The fact that I missed last month’s update speaks volumes. What hasn’t been going on lately?!
These past two months Lincoln’s been busier than ever between teething (finally!) crawling, standing, cruising, eating, dancing, waving, and hi-fiving. Oh, and being obsessed with dogs. More on that in a minute. Here’s what’s on My Mommy Mind this month!
As a child who was interested in reading above anything else, I couldn’t be happier that Lincoln is showing real interest in books these days. Prior to 10 months, sitting down and reading wasn’t high on his list of priorities, with the exception of bedtime when there’s no other distractions. Now he loves turning pages and especially loves pulling flaps on peekaboo books. Don’t even get me started on books that have pictures of real animals, particularly puppies. He thinks they are hilarious.Â
While we’re on the topic, it’s strange to me that even babies at this age shows preference over seemingly-similar books. For instance, he has no patience for The Best Mouse Cookie but is obsessed with anything by Sandra Boynton (Pajama Time, anyone?) which are both small and illustrated. Riddle me that?
Want to know what I’m doing everyday at 9am? Crawling around our coffee table in circles. Over and over and over. That is to say, games like hide and seek and follow the leader are a couple of our favorite ways to play everyday.
We’ve been hard at work learning tricks! High-fives, “so-big”, and waving hi and bye are now in his little repertoire of talents. Lincoln and I love sending Ben off to work in the morning with a wave and greeting him the same way in the evening coupled with a shriek of joy when his car pulls into the driveway. Lincoln gets real excited too. Kidding! Seriously though, he sure loves his Dada!
I’d heard 9-12 months is a clingy stage and boy we’re feelin’ it. Little man attaches himself to my leg like a koala and does NOT want me to leave his sights. I love feeling needed but it’s a stark difference from the independence he had from 6-8 months. It makes sense – he’s more aware of his surroundings than ever before.
One of my favorite parts of the night is when Lincoln gets a little bit silly. It’s not so fun when it happens at meal time, ahem, but just after is hilarious. Ben and I sit and watch him crack himself up. Which cracks us up!
Speaking of mealtime, eating is going great. Despite his tiny size, homeboy must have a hollow leg or something because he really packs it in. We’ve had to cut him off a few times because he’d get a stomachache! Current faves include spaghetti, jam bread (bread misted with extra virgin olive oil and spread with a wee bit of jam,) peas, sweet potatoes, Cheerios (my God does that child love Cheerios,) lentil soup, black bean soup, deli turkey and chicken (I like Applegate Farms brand,) and ALL THE FRUIT.
I can’t wait to get clearance from my doc to feed him peanut butter. I asked a few months ago if I could start and she said she’d like to wait until he’s a year because treating a reaction on a 1 year old is easier than a 9 or 10 month old, which I understand. I know this is a hot button topic, and to each their own!
I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around weaning in the next few months. I’m still nursing 4 times a day, and in reality could drop one or maybe even both daytime feedings, but the bigger issue is the sippy cup. We use a bottle at bedtime maybe 3 times a week when it’s Ben’s night to put him to bed so I’m thinking he’s not going to be thrilled to switch from nursing/bottle to full time sippy cup – which he kind of hates anyway.
Furthermore, our bedtime routine is bath/PJs/books/nurse or bottle/bed, so do we just switch the nurse/bottle feeding to a sippy cup or do we switch the order of the routine so he drinks his milk first, perhaps even downstairs? It just seems weird to have him drink out of a sippy cup minutes before going to sleep. Maybe it’s just because I’m not used to him drinking a bottle.
Like I told a friend recently, I’m SURE I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill here but since he’s nursed almost exclusively, this is a huge step for us. Going to grill my doctor at our one year check up and see what she thinks.
Speaking of…T minus 2-1/2 weeks until our sweet little peanut turns ONE! How in the world did this happen? I’ve gotten as far as sending out invitations for his party and still need to figure out the menu, gifts, outfit, and cake. I’m so far behind! Luckily we are keeping it very, very low key. Ben and I were joking the other day that our early year birthday parties were held at McDonalds or Burger King and there’s like, 1 photo to document the whole thing. We’re skipping the fast food location but channeling its simple and sweet nature – old-school party hats and all. I really hope Lincoln will wear one of those cone birthday hats. I think I would die of happiness!
Until next month – the big O-N-E!
We gave my son a sippy of milk with dinner when we got rid of bedtime bottle. Then offered him water in a sippy up until bedtime and he would drink it as he wished. We also did a bedtime snack. Was very easy to make the transition and he was off bottles before 1.
I think you’look be surprised how well he adjusts to no nightime bottle. Everything seems like such a huge deal though, doesn’t it? :) Give him a snack if he seems to be hungry and let him have a sippy cup of water during bedtime stories. You don’t need 8 ounces of milk before you go to bed and he won’t either. Good luck! He is so stinking cute!
“The moon is up, it’s getting late. Let’s get ready to celebrate…it’s Pajama Time!” After a few days of reading that one I accidentally had it memorized. We love Sandra Boynton books here and he rhyming probably helps me with hr memorization. Now I can pull several books out of my head during meltdowns in public or he car to get a smile and to stop screams.
