11 months old!

Just one more month before our little sweetie is 1 year old!! I truly can’t believe how many changes a baby goes through in one year. So amazing! I’m just trying to keep up!

The biggest change for Lila and for all of us this month was switching daycares. I’m so happy to report that our new arrangement is going fabulously! Lila is adjusting really well and is learning so many new things. In the two short weeks she has been going to Miss Amanda’s, Lila has tried countless new foods, gone on playdates, completed some art projects (yes, at 11 months old), and has gone on trips to the park and the library!

I feel so lucky that everything has worked out! There is nothing more important to me in this world than my sweet daughter. And because I have to go to work everyday, her care while I’m gone is crucial, obviously! Lila is making new friends (human and canine), learning so many things and getting so much attention and interaction. I think it’s going to be wonderful for Lila’s development... especially for her language and creativity! And because I know she reads my blog, a huge huge THANK YOU to Amanda! You truly saved us! Thanks for taking such great care of Lila. I don’t know how to fully express how grateful we really are for you!!!!

Weight/Height/Sizes:
At her 10 month checkup Lila was 18 lb 15 oz. and she had only gained 14 oz in 2 months!!! I was so worried but the doctor wasn’t at all. She said that since Lila is so active and has grown a lot in length its nothing to worry about. She also had a little stomach bug around that time and was throwing up occasionally so she probably lost weight that way. We’ve been trying to fatten her up, so hopefully it’s working. I weighed her on our home scale the other day and it read 19.6 lbs. I really hope she is over 20 lbs at her 1-year checkup.

Her height at the 10 month checkup was 29.5 inches. She wears mostly 12 month clothes, some 18 month jeans and tops and a size 3 shoe, but some 2s still work.

Talking:
New Words - in addition to dada, mama, baby, Lila, yay...

bye - correctly pronounced now, and sort of in a Southern accent
dog - “gob”
bottle - “baba”
num num num - is “i’m ready for food now mommy”

She talks all the time in her own language. It’s really funny to hear her inflections and to start hearing some real words in there... she still loves that lower register of her voice and rarely does anything very high pitched. She likes to growl and do her Beevis and Butthead “huh huh” laugh a lot!

She remains very social and outgoing. She loves to look around, greet everyone in the room and wave! One funny thing that she does is when two people are talking and laughing to each other she will try to butt-in to the conversation by laughing and trying to get their attention. She is a little ham!

Motion:

Not walking yet. I’ve seen her stand on her own a few times and once she came toward me and kind of took a step. I just don’t think she is ready to fully go for it yet. She would rather crawl fast!! She is very nimble and moves around very well. She can squat to get things, cruises with furniture and the walls, likes to do a down-ward facing dog yoga move, and can climb stairs very fast!

Sleeping:

Still sleeps through the night beautifully, but is waking occasionally because of teething pain. Tylenol and some cuddles worked pretty well and she goes right back to sleep.

Her naps are changing so we are in a bit of a transition right now. She is almost ready to go to one nap a day, but not quite. She still seems to need a bit of a catnap in the morning (20-30 mins) and then will take a longer nap after lunch of 3 hours or so. When she is home with us on the weekends she doesn’t nap as well as she does during the week. But, that’s pretty much always been the case!

I'd say normal for her is 12-13 hours at night 7-7:30. And 2-3.5 hours during the day.

Eating:

Still has formula 4 times a day, around 6 oz each feeding, sometimes less. We are still totally on bottles and she still wont drink formula from a cup.

Eats 3 meals per day plus snacks. Loves big girl food and feeding herself. I think we are almost completely done with baby food! I still will give her baby food veggies and prunes if she needs them. She has been doing very well with drinking water from a sippy cup and I've been letting her try out a spoon and fork. Sometimes she even gets some in her mouth!

Favorite foods -

Cheerios, noodles, yogurt, meatballs or any meat really, baked or mashed potatoes, broccoli, broccoli soup, beans, baby goldfish

Least favorite foods -

Oatmeal, eggs (yep, two of mommy’s favorites!)

Nicknames:

Lila Bean, Goof or Goofy, Sleepy Gus, Silly Gus or just Gus! And for when she is being super destructive and daring: Lila-zilla or Lila Knievel. Haha!

Funny/new things:

Can “click” her tongue and does this often

She now has 4 teeth and is working on top canine teeth, we think.

Loves opening drawers and doors. She even closed the door to my closet the other day when I was in it... she said “Bye!” and closed the door with me inside!

Also blows raspberries a lot and does spit food occasionally, which is very annoying!

Loves to throw things. We taught her how to pick up her toys by throwing them in the toy bin and now she is obsessed with throwing everything. Food, spoons, toys, socks, everything!

Still loves to crawl through small spaces (under tables and chairs, through her tunnel), loves climbing the stairs, climbing our dressers (luckily they are very heavy)

Is showing a temper occasionally. If we take something away from her, or move her away from the stairs or pantry or dishwasher , etc. she will throw herself on the ground and cry! Very dramatic.

