Addison - the 11-Month Old!

One Month Left…

…until “Our Silly Baby” becomes “Our Silly Toddler.” A year ago, we thought once she became Addison Grace O’Neill, she would stop being Silly Baby. However, we have continued to call her Silly Baby every day. There are many songs we have made up that we sing to her every day with Silly Baby in it. (“Single Ladies”,“I’m a Little Teapot”, etc). Just last night I was talking to Tim about how we can’t call her Silly Baby anymore. Tim said of course we can, and then I decided I’ll call her that at her high school graduation – I’m sure she’ll love that 
So without further adieu (yes, I realize this is 2-weeks late!) – here is Addison’s 11-Month Report!

Swim Class
Addison is doing well in her swim class. There are 8 children total, ranging up to 4-year olds. Addison is the 2nd youngest (next to the 8-month old). Being first thing in the morning (8:15-8:45) she is pretty docile at that time, but she gets the hang of it. The activities include putting chin, then each cheek, then nose into the water – followed by a full body dunk! Most of the class time is spent working on kicking. We place a toy a few feet in front of her, and while holding onto her waist – I move her closer to the toy as she kicks. If she doesn’t kick, then she doesn’t move! Each week she’s gotten much better with kicking and realizing the cause and effect of her kicks – she gets to the rubber ducky! We also work on jumping in – which is more for the big kids, of course. But for Addison, I sit her on the edge of the pool and put a toy in the water in front of me to allure her into the water. When she goes to lean in the, I grab her and simulate her “jumping” in. Overall, the classes are fun and a great memory with Addison. I’m looking forward to her being acclimated to the pool just in time for summer and our pool to open!

Sleeping
8pm bedtime is still the rule. Story time is dwindling since now as soon as we get her situated in the rocker, she’s squirming all around waiting for that bottle and pushing the book away, etc. Sometimes she is relaxed and cozy after her bottle and I can rock and snuggle with her – which would be a good story time, but Tim always turns off the nursery light as he walks out after delivering the bottle, so too dark to read. Plus, sometimes after the bottle, she is so tired, she’s also squirmy. It is part of her own bedtime routine to roll all around in the crib when we first put her down (think of a cat who has to circle three times before settling down!), so storytime after the bottle may not be a good time either. We will have to come up with a better time for stories, since I read article after article on the benefits of reading to a baby – and I just don’t want to miss out on that educational experience for her.
With dawn breaking at 5:30am these days, Addison has been waking up before I’m ready for work more frequently. So instead of me being all ready for work at 7am and then she wakes up so all attention can be on her until we leave at 8am, she has been waking up right when I get out of the shower or even before I get into the shower on a couple occasions. In those instances, I have just had to change her and put her back in the crib with a bottle while I quickly shower – surprisingly, she did ok with this set-up! Once I’m out of the shower, I just let her crawl wherever in my sight. Typically, she comes into the bathroom with me and sits at my feet.
Her naps remain pretty much the same, although she did have a very sleep week right around her 11-month birthday where her morning nap was up to 2-hrs with another 2-hrs+ nap in the afternoon!


Eating
Addison is getting more and more into just eating regular food with us.
Breakfast: Bottle, Gerber Puffs or Cheerios, Pancake, cut-up fruit (apple, banana, pear) or pureed Gerber fruit cup.
Lunch: Bottle, Gerber Puffs or Cheerios, jar of Gerber meat or chunks of real meat, cut-up fruit
Dinner: Bottle, Gerber Puffs or Cheerios, jar of Gerber meat/dinner, cut-up fruit and a sampling of our dinners.


Baby Steps
Addison is certainly a baby-on-the-move! She has been crawling for almost 3 months now and now that she consistently pulls herself up to stand, in her 11-month she began “cruising” and will move herself all around the coffee table, couches, etc and even let go for a moment to move from the table to the couch and so on.
Even before she could stand on her own, we would her by her hands in the standing position, but now that she is a good stander, every day we “walk her” with assistance by her hands. She can walk at a pretty good pace and a pretty good distance this way. I think it’s harder on us crouching over walking with her than it is for her! We are *patiently* awaiting that first step. During play time, I’ll often let go of her for a moment so she gets used to the feeling of standing unassisted. She sways a little, but I’m always there to catch her.
Also, on that note – she can now successfully get back down to sitting from a standing position, instead of just falling over. So less tears in that category now!