Damien has been 11 months for a while now but it was a crazy month. At the time Damien turned 10 months, we were all getting a cold and Aiden was being treated for pink eye. An additional 15 doctor visits and 3+ weeks later, we’d mostly be feeling better… but it’s taken weeks to come out from how behind our lives became. Not to mention that the approaching FIRST BIRTHDAY for Damien is taking some planning. OMG – he’s almost 1!!
So, before the rest of the month gets away from me, let me talk about how AMAZING Damien is becoming. Learning to crawl and cruise and pull up has made a world of difference for Damien. He’s communicating better – words and signs – and is generally way more happy.
He learned a lot this month, but his advances with musical instruments had me the most excited. He loves to bang on the xylophone or blow into whistles. So cute.
- Weight 21lbs 6oz
- Has 6 teeth
- Takes 2 naps a day. 1st nap is 40mins – 1.5 hours. Second nap is almost always 1.5 hours.
- Sleeps 11.5-12 hours a night consistently with 1 wake about 50% of the time (we got off track being sick)
- Continues to crawl in the bum scoot – it’s very fast now!
- Can pull up easily and cruise one-handed, going from item to item to cross a room. Can push walkers or make anything into a walker.
- Can climb the stairs with difficulty, though can handle the single steps outside with ease
- Can stand independently for a few seconds if he forgets to hold on to something
- Favourite foods: yam soy paper rolls, cream cheese toast, yogurt, applesauce, raisins, smoothies, strawberries, pancakes, pasta, chicken, anything with a sauce
- Loves to play musical instruments (harmonica, whistles, drum, shakers, pipe xylophone) – especially sharing back and forth with an adult, cruise around the train table, play catch / rolling balls, parachute at Gymboree, anything with Aiden, the bath, swimming, sand, slides, the swing, the trampoline, banging objects together
- Loves to read his “boo” (aka books). Favourites: I love you through and through, Tails, Peek-A-Zoo, Toes, Ears & Nose, Mother Goose, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See
- Favourite toys: music toys of any kind, echo microphone, train table pieces, finger puppets, balls
- Had his first bout of bronchitis and his first antibiotics
- Went to the beach for the first time. Went mental in his desire to enter the water.
- New signs: water, more (a clap, which is confusing)
- Often says new words, but doesn’t always repeat them. Words less used include: tickle, bell, dada, tail, banana, hand, diaper, garbage (perfectly said too), ba-y (bunny), ootie (cookie), sna (snack), tired, Dada, dry dry, shake shake
- New words that we hear often: wow, mau (for meow / cat), hello, ater (water), Aiden, play
My Damien is 10 months old and the countdown is on – 61 days until his 1st birthday! What a little man Damien has become, truly finding his own personality. Now that he can move (yay!!), he is way less fussy and my tired arms are getting a break! He’s also loving his increased freedom to look at and explore whatever it is he sees. Of course, this results in a lot of “Gentle with the cat!” and “Not a toy!” – thankfully, he is starting to listen… sometimes at least. Still, this was a good month and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he grows up!
- Weight 21lbs 6oz (big growth spurt)
- Has 5/6 teeth (the 6th is only partially out)
- Is solidly on 2 naps a day, even when those naps are sometimes short
- Slept 11.5-12 hours a night consistently… until he began teething up a storm
- Began bum scooting as his preferred mode of transportation
- Can pull up sometimes
- Can cruise and stand with one hand holding something
- Favourite foods: butter chicken, yam rolls, hummus on puffed crackers, cream cheese on anything, yogurt, applesauce, chicken, Mexican noodle soup, anything in pesto, lasagna, refried black beans, yogurt raisins
- Foods he doesn’t love: corn, peas, Nutri-Os, chickpeas, bananas (he’ll have a few bites), raw berries (he’ll eat them warm / cooked), apricots, puffed kids snacks, leftover meat, ground beef, plain rice (needs a sauce), grapes, cheese
- Loves to play Peek-A-Boo, catch, “band” with shakers or tambourine, anything at Gymboree, anything with Aiden, the bath
- Loves to read his “boops” (aka books). Favourites: I love you through and through, Tails, Peek-A-Zoo, Toes, Ears & Nose, Alphabet, Mother Goose (a newer addition to his favourites)
- Favourite toys: cutting fruit / kitchen items, musical helicopter, stacking cups, scarf, shakers, bell shakers, play table
- Can drink from a straw (that took a while to teach him!)
- Loves to flap his hand (or ours) on his mouth while going Ahhhh
- Words, in order of most used / consistent: Mama, Mom, Dum (done) or A Da (all done), Boop (book), Ayn (Aiden), Brud (Brother), Zoo, A-Boo (for Peek-A-Boo),
Damien started off the month with his two bottom teeth, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Starting with the right lateral incisor, his mouth was a little uneven in its toothy grin for a couple of weeks. I thought he may end up getting the “vampire” look, as Aiden did, having the lateral incisors coming in before the central ones. Not long after, he started to get the right central incisor, proving me wrong, and 2 days later I noticed the left lateral incisor and the central one too.