Loves the bath, but freaks out if she gets her face in the water or gets any in her mouth. It's absolutely frightening when she gets scared in the water because I always think she can't breathe. Oh my gosh, the scariest seconds of my life. I want to give her swim lessons soon to ease both of our minds about the water.

Starting to occasionally sleep with a blanket. She moves a lot in her sleep so it doesn’t stay on for long. We dress her very warmly for bed for that reason. I think she might be ready for a “lovey” of some sort. Up to this point she hasn’t been to loving or nurturing to any stuffed animal or doll, but we are trying!

Loves to be tickled and loves to laugh!! Her laugh is like nothing I've ever heard. The BEST sound!

Imitates us a lot. Will try to repeat what we are saying or she will clap or wave or whatever after we do it.

She points at things now. Not very often but she does occasionally point to things in stores or at places like the aquarium.

Very clingy to me this month. Sometimes daddy just won’t do, it’s got to be mommy! She even yells to get out of his arms and then reaches for me and hugs me!! I’m kind of loving it, sorry Neil!

Is starting to give big wet open mouth kisses. She also blows kisses, or tries.

Loves books and reading and loves turning the pages. Her attention span is still quite short so we don’t always make it through a whole book before moving on to another one

Has a very annoying tendency to slap us in the face or grab our faces or glasses/earrings/lips/noses! I’m trying to figure out a way to discourage this. I’ve tried ignoring it, saying “no” firmly and then looking away from her for 15-30 seconds, showing her how to touch “gentle”... nothing is really working yet. She is not hitting us in a mean way, its more just out of excitement. Hopefully she stops that soon. Toddler discipline is going to be fun, and especially with this little spitfire!

She says "bye" sometimes without prompting... if someone is putting on their coat or heads for the door, she starts waving and saying "bye"! Smart girl!

Neil and I just LOVE our little girl. She is (in our opinion) the smartest, sweetest, funniest, most beautiful baby EVER! I can't believe she is ours and how much we love her. I totally get why people brag on their kids all the time. The amount of pure love and pride I have for her in immeasurable. It's just not something you "get" until you are a parent.

I just hope we are doing her justice as her parents. It's VERY difficult to be a working mom. That's something for a different post, but it's so hard to be torn in so many ways. For me, I feel like I try to do all the things a stay at home mom does, but I'm just not there during the day... does that make sense? I feel like I am just as connected and devoted to my daughter and want to enrich her and be there for her as if I were there for her during the day, but I'm not. I guess that's where good childcare comes in!

Anyway, I cannot believe Lila will be 1 YEAR OLD in a month. So exciting!

My "Get Healthy" Plan for 2012

I heard on the radio this morning that 75% of people who make New Year's resolutions will give up 10 days in to the new year. Well, I'm happy to report that my plan to get back in shape is still going strong and I'm already seeing results.

While I was pregnant with Lila I gained 46 lbs. I knew that was too much but I figured I would lose it pretty easily by breastfeeding or dieting after she was weaned. Well, I am still 15 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight and have been since Lila was 3 months old! My body has bounced back some but the weight is still there.

July 2010: Around 9 weeks pregnant here, probably around 150 lbs

January 2011: My baby shower, 37 weeks pregnant and pushing 190 lbs!

I tried Weight Watchers last fall but I really didn't stick to it. I started eating better for a while and then went back to my old ways of eating out too much, eating too many carbs and not working out. Before I was pregnant I worked out 4-5 times a week, ate pretty healthy and I was very comfortable and confident with myself.

My postpartum body and I are not friends. I try not to look at my body in the mirror. I don't change clothes in front of my husband. I try to ignore my weight. To be honest, I sort of gave up on myself! Things are not what they used to be and I've had a hard time convincing myself that I deserve the change. It's been so long since I've worked out hard and eaten really well, I didn't know where to start, so I never did.

August 2011: 6 Months post-partum... probably 165-170 lbs. Not many pictures of me these days... most get deleted :(

On New Year's Day, I watched my wedding video. My wedding day, July 1st 2006, was the skinniest I've ever been. I was around 130 lbs and a size 4. The few months before my wedding I lost 15-20 lbs on Body For Life and I felt great! I was strong, lean and happy! Of course right before my wedding ALL I focused on was working out and planning meals. Most of the wedding details were already done, so all I did that summer was lay out, work out and eat healthy.

July 2006: Wedding Day, around 130 lbs. I was so proud of my toned arms!

Seeing myself that skinny on video was a huge wake up call. I remembered how confident I was. I loved trying on bathing suits. I wore shorts and tiny tank tops and wasn't self conscious at all. I didn't have to worry about a double chin in pictures. I didn't fuss with and adjust my clothes all the time like I do now. No muffin top, no changing clothes a million times in the morning. Seeing myself at that weight was just the push I needed to make a change.

On Jan. 3rd I started a 30-day eating and work out challenge. I needed to start off strong. Small changes and adjustments just weren't enough. I needed a big change to start seeing results early and to convince myself that I really AM capable of working out and eating healthy again!

