Life with Greyson & Fynnlee – 11 months

I know. The babies are 11 months old and that’s one month away from being toddlers. I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!

Ahem. What I do want to talk about is how this is the very best month of all the months we’ve had. These two are so much fun! And crazy. And exhausting. But so much fun. Eleven Months has brought shenanigans on top of shenanigans. They want to be standing and walking around (holding onto our fingers) pretty much ALL the time. They chase each other around the house. They’re sick of their toys, unless they can stand up and play with them. They giggle and laugh all the time. They are starting to really love playing together. And nothing can turn a bad day around like watching them crack each other up. They are having legit temper tantrums now (which are not so fun) but it’s testament to the fact that they actually understand things now. I’m loving this age so much.

Fynnlee Ann

Unofficial Weight 24lbs
Wearing 12 month, 12-18 month, size 4 shoes
Size 4 diapers

* girlfriend is seconds away from walking. Will stands unassisted for a few seconds. Her balance gets better every day.
* cruises around furniture and will walk forever holding onto our hands
* loves to clap
* Peekaboo is her favorite game
* can pull up from standing, can lower back down to sitting
* has EIGHT teeth
* loves any and all books. Will sit so sweetly and listen to every word.
* temper, temper, temper…yowza.
* Squeals when she sees Jacob. He’s still afraid of her.

This little sweetpea is moving and shaking these days. She fully understands you when you tell her “No Fynnlee, that’s not for you”. She stops in her tracks, looks at you sweetly and smiles. And 9 times out of 10, she’ll listen and not get into what she’s not supposed to (aka Jacob’s water). But she’s also mastered the temper tantrum…it’s always short lived, but she is not happy if you take something away from her. She can scurry up the stairs like nobody’s business. Baby proofing is in full effect at our house. She fights diaper changes unless you sing to her or give her something to play with. She’s a very social little girl…she has a BFF at school and is always happy to make new friends. She’s getting better about sharing, sometimes. And she loves to dance and shake her booty (YES!)

Greyson Paul

Unofficial Weight 22 lbs
Mostly 12 month clothes, size 3 shoes
Size 4 diapers

* Is legit crawling now. Still reverts to the army crawl when we wants to get somewhere quickly
* can push up to his belly from sitting
* can pull up to standing, can lower back to sitting/kneeling
* has EIGHT teeth
* learned to clap
* super, super ticklish
* HATES diaper changed or getting dressed/undressed
* loves, LOVES books (pop up ones only)
* can walk holding onto our hands or unassisted with the baby walker

There have been so many changes in my little G man this month. It’s INsane. From the crawling on hands and knees to the interactive play to holding his own against his older, bolder sister. He’s definitely more like a little person than a baby. When he grabs that little baby walker and struts around the house, all by himself, beaming with such pride…I can’t even take it. Not only is he walking around with purpose, he can make turns and guide himself exactly where he wants to go. And that ornery side I mentioned before? Hooboy…it’s in full force these days. Spend 10 minutes with him and you’ll know what I mean. He’s still as giggly and sweet as ever. And he’s still a snuggler. But he’s a little devil! He’s also found his voice and it sounds exactly like Fynnlee. If they have their backs to me and one of them is babbling…I can’t tell how it is. And he chatters non stop. He loves to befriend the new babies at school. He’ll just lay on the floor and hang out with them. It’s pretty freaking adorable.

Eat

Mid-Month, I tweaked their feeding schedule to add an actual breakfast, rather than a second bottle. I’m probably a little late to the game on this, but as things generally go with these babes, they dictate the terms. Not Google.

So right now, our feeding schedule looks a little like this:
wake up: 7 oz bottle
8:30ish: yogurt with fruit puree or oatmeal cereal with fruit
10ish: 5 oz bottle
Noonish: They are offered whatever lunch is served at school. Sometimes they eat some, sometimes they don’t.
4 oz fruit/veggie pouch
2:30ish: 5 oz bottle
5:00ish: They are offered pasta, chicken, meatballs, potatoes, etc…they eat some of it.
4 oz fruit/veggie pouch
puffs or yogurt melts.
7:00ish: 7 oz bottle.

I’m trying so hard to be relaxed about their food. But it’s hard for me. I’m trying to make sure they try new things and get a nice balance of fruit and veggies. And meat and grains. I know…”food before 1 is just for fun” and that right now, they are just learning to eat. Most of their nutrients comes from formula and they’re getting 24oz a day. They are certainly growing and very healthy. I need to remember there will be times when they will only like 3 foods…and all meals don’t have to be super balanced. That any vegetable is a good thing and it doesn’t have to be green. That if Greyson just wants puffs for dinner, who cares? (They’re freaking organic veggie puffs for petes sake!). And so what if Fynnlee just puts everything in her mouth and then spits it out. It’s still progress.

Just calm down, Jen Hurley. Calm down. They will be eating me out of house and home in no time.

Sleep

Daylight Savings Time has been fantastic. The kids are staying up a little longer (7/7:30), which is nice because we have more time with them in the evening. And they are sleeping a little later. Usually 5/5:30 but Greyson has been known to snooze until 6:30. Jerry and I are both early birds so this is great for us. And we continue to take turns waking up on the weekends with them and it’s amazing to sleep in one day.

There are still nights when one (or both) are up 1, 2, 6 times a night (oh Fynnlee). But really, they are few and far between. I have noticed that sleep has drastically improved since introducing this:

That’s right. My kids sleep with blankets in their beds. What can I say…I’m kind of a rebel. When we were visiting Jerry’s sister, I noticed that she slept with the house cooler at night. Which is actually how I prefer to sleep. Fynnlee had a rough first night and I think it was because she’s used to sleeping in a 73 degree room. So I covered her up with a blanket (in desperation) and she slept really well. Blankets were used on night 2 and they both slept great. And really, they pull the blankets off their faces during peekaboo. They’re just fine. I think sleep sacks are a pain too…so win win. So we lowered the temp at night and they both have a blanket. It’s working out well!

Fynnlee still has FOMO and refuses to nap at school. We’re lucky if she sleeps for an hour. Total. But then she conks out on the way home around 4 and will sleep until 5/5:30. Greyson usually gets 2 good naps at school.

On weekends and when we’re home, they each sleep about an hour in the morning and and hour and 1/2 in the afternoons. In their cribs and they don’t fight us about it at all. They’ll also sleep in their car seats during errands. But that’s slowly phasing itself out.

Poop

I’m retiring this bullet.

So in less than a month they will be ONE. We’re having a party for them and they will be surrounded by the people that love them most.  A blogging friend wrote that “one of the most unexpected elements of motherhood for me has been this mix of grief and pride as my baby grows.” Yep. That sums it up perfectly. Their birthday is going to be tough. And fabulous. Just like this first year has been.