As we creep closer to one year, I am trying to keep myself from freaking out. I usually try and stick to the rational ‘babies grow and it’s fun to see who she is turning into” mindset, but a little part of me aches inside to see my baby growing so quickly. I feel like Hailey was a baby for so much longer than Kaitlyn, and I totally see why the youngest child in families tend to always be babied. I think I will be guilty of that for years to come.
EAT
Dare I say that I don’t think she is as adventurous in the eating department as Hailey was? I’m really trying not to compare or to blame myself (it’s harder to keep so many baby-appropriate foods prepped the second time around!). Still, she is a pretty good eater overall. She eats three solid meals a day plus a snack sometimes.
Her favorite foods include frozen peas, pineapple, peaches, pancakes, corn, homemade spaghetti sauce, yogurt, blueberries, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, eggs with diced up veggies and salsa (<–salsa is key there!) and black olives.
She tends to pick around: bananas, chickpeas, chicken, cheese and anything on the bland side.
She still nurses 4-5 times a day, though it tends to be closer to 4 now. I have no plans to wean anytime soon. In fact, I might nurse her until she goes to college. You know, that babying I thing I mentioned? (Just kidding future Kaitlyn, I hope that didn’t make you cringe!)
I adore nursing though. Really, it’s one of my favorite mom things I’ve experienced. Sometimes I’ll just stare at her because she looks so peaceful or brush her cheek with my finger and watch her grin. Sometimes she’ll wrap her little hand around my finger and it’s just so sweet. OK, OK, mom mushiness is done.
SLEEP
I think we’ve finally hit our stride with nighttime sleep! As I am knocking on my desk, I an say that she sleeps regularly from 7pm-7:15am now and it’s as glorious as it sounds.
Daytime sleep is still all over the place. Though I think she’d prefer two naps, it doesn’t always work out that way. On the ideal day she gets a 45 minute morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap, but some days she just takes one long one or two short ones. She’s pretty go with the flow, but I try to make sure she’s getting enough sleep for development and all that jazz.
She usually snuggles her bunny and it’s adorable. We still use the white noise, but on a super low setting. For some reason I’m scared to turn it off completely, though will probably try it soon. I regularly nurse her to sleep (one of those no-no ‘rules’ that I’m happily breaking with my second child) but she doesn’t need me to, which is nice.
However, falling asleep in my arms is super rare, so when it happens a grainy, dark selfie is absolutely mandatory.
PLAY
Oh man is play getting to be fun around here!
First of all, her sounds are getting more varied. Dadada is a staple, as is BAH, and this month she mastered MAma. Does she know what it means? Of course she does. She’s a genius. Spoken like any mom.
She knows her name and the word no, which is helpful when she decides she wants to listen to me.
She is now standing on her own and has attempted steps on her own once or twice, resulting in falling straight to the floor. However, she loves walking while holding onto objects or people and Hailey thinks it’s hilarious.
Other party tricks include waving bye-bye. She does it backwards, so it looks like she is waving at herself. I hear she does that because that’s what it looks like from her perspective when we wave at her. Whatever the reason… Cuuuuuuuute.
Perhaps my favorite new development is peek-a-boo.
She grabs towels, toys or sometimes her own shirt and puts it over her face. She starts giggling immediately, then pulls it away really quickly and cracks up laughing. All it takes is for me to say ‘Where’sssss Kailtyn?” and she’ll drop to hide her face, giggle, then pop up as I say “there she is!!” She would play this for an hour nonstop if I played along and it’s hilarious.
We’re due soon for a weigh in, but I’d guess she is about 17 pounds. She’s a peanut, last time falling in the 5% for weight and 75% for height. She wears 9-12 month clothing and will soon upsize to a size 3 diaper. She has 6 teeth and likes to chomp/click them together, making me cringe on the regular. She is such a happy girl. At the gym, the childcare lady has nicknamed her Smiley and always gets a kick out of how fearless she is about climbing up objects she shouldn’t.
My my, how I love these girls!
For fun: Hailey at 10 months old
More baby updates HERE.
Did I forget anything in my mile-long recap of month 10 of her life?
Lee says
What a cutie! I love that she waves to herself. She’s actually the same size as my 14 month old very little peanut!
Lindsay says
Just fyi if your pediatrician isn’t happy with her percentiles make sure you have them use the who chart which compares breastfed babies and not the cdc chart which compares babies in America which are mostly formula fed (and over fed). They told me at my daughter one year appt she was in the 0 percentile but I looked her up on the who chart and she is in the 15th which is totally fine.
Brittany Dixon says
That’s a great suggestion and I will definitely ask next time! Yeah, my pediatrician is keeping an eye on her weight, but she eats a ton, sleeps well and doesn’t seem to have any diaper issues, so I’m not too concerned. I think she’s just a little thing!
