Dear Doster - 11 Months

Another month is over, so hard to believe!  This was month was amazing yet we had some more challenges. 

 A strange virus was floating around your school, and poor thing, you had a fever every single day last week.  It particularly challenged our family at night.  You didn’t feel well, and you were HOT.  You wanted to be held constantly at night time.  It was almost like the newborn days all over again (which was a reminder to me and Gigs about how far we’ve come!).  For  a week straight you had trouble sleeping, lost your appetite, winced in pain, and were overall just pretty miserable.  We could tell you wanted to be better.  It broke my heart.  Luckily, we’ve turned a corner and you are back to being your pleasant baby-self. I missed my happy guy!

Aside from the sickness, our month was wonderful.  We had fun at birthday parties, and celebrated my very first Mother’s Day!

Your buds at Avery's 2nd Birthday Party!

Trying cake for the first time.  You were pretty indifferent.

You and your dad kicked off Mother’s Day with some beautiful flowers and a banner for me in the kitchen (Dad even took the early morning shift!). After your nap, we headed out for brunch with GranD and Pop at the Good Life Café, a raw food restaurant that GranD picked.   We stopped by Uncle Patrick’s to visit Grammy quickly before your next nap, then ran some errands and spent some quality time at home.  It was the first day that you were really feeling well again, and I was just thrilled to hang out with my good-mood man!

Size:

A few weeks ago at a Doctor’s appointment you clocked in at 20lbs 12 ounces. You are mostly in 12 month clothes and you are still rocking size 4 diapers.  I just love your pudgy baby legs and arms!

Feeding:

With the "fever virus" you weren’t really your usual hungry-man-self, but luckily, you seem to be getting back to your old ways.  We still do 4 bottles a day, and 3 “meals” per day.  

Your new favorite thing is “lil crunchies”.   You also really liked pancakes, peaches, and grits with a tiny bit of parmesan cheese.  I tried giving you a little bit of deli meat, but it was hard for you to pick up and “chew” since it was so thin.  We’ll keep experimenting!

Sleeping:

Other than our week of newborn-again-ness, you continue to be my good sleeper!  You sleep about 11-12 hours each night and nap a few times each day (though not on a regular schedule).

Development:

This was the month that you fell in love with “pulling up”.  You love to pull up on anything and everything (especially in your crib at night when we want you to sleep!). You are also signing more often, though it is not always perfect.  Last night, I think you were trying any hand motion that would lead to a “lil crunchy”.  You are also slowing learning how to drink your bottle by yourself, though you definitely prefer when we do it.  You can repeat sounds and motions that we make, and you say MAMA and DADA regularly (good boy!). 

Personality:

What a cutie and a comedian.  You love to laugh and to make us laugh.  We invented a game a few nights ago: I pretend to look around the room for you with my head facing another direction and say, “Where’s Doster? Doster???”

You eventually crawl over and grab me and you laugh and laugh.

You like:  tags, phones, crawling after Brighton, music, blocks, baths, lil crunchies, necklaces, your family, clapping

You dislike: diaper changes, nose cleaning, having your temperature taken, when the doctor looks in your ears!

You continue to be my little beam of light.  Each second that I spend with you is so treasured.  I am so blessed to have such a fun, happy, healthy baby.  Thank you for being so wonderful!