Dominic - 11 Months Old

In ONE short month, I will have a one-year-old. I wonder if I'm going to be one of those moms that cries on his first birthday. Probably... let's be realistic, I'm hormonal and emotional as it is!

I'm grateful I'm growing a second babe at this time, because it makes me less anxious about Dom growing up I think. Soon there will be another tiny squish!

0-11 Months old!

Weight: 26 pounds (45th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (50th percentile)

Likes:

• Playing Peek-a-boo. He particularly likes being the "Boo-er". He will hold up any object to his face and rip it away and loudly say, "BA!!!" It's pretty freaking adorable. He doesn't care whether or not anyone is watching. He just loves it. 
• Crawling all over Dave and I. If we sit or lay on the floor he zooms over to cuddle and crawl and wrestle.
• Climbing stairs. We have gated off all the stairs in our house, so he no longer zips over there on his own, but sometimes I'll let him crawl upstairs to tire him out.
• Opening and emptying the diaper bag all over the floor. This keeps him busy for 10+ minutes and I know everything in there is safe, so it's a stress-free activity. Go to town Dom!
• Snuggling on our lap with his blankie watching Paw Patrol or reading a book. He has a very short attention span (10 minutes at best), but it's the best snuggles I get all day. 
• Bath time. He still gets super excited if he hears me running the bath. He will rip down the hallway in all his naked glory straight for the bathtub. 
• Getting his teeth brushed. If I say, "Is it time to brush your teeth?" He gets a big grin on his face and opens wide for the toothbrush coming in. I think the first time I did it, Sherlock came in to sniff and lick and check it out, which obviously made Dom's day, so now it's just a really exciting thing. Could be worse!

Dislikes:

• Umm... he likes most things! He sort of dislikes getting his diaper changed because that requires sitting still for more than 3 seconds. He's a busy boy!

Notes:

• He has discovered that he and I both have nostrils and he frequently shoves his finger up them... charming!
• Started signing "more" on November 7. He doesn't do it all the time, but he communicates well enough that he pretty much always wants more! We have to cut him off 99% of the time. Either that or he will just start feeding the dog all of his food when he's done. 
• His feet and under his belly button are SUPER ticklish! The best giggles!
• He has three teeth, and three more on the way! The two on the bottom, and one new one on the top. His little teeth are so sweet.
• He whistles pretty often. At first it was accidental, but I'm pretty confident he does it on purpose now. He will be a better whistler than me before long!
• He has started using inflections in his babbling. Apparently I ask him a lot of questions, as most of his babbling directed at me ends in a question tone. Haha! Are you playing with your puppy? Is that your blankie? Do you like the blue toy? Do you want some more food? Can you wave Bye bye? Is that a good noise or what?! Yup... my day is all questions!
• Copies howling noises and sirens when he hears them on the TV. 
• He has started using "words" that we can understand. He is very consistent with Mom, or Mama. He says BA for Boo. He knows Dada, but mostly prefers Mama. He knows animal sounds (do these count as words?) like Moo, Hoo (like an owl), oinking (mostly just wrinkling his nose and breathing loudly). He will copy these sounds consistently, but won't necessarily answer, "What does a cow say?" with "Moo."
• I have become so frustrated by his spitting up. I thought this would end when he started solids! This week has actually been really good, but there are days where we go through 4 outfits. He also tends to save the big spits for when we're out and about. It is exhausting!
• If I hide treats (Cheerios) somewhere he will go back there for the next few days to check if the stock has been replenished.
• If he hears the garage door open, he will look towards to stairs anticipating David walking up the stairs. 
• He is a pickier eater now. He still eats most things, but if he comes across something he doesn't like he protests and launches it off the high chair. 
• Everyone always comments on how healthy he looks. They say he must be well fed and that he has such huge cheeks! They also comment on how happy he is. He's very social! Doesn't get that from his mom!
• He is becoming more affectionate. He definitely needs more physical touch than he ever used to. He will play by himself for 10-20 minutes and then come for a cuddle and a kiss and then be back off again. No complaints from me!
• He gestures or points towards something he wants. 
• He has finally started waving at us! This just warms my heart! No clapping yet, and I was feeling a little "what the heck!" about this, but then I realized we rarely clap at home, so why would he know how to clap?! Working on this now.
• He is getting creative with the games he plays. The other day he put his little shaker egg thing into a butter container and bounced and shook it around trying to keep it in the container. When it flew out he'd go grab it and start over again. 
• He took a first step on November 23. He doesn't have great balance yet, and gets ahead of himself when trying to walk on his own, but he's close!! He pushes anything that he can possibly move all around the house excitedly and very proudly walking. 
• He sleeps SO well. I think he is the only baby in the world that sleeps way better AFTER daylight savings. He slept in that day, and has slept in every day since! He will sleep until at least 630 or 7 every day, which works very well for Dave and I!. 

Typical Day:

630am - wake up & 6oz bottle

8am - breakfast (oatmeal and cheerios)

945am - nap 1

1100am - wake up & 6oz bottle

1230pm - lunch (grilled cheese, leftovers, fruit, scrambled eggs with cheese, muffin, etc.)

230pm - nap 2

330pm - wake up & 6oz bottle

500pm - dinner with us (this can be what we're eating, or some sort of meat, sweet potatoes, fruit and/or vegetable... basically anything he can feed himself is good with me!)

7-715pm - bed time!

A few pictures from the last month <3