Charlie at 11 Months

I'm over a week late on this post yet again.  We've got a couple big birthdays coming up, so that has been keeping this Mama busy.  Oh that, and this little thing called my full-time job.  Anyway...

Mr. Charlie has finished out another month in his first year with only one more to go!  I'm trying to let go of my little baby while we embrace this toddler that has taken his place.  Charlie is full of personality - always "talking" and smiling - and just so much fun!!  He loves to make silly faces and is always making us laugh.

The biggest news for Charlie this month is he is now walking!! About halfway through his eleventh month he started taking steps. It started with tentative steps after much cajoling from Mommy, then the following week we noticed him letting go and taking a few steps without anyone asking him to. Last Monday, a few days before he turned 11 months, he really took off. That night he was all over the place walking to and from objects. He still hasn't figured out how to stand from sitting (though he's close) so he's still relying on crawling, but each day he seems to crawl less and walk more. This weekend he is walking long distances from room to room.  His intial stance resembled Frankenstein with outstretched arms but limp hands - too funny. I took some video last Monday, but he's made a lot of progress in the past two weeks, so an updated video will be necessary soon.  He's also starting to try his hand at climbing, getting braver and braver each day

Charlie now has six teeth - three on top and three on bottom.  The fourth one on the top has been right at the surface for weeks now, surely it will pop through at any moment!  And his molars are big bulges in his gums, so those should be making their appearance at any time as well.

This little guy LOVES his big brother.  He's always trying to play with whatever Jack is playing with (much to big brother's dismay).  Jack has gotten a little rough with Charlie as of late, taking the opportunity to hit, push or kick him when he thinks we're not looking (or even if we are when he's trying to be ornery).  I think it's because little bit is getting into everything and the big guy is just not interested in sharing.  Charlie's feelings get hurt when Jack isn't nice, so we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to little brother.  Jack goes straight to his room if he does something mean.  The good times with these two far outweigh the bad though.  Especially in the car; there is a constant symphony of laughter from the back seat as Jack makes silly noises and faces to impress Charlie.  They also started really interacting more at home.  One night last week, Charlie put his face into the carpet and rubbed it around.  Jack thought it was funny, so he did the same.  Charlie watched, laughed, then did it again.  The two of them went back and forth like that for a good five minutes while Jason and I just looked on and smiled.  So much fun!  Here's a video of Jack making his little brother laugh...

Charlie still loves to feed himself, but isn't nearly the good eater that I remember Jack being at this age.  Some nights we're lucky if he has five bites of food before he drops it all on the floor.  Other nights he chows down on the same meal and wants more.  He's drinking great out of sippy cup, but so far only water; I've put milk in there a few times and he has not been interested.  We're going to have to work on that because he has a little over three weeks before he moves to the toddler room at school where bottles are not allowed.

As far as milk is concerned, he's still only had breastmilk.  I have been slowing down and had only been pumping once/day the last several weeks, which means now on the weekends I'm giving him bottles during the day rather than nursing him all four times.  This week the mother's room at my work was suddenly closed for renovations (without any notice to me or the other three women who reserve that room daily), so I took that as my sign to drop my lone pumping session.  For now I am still nursing Charlie in the morning and at night but based on my experience with Jack, I don't expect that to last much longer (my milk quickly slowed down when I stopped pumping before).  We still have a decent frozen supply, so we have officially made it to the one-year mark without buying a single can of formula.  Celebrate!  I'm planning to start mixing in some whole milk with his bottles (or sippy cups, hopefully) now so that he can get used to the taste. 

I think those are the big updates for our little guy.  Happy as can be and so fun to be around!