Yesterday Lydia turned 11 months old, and while I realize that many moms continue to speak of their childrens' ages in terms of months through the second year, this is the last time that it is more or less necessary. She won't be "zero" years old anymore. The next step is the big ONE YEAR.

I'm excited and anxious at the same time. So much has changed in this past year. Lydia has grown into an adorable, fun, sweet, joyful, and downright entertaining toddler. I can't get enough of her! As will be the case throughout her life, I find myself thinking about all of the stuff that is over, as well as all that is to come.

We continue to move slowly but steadily towards weaning. Now that she is 11 months old, I have backed off to just 2 nursings a day: first thing in the morning & last thing before bed. Pretty soon the morning one will switch to an after-breakfast thing, but we'll keep with 2 nursings for another couple of weeks at least. I've moved gradually from 4 down to 2, but the last 2 will likely both disappear in the week or two before her first birthday. Lydia does pretty well with finger foods, but gets pretty involved playing with it rather than eating it. She doesn't care for milk very much, so she'll probably be getting her dairy needs met with yogurt and cheese. I really wish she would get more teeth so she could do better eating some of the things the rest of us eat. It can stress me out sometimes trying to come up with enough things for Lydia to eat to provide both nutrition and variety... as well as being easy enough for her to pick up to feed herself.

Discipline is another item on my mind a lot. It's so hard to figure out how much she understands! She definitely can throw little tantrums now, and she obeys often enough for me to believe she understands what we mean when we tell her no... but boy is it difficult to decide how to handle things when she disregards our instructions!

The house has undergone a major babyproofing overhaul as of late. It still looks like a house in which civilized adults live (we are not going to be those parents who clear the entire house out so the kid can't touch stuff), but we've added in a few more precautions. Brent installed cabinet locks on the cabinets containing harmful items (though Lydia still has not shown much interest in opening cabinets anyway). We bought a gated playyard (6 connecting gate panels) and have used these to gate off the entertainment center so Lydia can no longer get into all of the cords. And finally (my favorite) we got the playroom set up upstairs! The bonus room above our garage is one of the largest rooms in the house, and now it is cleaned out and full of toys and activities for Lydia. She loves it! She has lots of room to crawl around in there and space to push her walking toys also. I still want to add some things to help organize all the toys, and also a child-sized table, but I'm so pleased to have it be functional for now.
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2 Responses
  1. Unknown Says:

    Hi Sarah. It is such an amazing time. My Grace will be 3 at the end of May. I can't believe it. I remember preparing for her 1st birthday and being amazed how fast the first 12 months went. Enjoy it all. Sounds like you are a very thoughtful mother wanting to be the best mommy you can be. Good for you.

    Thanks for coming by my blog today. My grandmother crocheted and first taught me some basics to crochet, but I never did anything with that knowledge. 3 years ago she past away and I decided I wanted to learn to crochet and carry on her craft. So, I have been working on it, off and on for 2 years. So, keep up and you will get better. I just found lots of patterns that were marked "Easy" and tried them. Some turned out really bad and others turned out good. Just like they always say, "practice makes perfect." LOL!


  2. Melissa Says:

    It sounds like we are going through some similar things! I am trying to figure out weaning. Eli is 13 months, and I am ready to be done. He basically comfort nurses at this point, so I am trying to offer more cuddles without nursing.

    Oh, the discipline thing! This child is SO strong willed (he takes after his father...and his mother ;) and that is a challenge. When do they grasp the concept of time out?

    Thanks for the Grocery Game tip! I need to enter your e-mail for referring me! Send me an e-mail so I can enter it :) (melissa.tomko @ gmail.com)


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