Erica { EricaDHouse.com } says
Oh I can hardly take the cuteness.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Such a little beauty! XOXO
Brynn says
is there anything sweeter than a weeping baby?! They look so peaceful. I want my little one to stay small as well, and he’s my first!
Amy @ Elephant Eats says
What an ADORABLE and smiley girl you have there! She really is the cutest 🙂 Wow, I can’t believe she only weighs 17 lbs…that’s how much my 7 month old weighs now. But she looks totally well proportioned to me. And it sounds like she likes to eat! Congrats on the good nighttime sleeping now (i’m knocking on wood as I type that, don’t worry). I sure hope my boy gets things under control soon…I dunno if I can wait 3 more months to get some sleep.
Heather says
Such a cutie! I completely get the whole babying the youngest thing. I am so guilty of this and I think I’m probably part of the reason our 16 month old still does not sleep through the night… and often ends up in our room. Whoops! I can’t help it, though… I just want her to stay little forever. Ha ha. :p
Jen says
I love her! She looks absolutely mischievous in that picture of her sitting on the deck. I am with you–I’m breastfeeding until Amelia goes to college! She’s my first and most likely only baby, so I just never want to stop. She’s also going back and forth between 4 and 5 sessions a day, and I’m cool with whatever happens.
I’m really struggling with napping–I was just reading your post about when Hailey dropped her first nap at eleven months. My little one keeps resisting morning nap and seems to be having more trouble going to sleep at night, so I’m wondering if she’s getting close to that, even though she’s not even eleven months yet. Oh well, it will all work out.
Brittany Dixon says
Yeah, I got back and forth on what to do with Kaitlyn too. Sometimes one nap completely suffices and sometimes she needs more. It’s figuring it out day by day which isn’t great for my OCD schedule loving side, but it’s teaching me to go with the flow 😉
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says
What a cutie! Your girls are adorable!
Kari says
How sweet your girls are!!! Loved reading this post 🙂
Jennifer says
She is so cute! Just a question though- is there something wrong with using white noise long-term? We continue to use a white noise machine for my 2-year old just to block out any extra noise after she goes to bed. I know I actually like white noise when I sleep and will either keep a fan on, or bring a white noise machine if I’m travelling, so I’m kinda not worried about her becoming hooked! 😉 Just curious to what your fear of continuing to use one was.
LaToya says
My daughter is 3 and we still use it!!!! 🙂 Every parent is different, do what works for you and don’t feel guilty.
Brittany Dixon says
I read somewhere a long time ago that it can mess with their hearing, though I’m not sure I believe it unless you have it blasting in their ear, you know?
I don’t really think there is anything wrong with it, but I’m dependent on some kind of background noise to sleep and it drives David CRAZY, so I just don’t want her to grow up like me and have to cart around a white noise machine with her everywhere she goes 😉
Overall though, I agree with LaToya- do what works best for you!
Tanya Kummerow says
She’s beautiful! Just love those smiles!
LaToya says
Beautiful girls!
Monica says
I totally understand your freaking out! My only child turned 2 yesterday… it was a ROUGH day for me, since we will (most likely) not be having any more. I will keep her a baby as long as humanly possible…
Just a question… since I only have one, I don’t understand why all moms/parents of multiple children always talk about trying not to compare… I understand not comparing to the point of saying that one or the other is better, or something to that effect, but I would think for me, part of the fun of having more than one child would just be seeing the differences or similarities in all aspects of each child, from personality traits to developmental milestones… am I missing something?
Brittany Dixon says
Haha, I totally get your question! I think it’s frowned upon to compare because it does seem to make one ‘better’ than the other, IE, she’s a better sleeper, she’s the better eater, she’s more active, etc. I’d like to just focus on the strengths of each individually rather than comparing, but it is really fun to notice the differences along the way!
Kelli says
She is adorable! I know what you mean about the second child growing up too fast. My youngest is 14 months and I’m holding fast to my baby. I weaned her 3 yr old brother at 13 months but I can’t bring myself to wean her just yet 🙂 question for ya, why are you weaning from the white noise..both of my kids sleep with it on a low setting, is there something I don’t know? As always I loved your post!
Brittany Dixon says
Hey Kelli! I read somewhere a long time ago that it can mess with their hearing, though I’m not sure I believe it unless you have it blasting in their ear, you know?
I don’t really think there is anything wrong with it, but I’m dependent on some kind of background noise to sleep and it drives David CRAZY, so I just don’t want her to grow up like me and have to cart around a white noise machine with her everywhere she goes 😉
Heather says
Your girls are so cute! I love how much Hailey loves her little sis, I hope E is a great big sis like Hailey.