11 Months

Age: 11 Months

Weight: 17 pounds 9 ounces (???)  You are a little peanut...probably because you NEVER stop moving

Height: ???

Diaper Size: Size 3

Clothes Size: You can wear 3M to 12 M just depending on what the outfit is

Shoe Size: Maybe a size 2.  I was hoping to get to a Stride Rite in Memphis but we never made it.  

Schedule:

3 Cheers for momma for getting you on a schedule!  Hooray!

7 am-wake up and nurse

7:30/45: Breakfast with Daddy

9 am- nurse and nap

10:45ish wake up and play

12/12:30- Lunch

1:00- nurse and nap

2:45/3- play

6:00 Dinner

6:45/7- bathtime

7/7:15-nurse and bedtime

You nurse around 4 times a day and really only when you wake up and when you are going to sleep. 

Fun Facts and Milestones:

-On Feb 1, the night of the Super Bowl, you took two unassisted steps.

-You are becoming a much better napper and have a more predictable schedule. Hooray for being able to stay home with you and KNOW what you do all day.

-You can WALK!  At about 10.5 months you started standing on your own and taking a few steps.  At first you would take steps towards Mommy but then you started walking towards anything!

-The new things that you say are: "DaDaDa", "MMMMMMa", and, my favorite, "baaaaaabE."  Call me crazy but I am pretty positive that you know what a baby is.  You call your baby dolls and teddy bears your babies...and Harry Hood.  I don't know that he likes being called baby.  HAHA!

You also say something that sounds like"uh oh" but you kind of hum the sound "uh uh." It's hilarious to hear you say this (for now) when something happens on accident...or on purpose like when you throw your sippy cup on the ground.

-In the morning, I come in your room and you nurse. Then you start looking for Daddy and growling.  This is y'alls thing and you love to roar at each other.  You round the corner into our room roaring and he roars back.

We bought our first new car this month, a GMC Acadia.  Mommy is a little scared to drive it since we are known to be pretty messy.  Since we moved to Athens we have been taking Daddy to and from work and while this has been a fun time for y'all to hang out in the back we knew that we needed a second set of wheels.  You got to come with and let's just say that you are not the most fun shopping/test driving companion.

Daddy B and SuSu came to visit and I do not think that we took any pictures with them.  It was a working weekend and they helped us finish unpacking and putting your room together.  Daddy thought he'd never put your chandelier put twice. Thanks Daddy. 

 Daddy was scared to see you sitting behind the wheel, even in the grocery buggie. You were much more interested in your snacks that driving...go figure.

 Daddy turned 30 this month!  You drew him a picture and took him out to lunch. We celebrated with an impromptu celebration at the Sweetenburg's house with our new friends Raymond, Caroline, and Lee as well as the Hoods.

  We took our first daytime UBER to a playdate.  The girls laughed at us when we arrived but, girl, we are pros at getting around safely.

 We had a Valentine's Party/Playdate the following weekend and had quite the heart shaped spread.  You had Valentine's Cards, bubbles, and blow pops.  Your cards said, "Valentine, you BLOW me away..."

Daddy loves taking you on walks!  He knows that you will not ride in the stroller and, unlike me, does not even try...he goes straight for the carrier.

 We still struggle to get you to go to sleep without nursing and on this night you cried a little and then fell asleep holding your teddy bear.  You are so precious.

-Uncle Ryan cannot wait to take you to your first PHISH show.  He thinks you have a pretty good "cheery pickin" stance.

We took pictures for your 1st Birthday Party invitations.  I cannot believe that you will be one next month.  This year has FLOWN by!  The theme is "Bunnies and Bows" and we are having an Easter egg hunt.  These are a few of the outtakes. 

This month our family welcomed Baby Wilkes Ellis into the world and we could not be happier for Uncle Timmy and Aunt MA.  He is the MOST handsome little fella I've ever seen.  

Two weeks after he was born you and I drove from Athens to Memphis to stay with the Ellis' for a week.  You did awesome the whole way!  You watched an iMovie of family videos that I made for you as well as Stella and Sam and the movie Frozen.  You giggled at yourself and really got in to Stella and Sam.  I am still not sure that you "get" movies or TV at all for that matter but at the least it kept you happy.

McDonalds and over-alls = road trip

Momma's girl...you love watching home movies!  I liked being able to listen to your little baby sounds from the front seat too. 

