Foster’s 12 & 13 Month Update

I really hope you guys enjoying reading these because I really do enjoy writing them. My goal is to share my life and hopefully inspire or help someone else feel like they’re not alone. I like reading about other women and their little ones, so I’m hoping you do as well. It’s interesting to see what we have in common or what we can learn from each other.

Since Foster is on the move these days I’ve gotten a little behind so I’m going to try to combine month 12 and 13 without be extremely long winded. So, here we go…

Movement: A week before Foster’s one year old birthday he took his first independent steps and life has not been the same sense!

He literally wants to walk everywhere now. The days of being held all day are pretty much gone. I think back to last year at this time and my days were basically filled with holding him all day.

I held him to breastfeed. I held him to sleep and then he was awake for a very short time. This year is so much different!!!! It’s amazing how greatly life can change in a year.

Since he started walking his confidence grows daily. He’s getting better and better at keeping his balance and exploring new parts of our home. Indoors and out…

He’s always up for going outside!! I think he gets more excited when I ask our dog if she wants to go “outside” than the dog does.

He’ll walk on our little patio area until he has worked up the courage to enter the yard. Then he’ll search for the most dangerous or gross things to play with.

Now when we go to the park he wants to walk like mommy and daddy. We went the other day and he walked further than he had before and his little cheeks got so red. He gets that from his mommy.

As he gets more confident in walking he’s taking on new challenges…like climbing. He climbs the stairs and gets to them like a ninja. He’s also started climbing chairs and I’ve seen him in the monitor a few times trying to climb out of his crib…not so awesome. So, I think it’s safe to say we have a climber on our hands.

Our little man is officially on the move and there is no turning back!!

Smiles:

His little smile continues to literally light up my world. I look at him and I’m in awe that God gave him to me. Now I just pray I am the mom that he needs!

Smiling continues to be one of his favorite things to do and now he accompanies it with a wave. It’s the saddest thing when someone doesn’t look at him while he’s doing it. I want to yell hey an adorable little boy is smiling at you please smile back! But, I’ve kept that under wraps…for now.

He will forever be my little happy baby!

Nursing: I am still nursing. I don’t really know when I’ll start weening but I think we’ll both just know. For now I really enjoy it. There’s not as much pressure because he’s not getting his full nutrition from my milk, so if we’re in a hurry and miss a feeding it’s not a big deal. He mainly nurses in the morning and night.

It’s just a sweet time to slow down and be together and I don’t mind the cuddles either.

Solids: He’s pretty much eating anything these days. Vegetables continue to be somewhat of a challenge and fruit are for sure his favorite!!!

For about ten days his stomach has kind of been on the fritz so I’m pretty much letting him eat whatever he will. We started a probiotic to hopefully ease some tummy woes. Adapting to new foods can be tough!

Sleep: For the most part sleep is still going well. He is definitely grown an attachment to his lovies and blanky and must have them before naps and bed time. The only time he takes a paci is during sleep time as well, but it’s definitely a big help.

He usually goes to bed between seven and eight and wakes up between five and six. I think he wakes up a little too soon because he often still acts sleepy in the morning.

I still thank God that he is sleeping through the night. It’s no small thing and there was a time I thought it was NEVER going to happen! So, if you are in the struggle bus just know that this too shall pass. You WILL sleep again!!

Naps: He’s still going about three to four hours between naps. There have been a couple days where he has just done one nap if his first nap didn’t happen until really late.

I still think he benefits from two naps, so we are going to stick with that for now. I mean if it aint broke why fix it..right?

Personality: I would say besides starting to walk in the last two months his personality has really started to develop even more so. He’s very adventurous, friendly and loving. Here are some examples…

Stores…

Shopping no longer looks the same. He will only sit in the cart for a short period of time before he is ready to get out and start exploring on his own. I have to go equipped with plenty of snacks or pull toys from the aisles in order to keep him distracted long enough to stay in the cart the entire grocery visit.

Restaurants…

As you may have guessed he’s no longer a fan of the high chair either. He wants to get down and go say hi to everyone. I made the mistake once of letting him get down and he literally went up to everyone. Even the scary people. We’ll need to have a stranger danger talk really soon. When he can understand what I’m talking about.

Friends…

Whenever we go somewhere he is so excited to see people and try new things. I was really surprised how much he was into the piano. Who knows we may have a little musician on our hands despite his parents lack of talent.

Car:

We finally got a new car seat that sits up a little higher and it has helped a lot! He’s still not the biggest fan so I have to be creative and come up with distractions.

Lately my old CDs have done the trick and of course snacks are always a winner. There are so many crumbs in my car it’s crazy.

I think that about sums up the last two months. Honestly, each day gets better and better. He develops more and I learn more about him and how I can be what he needs me to be. Of course there are challenging days but I try to remember it’s just one day and tomorrow will be better! Ultimately I try to remember that Everyday Above Dirt is a Good Day! Let’s go get ’em!!