11 months

My baby turned 11 months old today! 

I am in total denial that he only has one more month until he's ONE! 

This past month was a rough one and probably the first time I've ever gotten really frustrated and impatient with James. He was sick for what seemed like the entire month. It started after we got home from Utah (thank goodness) with a terrible cough. He would cough and cough so hard he'd throw up. The coughing, fevers, constant runny nose, and random spitting up had me all stressed out. I became a crazy lady at night - flying out of bed anytime he'd start to cough because I didn't want him throwing up. I nursed way too much at night which created a terrible night waking habit, turning me into an exhausted, impatient mama. I finally broke down near the end of the month and knew we had to re-sleep train and let James cry it out when he'd wake up at night. I used ear plugs a few nights to help me from unintentionally flying out of bed every time I'd hear him cry out. It only took about 2 nights until he was sleeping a good solid 10 - 11 hour stretch at night. We're still working on it, but at least it's better than it was. James has been our worst sleeper of all the kids. He's already down to just one nap a day. He really needs two, but if I let him sleep later in the afternoon, then he won't go to bed until much later at night.

He typically naps from 10-12 and then falls asleep in the car for a bit while we're out on school pick ups. I really like him to take a nap at some point while Calvin is at school - so I can get a little break in the day. To do that I have to lay him down earlier (but he normally won't fall sleep earlier than 10) or run errands in the morning and let him be tired. Then he'll crash and sleep from 12-2:30 (the whole time Cal is at school and before we leave to get the girls). Those are nice afternoons for me.

Aside from his poor sleeping, James is an absolute sweetheart. He's so smiley and is very easy to make laugh. He really is such a good, easy going baby, who's had to learn to go with the flow.

Up to this point James has been a very quiet baby- always observing and listening to his siblings make all the noise. But this month James really discovered his voice. He finally says "Dada" and "Mama" which we LOVE! He even turned to me the other day at church and said, "mama". His other noises are mostly just noise to let us know if he's done, frustrated, not wanting to be touched or bothered, wanting to be picked up, or just squealing cause he's happy.

He did a lot of protesting and crying this month, showing us that he does in fact have an opinion and isn't afraid to express it!!

Other things about James:
 *Top 2 front teeth came in over Christmas, giving him a grand total of 6 teeth now! He's been nursing less (about 4 times a day - first thing in the morning, before nap, afternoon, and before bed) and eating more and more. Non baby food regular snacks include: string cheese, yogurt, graham crackers, Trader Joes pretzel sticks, cheerios, sausage, apple slices, and peaches.

* We got back from Utah on January 3rd and James started crawling everywhere! He was just starting to crawl before we left so he seemed excited for lots of exploring!
* He pulls himself up to standing against the bath and the train table but that's about it for now.

* He moved up to a big boy carseat in the van and seems to be adjusting great to it!

* He loves music and will usually flap his arms up and down like he's conducting the music when a good song comes on.
* He also now waves "Hi" and "bye" and smacks his lips like he's blowing kisses. I am loving experiencing all these milestones with James and savoring every second of them, knowing that all too soon they'll be over and he'll be heading off to school (I am well aware at how fast these young years fly and it breaks my heart).

I was released as Primary President this month, which had me all nostalgic since I'd served for 4 years, but I am so happy to have my time back to be with my kids and hang out with James during Sunday school and Relief Society. I only have 7 more months before he heads off to nursery. With our other kids we were always anxious for them to start nursery so that we could enjoy church again, but I truly am loving having this time with James and watching him crawl down the hall, then chase after him, hold him on my lap and make him laugh as I sputter his cheeks. I love watching how he interacts with other kids.

My sweet angel baby has brought so much joy and love into our family! I couldn't imagine our lives without him! We love you James!!