growing by the minute: 11 months

Better late than never. Time feels so fleeting to me right now. I just want to grab on to each hour and hold onto it for dear life. I had no idea that this would be such an emotional time — maybe the most emotional since the week Jacob was born. From being back to work to ending breastfeeding, a lot is changing around here.

And soon this little monster isn't going to be a baby. He'll be a toddler. One year old.

Vital stats: His growth is definitely slowing. He went to the doctor today with Dada to deal with a pesky ear ache and we found out that he is only 22 lbs., 3 oz. That's only a slight increase from his weight at nine months, putting him in the 50th percentile. He's lengthening though, and still in the 90th percentile for height. Oh, and that melon, 95th percentile.

Milestones & firsts: We find it so adorable that Jacob has different waves for hi and bye, though he only uses them when he wants to. He's doing things less on demand now and more when he really means it. This makes me sad because I used to be able to get kisses whenever I wanted, and now I have to earn them.

Husband has taught J so much since they've been home together this summer. Some of our boy's new tricks include waving his fist in a circular motion while we sing the first verse of the wheels on the bus.

Teeth: Four and more coming! It's been a somewhat rough month of teething, but now Jacob has his two top centre teeth and there's at least one more trying to push through beside it.

Speech: Jacob has added a couple words to his vocabulary, beyond Mama and Dada, which he now says with distinction. He can also say Dog and Duck. They sound similar, but are different when he's refering to different things. So far, ducks are always ducks, but lots of four-legged furry things are called dogs. Meh. We take what we can get.

Zzzzzzz: Husband has taken over nighttime feeding duties lately, since I'm no longer breastfeeding. Jacob's still sometimes waking once per night (night = a 12-hour period, usually from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am) to have a few ounces of formula, though sometimes he'll just settle himself back to sleep.

Om nom nom: We've been feeding Jacob based on what we're eating. He's especially loving peaches and nectarines when he can hold the whole thing himself. He likes taking big juicy bites and squints his eyes when its sour. The kid loves anything that's sour, like raspberries blended and frozen into popcicle form.

Likes & dislikes: Jacob is the opposite of a homebody. He loves to get out and do things. He and Dada take regular trips to the library for story time, or just to play and take out new books.


Challenges: Screaming. We went through this stage before and it seems to be rearing its ugly head again. Husband mentioned it to the doctor, who assures us it's just his way of exercising his voice.

Special moments: I tried to clear my mind and focus entirely on Jacod during our last breastfeeding sessions. I didn't allow myself to be distracted by my phone or eReader. I just watched him, talked to him and snuggled him close.

We're loving watching Jacob develop. He seems to change daily lately, which is exciting and scary at the same time. He's growing up so fast.