We finally made it to Memphis and immediately fell in love with this little guy.  Uncle Timmy thought it was funny to hear you call Wilkes "bAaaaabiE" Sweet Suzanna Grace, I hope that you have a least one sister so that you know the feeling of holding your best friend's baby and seeing her become a mother.  It's breathtaking. 

Aunt Angie and EL have moved to Memphis and came over to hang out a lot too!  Goodness y'all have changed!  The top picture shows EL at 3 weeks and you around 11.  WOW!

Babies, babies EVERYWHERE!  Uncle Timmy gave you a ride in your favorite toy...your grocery cart!

We really did a lot while we were in Memphis...a lot more than the two of us did when you were 2 weeks old.  Aunt Mags is brave!  Of course we visited Uncle Rob at Belly Acres and he gave you your first pony tail!

 Lunching Cousins...I see many more of these pictures in y'all future!  Highchairs are the only want to get y'all to sit still for more than a second.

 We went swimming too.  Uncle Rob helped you to go under water!  You were SO brave.  It was FREEZING in Memphis and even the heated pool was a little cold so we didn't stay too long.  Being in the pool with you got me really excited about our pool time this summer!  We told J-Pop to get the lazy river ready for us!

 While you and Aunt MA napped, Mommy got some newborn baby snuggles from Baby Wilkes.  He likes selfies with Auntie GA already.

 That Mags...she had the double stroller attachment all ready for our visit!  We each decided that mothering two wasn't that hard...one day.

To my dismay, you showed me how you really felt about your bows...

 SuSu came up that weekend and took us to the Children's Museum.  GanGan and PawPaw took us there when we were little and I can very vividly remember "grocery shopping" and being upset that I didn't get to keep all the goods.

 You and Elsie Lee had a fun time playing together and with all of the toys!

EL thought the plastic steak looked too good not to try.

 

 Y'all even went down the slide with me.  Daddy says that he has never seen two more disinterested children.  HAHA!  I think y'all had fun.

SuSu's girlies were certainly excited to see her.  Baby hugs all around!  Be still my heart. 

Bless his heart, Uncle Rob works 24/7 so we really only got to visit with him at BA.  SuSu treated us to dinner after the museum and we were so proud of how well Rob and his partners are doing.  By the time we left the crowd was wrapped all the way around to where we were in the back.

We drove over to celebrate GanGan's 88th birthday while we were over that way.  GanGan Howard came over for a bit and wore her pink scarf in honor of SG and EL.  She and our GanGan have been the best of friends for many many years.  Hearing them together is hilarious!  GG Howard immediate exclaimed that Wilkes was too hot wrapped in the blanket. "Clarice, he's too hot isn't he?! Oh Clarice..."    

Our SuSu was excited to get a picture with all of her grandchildren!  We all cried laughing trying to set this picture up.

We drove back to Athens and were greeted with warm weather!  Hooray!

 It's hard to believe that you will be one in just a few weeks. You are the light of our lives and our favorite girl.

10 Months and lots of CHANGES

Age: 10 Months

Weight: At your 9M check up you weighed 16 pound and 4 ounces which means you didn't gain any weight between check ups. I think it's because you were getting over the tummy bug and had probably lost a little weight from being sick. Our DR said that as long as you were a happy baby then there was nothing to worry about. Since we've moved to Athens and have gotten you a highchair (and especially since JJ started feeding you) I can really see a positive change in your eating habits and weight. 

Height: 26 in at your 9M check up. The DR said that all your calories went to your height these past few months

Diaper Size: Size 3...the daytime a are still a little baggie but I could buy another box of 2s because you're growing like a weed!

Clothes Size: You wear anything from 3-6M to 9M...12M is still a little too big.

Shoe Size: your little Target Uggs are a size 2. I tried to let you wear the pink Uggs that JJ gave you but one fell off as soon as we entered Target, I didn't realize it until 10 minutes into shopping, and we spent 15 minutes looking for it only to find it at the entrance and promptly leave as our entire "shopping time" had been devoted to find the shoe. Haha! Now that you can stand and push things around, I know that we need some type of shoes to protect your little baby skinned feet.

Schedule: Bless you sweet "on the go" thing. With the holidays and a move you sure have fought a good fight and powered through. Surprisingly I was able to track your patterns and get you on a pretty consistant schedule...though I'd like to see a few modifications :)

6:00-6:30: wake up- I usually let you play in your crib until you start making the "okay mom come get me noise". Sometimes I can squeeze another 30 minutes out of you.

