Jack: 11 Months

11 months?! Seriously cannot believe this guy will be a year old in a few weeks. It's funny, I remember thinking Max was so grown up at this age and so much like a "kid," but Jack doesn't seem grown up at all compared to the almost 4 year old Max. Perspective, I guess!

Jack continues to be on the move, pulling up on everything, standing up by himself (until he notices, and then he wants to sit down), crawling everywhere. He is starting to enjoy the neighborhood park, where he can climb up the stairs and slide down the slide by himself. Jack doesn't really want to slide down the slide normally, but going on his stomach is SO much fun! He also likes to go up the slide, particularly our indoor slide which he can climb up himself without socks. He also likes the swings too!

Also outside, Jack enjoys going for walks. He is happy to ride in the stroller (especially if Max is standing on back of the stroller) and also in the baby carrier. Recently he has had to wear his winter hat for a couple of walks and he doesn't seem too bothered by it. Crossing my fingers now this lasts all winter!

Inside the house Jack has some new interests too. His current obsession is playing "catch," which basically involves rolling the ball back and forth. He will even do it with Max, which is the cutest thing to watch.

Jack also enjoys helping with household chores including pulling wet clothes out of the washer and throwing them on the floor, climbing into the dishwasher and emptying the cabinets (what? you didn't know this was something that needed to be done?)

Though he throws a lot of food on the floor, he also enjoys helping "clean" it up by crawling around and eating things from the floor.

I've probably said this before because it seems to increase every month, but he is really starting to love books now. He continues to love his "Mirror Me" book (it's a Baby Einstein book with mirrors and animals in it!) If he's upset about something, I can simply pull that book out and he will smile and get super happy. He also enjoys reading: The I Love You Book and Doggy Kisses 123- both by Todd Parr, Llama Llama Trick or Treat, and Moo Ba La La La. 

Things Jack is not a fan of include: gates of all kind, mom and dad leaving the room or going upstairs without him, when someone is eating and it's not him, being tired and/or sick. 

The toughest part of this month was Jack's nursing strike/biting phase. That was not fun, especially for me. I had to exclusively pump for almost a week while we waited out that phase. I'm not sure what actually ended it, but I did stop giving him a bottle and only a cup so maybe that was it? Or maybe it was nothing, because baby :) He still bites me on occasion but at least he also eats, so we are aiming high over here. He also bit Max the other day because he was not letting him ring a bell on their firehouse and bit Caroline for no reason at all. We got off pretty easy with Max who wasn't a big biter so I'm sure that's something we will be dealing with this time! 

Likes: playing catch, listening to books, following his brother, climbing up and down stairs, laundry, naming all of the animals on the wall in his room (or should I say, having me name all the animals in his room while he touches each one), walks, the park, food, biting everything and everyone.
Dislikes: gates
Sleep: On a good day? 8pm to 7am overnight and then 2 naps an hour to hour and a half long. Lately? Random middle of the night or early morning screamfests and short naps. I think it's teething followed by a cold, but who really knows with babies?
Eating: 4x a day nursing, 4ish times a day eating solid food, still loves most food but also in the throw food on the ground phase. Current favorite foods include curry, bread with guac or peanut butter (not together, ha), crackers with peanut butter, raspberries, apples, peas, oatmeal.

Be back in a few weeks for a ONE YEAR post. Can't believe it!