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Todd at 10.5 months old (picture taken by Kylie) – July 7, 2015

ELEVENTH MONTH
JUNE 21 – JULY 21

WEEK 44 (PARTIAL WEEK)

On June 22nd, Todd had a runny nose and his first fever (of up to 102 degrees).  But…that didn’t stop him from having a breakthrough in his standing!  (Maybe Todd got a burst of energy from all the icky sweeteners in the children’s Acetaminophen, haha!)

He stood up from the floor– without holding onto anything– and then he kept repeating it over and over.  (Remember– Todd stood up on his own for the first 2 times on June 7th, but then he didn’t do it again.)  The more we got excited, the more he got excited, and the more he did it.

He did his best walking to date on June 22nd, too:  he walked one way, turned around, walked the other way, turned around and walked some more…without falling down.  Here’s one of the video clips from that evening…

Starting the next day…

Since Todd could now stand up without having to pull up on something, he started to walk a lot.  By the end of this week, he was definitely doing more walking than crawling (and of course falling down a lot).  So, basically– he really, really started walking at 10 months old.  Here’s the summary of Todd’s walking progression:

• 1st steps –> 9th months (week 39)
• started initiating walking spurts on his own –> 9.5 months (week 41)
• able to stand up from the floor on his own and walks instead of crawls –> 10 months (week 44)

Developmental and other highlights:

• 1st fever & 1st time taking children’s Acetaminophen (6/22)
• runny nose (lasted just a few days, starting 6/22)
• standing up (without using his arms) and doing it repeatedly (6/22)
• he prefers walking over crawling
• he gave me a kiss and he tried to bite my chin with his new bottom tooth (i.e. “Hannibal Lecter Kiss,” 6/24)
• he was all stretched out sleeping prone (6/25)
• 1st time riding in a shopping cart (instead of riding in the stroller while I shopped) (at Costco, 6/25)

1st shopping cart ride – June 25, 2015

WEEK 45

We’ve had an unusually hot summer this year, so Eric bought Todd a baby pool on June 26th.  Todd enjoyed the skinny dip and playing with his toys for a while, but then he wanted to get out and explore the grass.

1st time in the baby pool – June 26, 2015

Developmental and other highlights:

• 1st time in the baby pool (6/26)
• able to lift and then carry large items while walking (i.e. an empty diaper box, a basketball)
• able to crawl completely under a kitchen chair

Outdoor nap after a rollerblade – June 27, 2015

Other highlights:

• when I take a shower, Todd “visits” me (Eric holds him up over the shower door)…always with a big grin
• I started using a sign for “pee pee” (6/27) and “poo poo” (6/28)
• we put up the baby gate to block access to my bedroom (6/28)
• morning naps were shorter because work was started on getting the siding on our house replaced. However, Todd slept through a surprising amount of loud noises!
• he loved to watch the workers from the sliding glass door
• playing the keyboard and “singing” from high chair (7/2)
• very funny before bed (7/2)
• he likes to go to the corner of our 2 couches
• When Eric watches TV, Todd reclines against him and relaxes that way

Todd’s corner – June 29, 2015

WEEK 46

Tooth number two!

On Friday, July 3rd, Todd woke up with the rare dry diaper and I noticed that his top left front tooth had broken through the gums.  I was finally able to get a picture of it on July 20th (week 48):

View of Todd’s 2nd tooth (top left front) – July 20, 2015

You might have already read about Todd’s first 4th of July (in La Conner).  If not, check it out here.  We all had a good time strolling along the Channel Boardwalk, listening to some great music, and watching the fireworks show over the Swinomish.