My 30 Day Challenge:

- Eat a lower carb, higher protein diet. Between 1200-1500 calories a day, 40% protein, 40% carb, 20% fat. I'm tracking my meals on SparkPeople. I'm eating a lot of oatmeal, chicken breasts, brown rice, fruit and veggies! Staying away from processed foods, no eating out. One cheat meal per week!

- Weekly workouts: At least 30 mins of cardio 3x/week, weights 2x/week. Upper and lower body plus abs and back.

So far, I've lost 3 lbs. This is probably mostly water weight, but it's such a great feeling seeing the scale going in the right direction. I've weighed the exact same for months so it's awesome to lose! I don't have any specific goals for these 30 days really, just stick to the plan and create new habits of healthy eating and working out most days.

After 30 days, I may loosen up my rules or change the plan in some way. I don't really want to be 130 lbs again or a size 4. My goal is 145-150 lbs which is much more sustainable for me. My giant stack of goal jeans are mainly size 8.

Summer 2008: Biking! I think I was around 145 here. Would love to be this weight again!

2011 was one of the best years of my life. I gained a beautiful daughter but I lost some of myself. This year, I want to get back my confidence and be proud of my body again. I hope to lose about 9 more lbs by Lila's 1st birthday party on Feb. 25! I want to look back at those photos with my baby girl and be proud that I'm making the changes I need to make. Not just for me, but for her too.

An Update Post and Daycare Drama

Well, I've been a little overwhelmed with life lately!! I've got a super active 10.5 month old, a lot of deadlines coming up at my job, Neil's starting a new position at his work and to top it off - we had to find new childcare for Lila.

It's a super long and dramatic story, but bottom line is that this weekend we found out that our daycare would be closing and we would need to find something else basically immediately. Everything happened so fast that I barely had time to process it. We are finding out more and more as we talk to other parents and daycare employees, but our daycare was mismanaged financially and the daycare director was doing a good job hiding the problems from everyone. Well, it all came crashing down this weekend! Luckily, there was never any problems with the actual CARE that was provided, but business wise is another story. Apparently there are some parents and former employees that are owed substantial amounts of money and are pursuing legal action. I told you it was dramatic!!!

Well after calling around and talking to people we have found a wonderful new childcare situation that is going to be so much better!!!! I cannot tell you how excited and pleased I am. One of the girls who worked at the daycare's preschool is going to take care of Lila in her home. Amanda has a 2 year old little boy and a 5 year old daughter in Kindergarten during the day. Lila is going to get so much one on one attention. They are going to go to the park, the library for story time, on walks, get to play outside and did I mention that Amanda was a preschool teacher and is a licensed middle school teacher!? It's also going to be cheaper and on my way to work!!!

I am so pleased about these changes and it's truly a blessing in disguise. The best thing is that Lila already knows Amanda and Amanda knows Lila's routine and everything. Lila will still have a transition period, sure, but I think this is going to be so great for everyone!!

It was a crazy weekend, but I am so happy with how everything is turning out. Crisis averted!

Lila's First Christmas and it's 2012!

Happy New Year! We all had a really fun and exhausting Christmas break. Lila is so funny. She had a great time being with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and loved opening gifts! She played so hard and wore me out!

I had the entire week off between Christmas and New Year's. It was the longest stretch of time that she'd been home with us and out of daycare since I started working again. I loved all the time with her, but even with help every day, I was exhausted!! She is SO active, gets bored easily, and is just a ball of energy. She's a handful! Gotta love that girl.

It was so nice to get a break from work and the hustle of every day life to just hang out with family and just play with Lila. She is growing up so much. It makes me a little sad how big she is getting, but I love seeing this little girl she is becoming!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Christmas:

Lila got so many fun toys for Christmas! She got blocks, lots of Little People, a doll and doll stroller, a teapot, LOTS of books, money for her college savings account (yay!) and so much other fun stuff! Her birthday is right around the corner, so we saved a lot of the gifts we bought for February. She doesn't know the difference!

So, yeah - we had a great holiday. It is so wonderful to be around people I love and people who love Lila as much as we do. I'm so lucky to have an awesome family! My mom even came to my house for a few days last week to help me with Lila while I tried to get some organizing done around the house. We got a lot done even though we both had a bit of a stomach bug last week. Ugh!

We also had a great New Year's Eve/Day. The Youngs came to visit for the weekend and Lila and Emmett got to play a bunch! They had a great time! Emmett is 3 months younger, but they are the same size and on pretty similar schedules during the day. On Saturday night, they literally went to bed at the exact same time around 7 after their first bath together! We definitely enjoyed the adult time afterward.

Of course we only got pictures of the kids and none of the four adults!

2011 was a great year. I'm really excited to see what 2012 brings as we celebrate Lila's first birthday and continue to watch her grow. I don't plan on getting pregnant again this year, so this is the year to enjoy Lila and have fun as a family of three. Neil and I also plan to get back in shape and regain some of ourselves that got lost in our first year as parents. We deserve it!! I'm going to post about the kick off to this shortly. Happy New Year everyone!