Aaaaand in one more month we'll have a one year old. (deep breath) I think I'm ready for that. I think. Carter is such a wonderful little boy. He makes us laugh and he always keeps us on our toes. I'm remembering back to Brooks at this age when he wasn't mobile yet. He wasn't even army crawling. So the fact that my 11 month old can crawl, stand, walk with support and climb everything (and has for a while) is still kind of amazing. Exhausting, but amazing.
Side Note: The phrase "please sit still so I can take your picture" is totally and completely outside Carter's realm of understanding. In fact, I'm laughing now just thinking that I even said that. I mean, really. This is Carter. He doesn't sit still. Ever. So this is the best I could do. We started with this picture...
A little blurry and off centered, but not bad. He has a nice smile. Then he immediately stood up to give us this picture ....
And finally we ended with this. Carter trying to climb off the chair and onto the desk. Notice my hand there to keep him from falling on the floor. These three pictures were all taken within about 20 seconds.
And such is life with Carter.
Here's what new:
Eating:
- Carter has earned the nicknames "Shoveler" and "Scoop" in our house. He loves to eat and food goes into his mouth by the handful. Then he holds his hand in front of his mouth to keep it all from falling out. Grace and tact while eating are not his strong suits. But eh, he's 11 months old. We'll let it slide.
- Carter started using the sippy cup more this month. We introduced it a month or so ago and he didn't really seem interested. But now during a meal we'll offer him some water. He seems to like it.
- He still eats pretty much everything. But, because he's so smart and just a bit stubborn, he's started to notice when we put something different on his tray than what everyone else is eating. Last night Chris, Brooks and I had breakfast for dinner. I cut up a nectarine for Carter until his eggs finished cooking and he had NO interest in it. Not when he saw everyone eating something else. He did eventually eat the fruit, but only after his eggs were all gone.
- We've given Carter tiny bits of dairy. I mean, really tiny. I'm super gun shy about giving him cheeses and such since I had to cut it out of my diet. But I'm back eating all dairy now and the little bits Carter's had, he seems to do ok with.
- Carter's still nursing. I don't know how often. I stopped keeping track. Probably a little less than last month, but I can't say for sure. He does still nurse for comfort. I have the nickname "pocket" in our house because when Carter needs a little extra love, he goes right for his mama kangaroo to be held.
Sleeping
- Not much has changed this month. Carter goes to bed around 8pm and it usually awake by 7am. He'll wake once or twice in the night to nurse. He still takes a good 2-3 hour nap in the early afternoon.
- I'm hoping this isn't a trend, but last night Carter decided sleeping in our bed was far better than sleeping in his bed. He woke up to nurse as usual but when I put him back in his crib, he started crying. I pulled him back into bed thinking he was still hungry, but as soon as he laid down (in my spot) he rolled over and went right to sleep. Huh. So this is how it's going to go. We snuggled for a half hour or so before I put him back into his bed. More screaming. I let him cry for a bit thinking he'd go back to sleep in a minute or so. Not the case. Back in our bed he came. And there he stayed for the rest of the night. I wouldn't say that I hate having him there, it's just that Chris and I sleep terribly when he is. That 20lb baby is a bed hog and we are both shoved to the edge of the bed. And we hardly move all night for fear of rolling over on him, which leads to stiff necks and numb appendages. Oh, and the fact that he mindlessly twiddles the back of your arm while he's sleeping?? Not cool. Hopefully tonight he'll rediscover his love for his own bed.
New Discoveries:
- Preferences. Carter is starting to figure out what he wants and doesn't want. I want to eat. I want to play in the garbage can. I want to climb in the cupboards. I want to climb the stairs. I don't want my diaper changed. I don't want to get dressed. I don't want to sleep in my bed. I don't want to get out of the bath tub. And Carter isn't shy about sharing his opinions either. Trust me.
- Kitties. Last week we went to my friend Katie's house and their farm cat just had kittens. They're about 4 weeks old so she brought them out for the kids to hold. I was surprised when Carter gently patted the kitty on the head. I was not surprised, however, when he then smacked the kitty several more times on the head. I then, proceeded to play keep-away until Katie put the kitties away.
- Toy cars and trucks. And really, anything with wheels. He LOVES to push the cars along the floor. He loves to flip them over and spin the wheels. It's so fun to see him choose a favorite toy. Carter loves cars. Fitting, huh?
New Abilities:
- Throwing. Carter has learned to throw things. Things usually don't go very far because he hasn't quite figured out when to release the object he is trying to throw. But he will. Oh, he will. It probably wasn't such a good idea to buy solid wooden play food for the kitchen set. Guess we'll be putting those up high.
- Drumming. Carter loves to hit things. He will take a brush, plastic spoon, bubble wand, pool noodle or any other long object he can hold and beat it against things. Everything. Most of the time it's not a big deal. Until I saw him smacking one of Brooks' plastic golf clubs against the TV screen. Not ok.
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| Carter was NOT happy when Daddy took away the golf club. |
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| Carter drumming while Mama makes lunch. |
- Signing "all done". It's usually accompanied by screaming or smacking his hands against his tray, but somewhere in all the commotion I see the sign for "all done". I'm sure it would be much simpler if he just signed it, but Carter seems to have a flair for the dramatic.
- Waving "bye bye". When you wave at Carter he'll now wave back at you. And it's so cute to see him wave bye bye with his chubby little hands. So so cute.
- Talking .... sorta. Carter says "mamamamama" and "dadadada" fairly often. I'm still not sure if he can assign those words to the appropriate person, but it's fun to hear him "talk". He's always babbling and jabbering. He has lots of words to say and he tells all kinds of stories. We just can't understand them ... yet.
- Pointing. Carter likes to point at things. Sometimes is something in particular. Other times I think he's just trying out his pointer finger. I try to see what he's looking at and tell him what it is. I know he's starting to communicate and I want to "listen" as best I can.
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