Developmental highlights:

• he grabbed the table with both hands and lifted both feet off the floor briefly (7/5)
• after I combed my hair, he tried to comb his hair (7/5)
• able to stand up, squat down, stand up on the balance board with great control (see clip below) (7/9)
• he took a few steps backward (7/6)

Other highlights:

• running toward me and laughing (and doing it over and over) (7/3)
• he likes pushing his high chair across the room (and trying to push other large objects like chairs, bar stools, vacuum cleaner, etc)
• woke up from a full night of sleep with dry diaper (7/3 and 7/4)
• getting Eric’s phone and laughing while it takes a video (see clip below) (7/3)
• he does this funny thing where he hikes his extended arm by his ear, sticks it out in front, and walks that way
• he likes to drive his little cars on the floor
• he “dances” to music, and has been “singing” (excited screaming) for a while

People & Places:

• 4th of July activities in La Conner and making friends with a dog (7/4)
• visit to the beach at Kayak Point (7/5)
• Cousin Kylie visited (7/7)

Kisses from Cousin Kylie – July 7, 2015

WEEK 47

On Saturday, July 11th, we took Todd to see the goats (and sheep) at Goatalympics.  (See “Goatalympics and Vegan Food Trucks“).

Eric & Todd at Goatalympics – July 11, 2015

Developmental and other highlights:

• able to climb onto the couch, from a cushion/pillow on the floor (see clip below) (7/13 & 7/14)
• able to quickly turn around 180° while walking and quickly walk (practically run) around in circles
• makes lots of sounds (i.e. “day day day,” “nam,” “ga ga ga,” “ba ba ba” and other babbling “sentences”
• he crawled under/through his Exersaucer and he’s much more aware of himself in space, (i.e. where his head is) so he doesn’t really hit his head under the Exersaucer (7/14)
• he starting pulling books off the big book shelf (7/14)
• he was able to back up his Little Tikes car (7/14)
• while outside, he walks all over the grass (>100 steps without stopping) and he’s not as focused on putting plant matter in his mouth

Other highlights:

• he tries to pull my hair (hard!) and thinks it’s funny (and always grabs for glasses)
• he tries to bite me and thinks it’s funny (the problem is, I laugh, too)
• he loves being outside, will complain (i.e. whine) when brought back inside
• he gave me lots of kisses (7/10)
• still makes moaning sounds when he’s tired and on the verge of falling asleep (for naps or in the car)
• I moved some exercise equipment so that our front room is now open/safe for Todd (7/13)
• he loves the drum set, sitting on our laps to hit the drum/cymbals, playing on the floor by the peddles, shaking the hi-hat, smiling at his reflection under one of the drums

Todd the drummer – July 10, 2015

Out & About:

• Goatalympics (7/11)
• we checked out a carnival ride while out on a walk; Todd got a little afraid of a dragon roller coaster (7/12)

WEEK 48 (PARTIAL WEEK)

On July 18th, we did a 27¼ mile (round trip) bike ride to Snohomish, WA, to check out a very vegan-friendly restaurant that we hadn’t known about.  It’s called Grilla Bites, and it was awesome!  We’ll definitely go back there again.  We each had the Pesto Tofu Grilla (i.e. sandwich) and, later, we split a chocolate Coconut Bliss ice cream bar.

While digesting our food before biking back to the car, we let Todd walk around since the street was closed to traffic for the Kla Ha Ya Days Festival.  Todd made a couple new doggie friends.  He loves dogs!!  I’m trying to teach him “gentle” when he pets them.

Todd in Snohomish – July 18, 2015

Developmental and other highlights:

• walking outside and splashing in the baby pool
• he started trying to turn his Little Tikes car while pushing it (7/19)
• does not like taking a shower
• 3rd tooth coming in (bottom front right (7/19 likely and 7/20 definitely)
• likes to play on a pile of pillows (and a blanket) on the floor
• Eric puts his bike helmet on him in the house, to get him used to it
• Todd loves dogs

Todd pool side – July 19, 2015

ELEVENTH MONTH WRAP-UP

Sleep–

Well, Todd’s tenth month had been his best sleep month to date, but the eleventh month was just as good!  The only difference this month was that Todd woke up in the night 4x (compared to 5x).  Two of those nights occurred just a few days ago (7/18, 7/19), which coincided with the arrival of Todd’s 3rd tooth (logical).

This month, Todd generally fell asleep on me before I put him in his crib for the night.  A ~10 hour night-time sleep duration continued to be the trend.