For the last two weeks, he’s been teething very badly. The left central incisor is still only partially out, so we are not quite through with the process.
My good sleeper went from 11.5-12 solid hours of sleep (ok, sometimes he woke too early) to having 3-6 wakes in the night, some for up to 2 hours. Brutal transition, particularly when big brother was also sick (and he is much worse, getting up 5-12+ times). He’s been getting Advil, though thankfully he’s mostly ok during the day now, being excited by his increased mobility.
Still, teething sucks and I would love to actually get some sleep again!!
Damien is 9 months old now, which suddenly seems quite close to 1 year old! Yikes! My little man has changed a lot this month and, though his lack of crawling is making me frustrated, he continues to amaze me in so many ways. You should see Damien play catch, it’s amazing!
- Weight 19lbs 11oz
- Has 3 teeth, his upper right lateral incisor poking through today
- Still just a fuzzy head
- Is just transitioning to 2 naps per day (the morning nap finally getting longer than 40 minutes too, hopefully that holds!)
- Slept his first 12 hour night without a dreamfeed last night
- Favourite foods: yam rolls, garlic bread, chicken, bread with cream cheese, yogurt, cooked blueberries, applesauce, pancakes
- Has more picky foods than before. Happily rejects / spits out food he doesn’t feel like. Foods he’s most likely to reject are cheese, grapes, banana, avocado (love/hate with it)
- Perfected his pincer grip for eating
- Can pull to stand from a lap or slightly raised seated surface
- Can go from tummy to knees to seated position, though often forgets this when frustrated
- Can turn around in circles on tummy and move backwards a little bit
- Cruises the furniture in a slow shuffle, going around objects. Holds on with one hand or balances body against edge of furniture
- Plays catch. Grabs the ball with his legs to catch it, lifts it and throws it. Will throw large balls two-handed in an overhand throw. Can throw smaller balls one-handed in an overhand throw. Throws are quite powerful.
- Most common baby sign (he has 7): all done. Uses it all the time.
- Can clap, wave, give a high five, lift a scarf over his face to play Peek-A-Boo
- Words: mama, mum mum (cracker), ball (baah), done (dum), boop (book), Oma
- New sounds: baa, bat, a-da-ba, wawa, shh, um, dum, bum, adum
- Started swimming lessons: finds it cold. Enjoys the hot tub.
- Favorite activities: play catch, standing, the swing, sand (not averse to putting it in his mouth), Gymboree, circle time, playing with Aiden in any way, tunnels / tents / parachute time
- Favorite book: I love you through and through, and Tails. Loves to read, particularly books that involve a lot of customizations (kisses, tickles, songs, etc). No interest in Mother Goose. Will slam a book closed if he doesn’t like it. Can turn pages.
Once Damien was sleeping well, he gradually dropped all of his feeds on his own for the 12 hours of his night, keeping only the dreamfeed. By 4-5 months, Damien had dropped his remaining night feed at 3am all on his own, we only had to re-enforce the habit. Since then, I’ve held on to the dreamfeed and it has been my special time with him.
There have been times, for sure, when it would have been convenient to be able to stay out past 10:30, to go to bed early or to drink an extra glass of wine without having to worry about feeding a baby at a certain time. But, given all that, I couldn’t bear parting with my special time with my little baby – my last little baby.
Damien rarely wakes up early anticipating the feed, I almost always wake him up when I open the door or approach his crib. I hear him wake up and sometimes smack his lips waiting for his milk (he may also use his milk sign as well, as I get ready to feed him). I am always assaulted by the wonderful baby smell of his room and the warm perfection that it all is. It’s like my own little piece of paradise.
I pick up that sleepy baby and feed him for a few minutes – only 5-10 now, which isn’t very long. There’s no kicking, no fussing, no stretching or pulling of hair. No biting, no banging, no distractions, no preschooler to talk to. It’s just me and Damien and it’s perfect.
After I feed him, I put Damien right back in his crib and he’s oh so relaxed. From time to time, the feed actually wakes him up for a while, but he’s such a content little sleeper that he just chills out and eventually falls back to sleep. He never progresses to fussing in the same way that Aiden did! He rolls over asking to go right into his crib when he’s finished his milk – no cuddles necessary.
It’s an amazing experience, nursing a baby, and the dreamfeed has been my little oasis of calm before bed. I’m sure the oxytocin was a nice boost too!
Last night, I didn’t offer Damien milk at his usual time and he slept right through to morning, no problem. I’ve known for a while he probably wasn’t hungry, but he’s my baby and I was selfishly waking him up to spend time with him. I’m going to miss those special times.
At least I know that he’ll probably still have some night wakings when he has a cold or is teething or whatever. Then again, he popped a tooth out during those 12 hours and didn’t make a peep!
Now, if only there was a sniff detector in his room, since he sometimes dirties his diaper while falling asleep and doesn’t cry, so we don’t know. ;)