I just love your pictures and how they show the love and attention you give Lincoln!!
Just a mommy note here, I’m a safety girl- the chord by the window (2nd picture), we were told to keep those up and out of reach of toddlers.
Happy 1st, Lincoln!!
I’ll be curious to hear how weaning goes for you. Lincoln is just a wee bit older than my twin girls, and his behavior sounds so similar to theirs. We still nurse 5 times a day, including one middle-of-the-night feeding that I’m sure we could drop, but I hesitate to because I know that feeding them when they stir at 3:30 a.m. will most certainly guarantee us sleep until 6 or 6:30 a.m.
Also, we just got teeth here, too. One girl has two, the other just one. I’m glad to know you can feed Lincoln jam on bread with little to no trouble. I’m getting bored with my meals for the girls and I can definitely add that option to my repertoire. I have a dumb question, though: How do you feed Lincoln lentil or black bean soup? My girls LOVE black beans, but I feel like they might get bored with them and soup would be a good option. Do you just use a spoon?
Adorable pics as usual, Kristin. Enjoy this fun time!
He is adorable and growing up fast! I can remember when my kids were that young and they seemed to change so fast! Now I have a driver (eek) and a tween girl (double eek).
They grow so fast! On peanut butter, I was excited for mine to try too. My youngest, who is now 4, HATES it. He won’t eat it on anything and he can taste it when you try and sneak it in. Never would have though. As far as the bedtime thing, what worked for us was gradually introducing sippy cups at meals and then keeping the just before bed nursing. That was the last to go and both my kids gave it up on their own at 13 months. They basically self weaned and it went very smoothly. I consider myself lucky ;)
Obviously do what you feel is best, but if you want to drop a few feedings, try dropping the daytime ones first, then drop nighttime last. When my daughter was under a year, we introduced the sippy but didn’t push it. Once she was a year, we switched her to sippy only with cow’s milk (stopped breastmilk/formula). We kept the bottle at the bedtime session, but gradually switched that too. As another poster said, eventually we stopped the bedtime feed as she didn’t really need it, but you obviously can read your own child the best! Don’t worry about weaning cold turkey – it is ok to wait until he is a year and that may help his adjustment to the sippy.
So cute! I am just at the end of weaning my 17 mo old. When he turned 1 we had 6 feedings and I dropped one feeding per month. I just wanted to let you know that weaning can be slow if that’s more your speed. Do what seems right for you and baby without the pressure….if that’s possible!
I totally agree, Kristin! Take it slow. We introduced the sippy cups at mealtime when the girls were in their high chair. This way they could learn how to use it but we could still continue nursing. The girls weaned themselves off of breastfeeding both around 14 months. I was stressed but they became increasingly less interested in that last feed so weaning was baby led and was actually pretty easy. I’m sure most pediatricians would support you continuing breastfeeding until both you and the baby are ready to be done. Listen to Porter, trust your gut. You’re doing a great job and he’s cute as can be!
xoxo, Kelsey
he’s got your eyes and smile :-) what a cutie! happy almost birthday, lincoln!
He is getting so big!! What a cutie!!
Such a cutie! Your comment about Sandra Boynton brought back memories. My now 12 year old daughter loved the “Going to Bed Book” as a little one and had it memorized by the time she was 2 1/2 – my husband thought she had learned to read, lol. Love to see you enjoying these young days with Lincoln, it goes so fast!
Please blog about when you start weaning Lincoln. My daughter is 10.5 months old and I’m already wondering how dropping the bedtime feeding will go. I can’t believe how fast this first year has gone! We are planning to do a low-key first birthday party too. It will be lots of fun and hopefully less stressful!
Can’t wait to see what you do for his Bday! I’ll
Every single photo you take of Lincoln is beyond adorable. I kept wanting to say oh this one is cute or that one is cute but they all are!
You are such a great mom!
My entire comment didn’t go through…
I’m glad you guys are keeping his first birthday low key. I went way overboard and stressed myself out. It was still a beautiful party though.
When Anabelle was Lincoln’s age, she would overeat. Now that she’s older, she stops when she’s full. I guess they just have to learn what their brain is telling them?
Keep these family post coming. I love them!!
Oh my gosh. Yes to sell these pictures!! I love them all! I especially love the pool selfies
By the time my full time nurser turned one she wasn’t really nursing for calories at the bedtime feed anyway….I started bringing a sippy cup of water to the rocking chair for her to drink if she wanted during her bedtime book and gave extra snuggles. She never really even seemed to know the difference…no crying or fussing. I am VERY committed to the nap/bedtime routtine so I think that helped. Also, I started making brushing teeth part of her routine at the same time and made a big deal about that. She thought she was pretty big stuff…
I think the ages between 1 and 2 are the most fun. I love the updates. Good luck with the weaning.
And you know what happens when your baby turns one? People start asking when the next one is coming. It is like clockwork. It’s the never ending cycle of nosiness.
Awww he is so stinkin’ cute! My little guy is 2 1/2 and this reminds me of how fast it goes by. Thanks for sharing.