11 Months Old

It is hard to believe that we are just one month away from Eli's 1st birthday! This month, we moved up to size 3 diapers and 12-month clothing. Eli has 8 teeth now - four on top and four on bottom. He is not shy in showing them off; he loves to smile. He will open his mouth wide for food, and he loves screeching and shouting, especially during meal time when we are out at a restaurant. We continue to have a smooth routine during the week. In the mornings, Eli and I head over to Grammy and Grandpa's house around 7:15AM. I've noticed that he loves holding onto the handle on the car seat, and as soon as I snap him in, he grabs on and gives me the sweetest grin. Grammy has a car seat in her car too in case they go for any adventures during the day. As you can see from these photos, he is a happy traveler. Eli loves spending his days with Grammy and Grandpa. Since they have hardwood floors throughout their house, Eli has discovered that he can easily slide around on his belly to get from one place to the other. He often gets himself in places that he shouldn't! Grammy has a whole storage closet of toys, and she recently introduced Eli to the activity cube. I just love the photo of him standing next to it - he looks so big! He has learned to pull himself up on the butcher's block in our kitchen, so we are often on alert anytime that he is awake and on the move. The jumper continues to be a safe holding area for him when we are preparing meals or doing chores; at least we know he can't go anywhere when we place him there! He has improved at meal time with pinching and picking up bite size foods. He is still getting about 30 ounces of breastmilk a day, along with rice cereal and size 2 Gerber baby food. Puffs and yogurt melts are favorites, too. We have tried some softer foods this month, like smashed up banana and scrambled eggs. We have started to experiment with sippy cups, but he hasn't quite figured out how they work yet. We have also introduced the walker, but he isn't sure how to move it by putting one step in front of the other. I'm in no rush to have a second walking small human in the house, so for now, we are certainly enjoying the stage we are in. One more month until the big birthday!