Good morning, Todd! – June 25, 2015

I strived for no later than an ~8:30 PM bedtime, but sometimes it was a challenge with the seasonal, evening brightness of summer time.  Todd’s usually plenty ready for bedtime, but a couple times it seemed that he just wasn’t.  Instead of fighting him (i.e. letting him cry), Eric and I just closed the blinds to make the house as dark as possible, we both got on our couches, and we let him play.  We modeled “sleeping,” and kept reminding him that it’s “night-night time” when he’d come over to engage with either of us.  It was actually hard not to laugh (and we did laugh!).  The goal was to show him that it’s not exciting to stay up any later.  After about 15-30 minutes, he went to bed without incident.

The morning nap duration seems to be shortening a bit.  While he did have two 3.25 hour naps and four 2.75-3.0 hour naps this month, the trend lately is closer to a ~2 hour nap.  The swing is still worth its weight in gold!

Falling back asleep after one of his night time wake ups – 11: 41 PM on July 6, 2015

Food–

At month’s end, we’re working on can #63 of formula, so that means Todd’s gone through ~5 cans this month (compared to ~6 cans per month for the 2 previous months and 7 cans for the month before that).

A BIG milestone happened in week 48:  Todd was now able to fully tip back his bottle (to get all the liquid out of it), from an upright position.

Nine+ times out of ten, I prefer (love!) holding Todd like a baby while he drinks because I get to cuddle with him then.  He drinks pretty fast, though, and when he’s done, he’s off and running (sometimes with his empty bottle in hand).

After drinking his first bottle in the morning (from my glider chair), he quickly flips over and tries to climb over the arm of the chair, to the nightstand, and grab at whatever looks exciting (i.e. my phone, the teething tablet bottle, his baby nail clippers, etc).  He pulls out as many books as he can from the little book rack sitting there.

(Todd doesn’t sit still very well when I try to read books to him in my chair…except when I read “I Love You As Big As the World.”  He’ll let me read that one over and over to him…love!)

Bottle bonding – July 14, 2015

Todd eats a hearty 3 meals on most days.  When the tray has several different things on it, you can see what he prefers, because he’ll go for all of that one thing (recently– black olive slices, bits of dried plum, Ditalini pasta with sauce.)  He’ll “discard” other things by tossing them aside (but he’ll usually end up eating them later).

Developmentally, Todd can push food into his mouth with his thumb, after getting small pieces on top of it. He helps guide the spoon to his mouth and really sucks at the spoon hard. He’s currently working on his pincer grasp.

Green smoothie face – June 29, 2015

On July 6th, I stopped recording every meal eaten, and on July 17th, I did a detailed food post (What My Vegan Baby Eats).  Here were the new foods tried this month:

• cabbage roll casserole (week 45)
• pureed prunes (week 46) & cut up pieces of a dried plum (week 47)
• split pea soup (week 46)
• peach pieces (week 46)
• mung bean threads (week 47)
• Organic Happy Squeeze Fruit & Veggie Twist pouch (apple, mango, pear, kale & chia seed puree) (week 47)
• homemade rice cashew milk (liquid part, without the sediment) (week 47)
• licks of a chocolate Coconut Bliss ice cream bar (week 48)

• Eric cut a bottle nipple to see if Todd could drink his green smoothie via his bottle (week 48)

Todd eating a pear slice – July 7, 2015

Todd fell asleep in his high chair for the first time on July 2nd (at dinner).  The poor guy was so tired that day because the loud construction noises cut his morning nap very short (30 minutes).  He ended up sleeping soundly in his high chair for 40 minutes!

1st time falling asleep during a meal – July 2, 2015

What does Todd hate about meals?

–> The clean-up!  It’s one of the few times Todd really makes a fuss.

Toileting–

Todd had a couple more “poo misses” this month (11x), compared to last month (9x).  Four out of 10 were the surprise 2nd poops of the day.  Otherwise, Todd still generally poops once a day in the toilet.  He also pees in the toilet (as well as in his underwear/diapers).

What we thought was diaper rash in previous months was actually his eczema, and it cleared up after treatment with the stronger (2.5%) Cortisone cream that was started at the end of the last month.  So, this was the first month in a long time when Todd didn’t have a red, rashy butt.  We keep him lubed with a barrier cream to prevent further eczema flair ups.  These days we’re using a disposable diaper (instead of cloth) during nap time and when we leave the house.

Todd – July 19, 2015

Well, that’s every detail I can think of!  We’re fast approaching the big first birthday (I can’t believe it!!)