/Bedtime

Nighttime Nurse somewhere between 11:30-1:30 (and then she has been cluster feeding several times between 4am-7am) Yes, I'm tired :)

Emersyn's Firsts:
- New Words: dog, Emma (her cousin), Matt (her cousin), paci (but calls it "bah"?? who knows)
- First Steps: two days after she turned 10 months old, some of our family saw her take a few steps at my 30th birthday party to go after her baby that her cousin was holding... Daniel and I didn't get to see it so for us her first steps were taken while we were visiting our friends Jason and Jennifer. They have a little girl, Grace, who is 6 months older than Emersyn. She will take 3-5 steps at a time, but still relies mostly on crawling or cruising around holding onto things because it is faster.
- Some new commands she has learned to follow:
    "blow out the candle" it is adorable to see her try
    "pour some tea/coffee" from her Minnie Mouse tea set
    "brush your teeth" she will scrub her teeth
"touchdown" she will throw her arms straight up, melts her daddy's heart!
"snap your fingers" she tries so hard bless her heart :)
      Anytime we say "give me..." or "go get..."
      She really is beginning to understand A LOT of what we say and tries to copy what we do
- Identify some body parts: nose, hair, belly, tongue, teeth, feet
- Teeth: 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom
Emersyn Loves: Popping kisses to us, waving hey and bye, eating pick up food, snuggling in the mornings, Mickey Mouse, books, still chewing on everything, getting into cabinets and drawers, going places, being around other children, throwing the ball with us, taking hair bows out, the wind blowing in her face outside, playing peek a boo, music, her paci, cheese, swinging, remotes/phones/anything electronic
Emersyn Dislikes: her face being washed, has been a little more weary this month of leaving me, lightning (she will NOT sleep during a storm), cold whole milk, turkey, sleeping all night in her OWN bed
Emersyn is Learning to: Take multiple steps, stand from a squat, blow out candles (preparing for her birthday), gradually transition from nursing to whole milk, drink from a straw sippy cup (poor thing tries to blow into the straw instead of sucking)
Mommy's Favorite Thing: I love how you are starting to enjoy books more and more. Although you do tend to still chew on the spines sometimes, you will pick out books now and bring them to us to read to you. I also love how anytime we go somewhere (family gathering, friends gathering, birthday party, etc) you usually jump right in and start having fun. You LOVE life and enjoy it to its fullest. You are such a happy, secure, and loving child. Watching you have fun makes my heart so full!! Your laugh is priceless :)
Daddy's Favorite Thing: Daddy says, "My favorite thing this month is when we play with your Minnie Mouse tea set (or coffee set when I'm playing). When I say "pour daddy some coffee" you use the big pot and touch it to the small cup. Then you hand me a spoon and we stir the creamer together into the coffee. You are following commands so well, and try to copy whatever we show you to do. I also love how you are starting to join in when Mommy and Daddy are laughing. Anytime we laugh, you just start laughing with us."

We went shopping at the Asheville outlets on my 30th birthday. Their Food Court was AWFUL, so I am feeding Emmie lunch in the back of my car! Good thing her seat was back there :)