6:30-7ish: Nurse

7:30-breakfast Girl you LOVE peanut butter and eat it nearly every day. I spread some on a toasted English muffin (the same as my breakfast) and you gobble it up! You usually have fruit with this too. You especially love watermelon and the way that it crunches when you bite/gum down. You have a new high chair too and love looking out the window, watching Me cook, or just talking while you eat.

                                                

-You play and play, crawl, pull up, push things around and generally make a mess until around 9- 9:30 when you take a nap.  Your morning naps are usually anywhere from 45 min-1.5 hours.

11:30- Lunch- you started eating Mac and Cheese and raveolie this month. You LOVE anything that you can feed yourself.  Anything that we are eating you want to try too.  You really like to share. SuSu says that you have sharing hands:

                                  

 You nurse before or after you eat lunch too.

1:30- Nap (this nap is longer and can last 2+ hours some days!)

--you usually nurse at some point in the late afternoon 

5ish-Supper

6ish- bath

6:30-7-Bedtime-You've been wanting to go to bed closer to 6 but I am trying to get you to be a 7-7 baby. You are good about staying up later especially if we are out doing something but I haven't been able to get the staying up later to translate to sleeping later! The sun isn't even out in Athens until at least 7:30...

Fun Facts and Milestones:

-You "talk" all the time. SuSu says that you are a lot like me when I was a little girl. You can say your Bs really well and say something that sounds like bAAby. You call everything that is stuffed (teddy bear, dog, baby doll) by this name. You are also starting to say q-awmmmmm, ugh, eeee.

-You are a crazy woman sometimes.  You are not afraid of anything and always wake up smiling.

- When you get mad you rub your fist over your mouth and make a noise. Bahhh, ahhhh, ahhhh 

-You have started making a growling noise and you think it's pretty funny. Whenever we go outside and you hear the birds, you try to mimic their songs.

-You have LOVED exploring your new home and the back yard.  You are already finding some pretty cool hiding places. I let you sit on a blanket and you will spend a good bit of time examining the leaves, gumballs, and grass.

-This month JJ came to Athens to help us get moved in!  Thank heavens for her "worker bee" self!  We would not have gotten moved in and set up without her.  On the days that she was not unpacking and organizing, she took you out on hikes so that Mommy and Daddy could paint and/or unpack.  Y'all had a great time together!  Kate and her sweet mother, Joy, made us supper one night after the movers came and we had to take a selfie to celebrate!

JJ took you for a hike and sent us this picture.  Y'all love swinging together and I am sure that your walks will be right up there with fun things y'all like to do together. She also took us out for brunch downtown.  We were ushered to a "private" room so that you could make all the noise you wanted.  You thought that the New Orleans fare was quite yummy!

After JJ treated us to brunch downtown, we got to walk around and explore a little too. 

You sure do LOVE your Daddy.  You think it's so funny when he lets you ride around on his shoulders.  

                                  

                                  

Daddy shaved his beard (he will not let me include his mustache picture...) and started his new job at Landmark Properties in Athens in the middle of January.  He is a Senior Project Manager and is so excited about the opportunities at this company.  I am excited about all of the young families that are apart of Landmark.  We have already had a few playdates and have many more in our future.  Thank you Lord for bringing us to Athens and for putting this job and these people in our lives!

                               

The weather is AMAZING in Athens right now and you have been enjoying days out in the yard without socks and shoes!  Hooray!!

 

After JJ moved us in, J-Pop, Uncle Bryson, and Michael Brooks came to stay with us.  We showed them around Athens and took them to the Creature Comforts brewery.  Uncle Bryson says that you have been on more brewery tours than him...I think he's right.

Uncle Bryson and Michael Brooks stayed an extra day and took turns holding you and pushing your stroller when we went out to explore.  You do not like riding in your stroller and really never have.  You like to be right in the middle of the action.  SuSu says that I was the same way.

                  

We are loving having so much space.  You can literary play in a new room or location of the house/yard every few hours.  PLUS "cold" in Athens is nowhere near the FREEZING temps in Chicago so we can still bundle up and go outside.  You have enjoyed pushing everything that you can get your hands on. 

You are the happiest baby there is!  You give sweet kisses (mostly to me) and love your Daddy too.  Daddy got a GoPro for Christmas and hooked it up to watch you take a ride on your scooter. 

Here's to another fun month sweet angel!