Thursday, June 10, 2010

11 Months















Claire just wanted to play with her sign, so Audra decided to help her out. What a good big sister!
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So here is a snapshot of Claire at 11 months:
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Weight: 17.2 lbs with a diaper and onesie- YES- she is finally gaining weight!
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Eating: She hasn't started on a ton of new foods this month- mostly because we have been focusing on helping her not be constipated. She has been introduced to green beans, wheat germ, and flaxseed. We have been giving her Happy Bellies Oatmeal. She was given a fishie cracker by a friend and she of course loved that. And, yesterday she popped an Easter Whopper in her mouth (can we say choking hazard?!?) and I ran over to get it out, and she was not too happy about it needing to be taken out. I can't blame her- they are yummy. Flaxseed seems to be the best thing for her constipation. She has not been nearly as constipated as she was a month ago, and we are very grateful for that.
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Nursing: This past month she has really cut down on her nursings. Now she only nurses 3-4 times a day. I have not supplemented with formula (yet) because she has also completely refused to take a bottle (another reason for her constipation). But within the last 2 weeks she has finally started drinking a couple of ounces of water a day from a bottle. It's not great, but it is a start.
Mostly I am bummed about her not nursing as much because my milk supply has greatly dropped. This bothers me because I can no longer pump any milk for the milk bank. I had committed to donating 150 oz. and I will be about 40 oz. short. I know there is nothing I can do about that, and they are incredibly understanding and they say repeatedly that it is most important I feed my baby first, and then pump what is left, but I HATE not fulfilling my committment. If you commit to something, you should follow through! But, I console myself by saying that IF we have another baby (a BIG IF!!!) then I will pump from the beginning and be able to donate like 300 oz. I think that's a good compromise:)
Anyway, back to Claire.
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Walking: I guess Monday was her first official "step"- but that's all it was- she took one step and then fell down. Yesterday she took 2 steps and fell. She definitely wants to walk, which is a step in and of itself as she hasn't shown much interest in that until now. While I am not encouraging this, Ben is going against me and encouraging her. Oh, well.
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Communication: She really isn't going anywhere on the talking front. Honestly, since she said, "mama" last month, I haven't heard her say anything outside of baby talk since. However- she most definitely communicates! She is very good at pointing to what she wants. And, if she doesn't like what you give her, she throws it on the floor. I realize this is not a difficult sign to understand, but Audra would throw things on the floor because she thought it was funny. Claire does it to communicate to us she doesn't want it.
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Playing: She is really great now at independent play. She loves taking things OUT (but not putting them back in. Oh, well). Her favorite thing in the whole world is the dishwasher. Pretty much I have to do the dishes while she is sleeping or Claire is trying to pull knives out of the silverware holder. Honestly, she might be playing in the living room, and we quietly open the dishwasher, and within 3 seconds she has raced over to the dishwasher as fast as she can crawl (which is fast) and is pulling things out. She also likes to eat shoes.
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Sleep: Thanks to the blackout blinds, she is sleeping AND napping great. She typically wakes up around 6:20, comes in and nurses, and then I put her down and she plays by herself until Ben wakes up (he is such a good husband- he always takes both girls so I can sleep in- I love that man!!!!). She takes 2-2 hour naps, one at 9 and one at 1. Then she goes to bed at 7:30. She is still the easiest thing in the world to put to sleep- I just put her in her crib and walk out the door.
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Stairs: She loves stairs. We put the ironing board at the bottom of our stairs to keep her from climbing up, but she loves to climb whenever we let her.
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Personality: She is getting a little more expressive. She is also finally letting other people hold her while I go do something without crying. She seems to be kind-of shy, and in general is a very happy little girl. She LOVES Audra, and she is definitely very well loved in return!

3 comments:

  1. Isn't 3-4 times good for 11 months? How often are they supposed to nurse since most get weaned in a month? I'd say you are really lucky she'll nurse that often. Although, you did mention she's not much of an eater so maybe that's the trade-off.
    The formula transition wasn't that bad with Austin, it was just my own emotional response that was hard. It seems like since Claire is so close to a year, though, wouldn't you just go straight to cow's milk?

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  2. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond- I feel like the world is spinning around me and I just can't keep up!!!

    If she keeps nursing like she is, I probably won't supplement at all. I have considered going straight to milk, and I might but I got some free formula in the mail so I would probably use that first. I am not sure how much they are supposed to nurse, but I can definitely say that breastmilk is not her #1 source of nutrition right now, even though it is supposed to be. Oh, well- I am doing what I can and Claire seems happy and healthy, so I won't worry about it too much.

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  3. That same thing happened with Nathan. I think people are being slightly unrealistic about children's own independence and will if they really want to push that whole "milk should be the main source of nutrition" thing past about 9 months. Kids want SO much to grow up and do what the bigger people are doing that trying to force THAT much milk on them is just frustrating!
    If you don't have a ton of free formula, I would probably just go straight to milk and donate it. It is SO hard to wean little ones from one thing to another and then to yet another - when they all taste really different.

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