{alligator: Jellycat// sweater: Carter’s (old) // jeans: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked}
{month eleven} Oh boy, eleven months. So bittersweet. I am absolutely loving watching the sweet little person that Daphne is becoming, but I am also really missing Baby Daphne too! Gosh, I just can’t believe she is almost one!
This is the first time in a few months that Daphne hasn’t tried to launch herself off the front of the glider while taking this picture, much to my surprise. One of the reasons I suspect is that she figured out if she leans forwards and backwards, she can make the chair rock! And she was pretty excited about that.
Speaking of excited, any time that Daphne is excited about something, she claps. So there is a lot of applause around here! When she sees her bottle, clapping. When she sees me, Eloise, or Papa first thing in the morning, clapping. When she stands up and sits down, clapping. All day long. But I will never tire of hearing her clapping!
Daphne is constantly on the move. She hardly ever stays in one spot for long and is always chasing after something: the Roomba, Eloise, Sadie, Mama. She is standing really well on her own, but as soon as she realizes she is doing it, she sits! But we are amazed how long she can stand (usually holding something in her hands) and we are so close to the standing and bouncing stage (that comes right before walking). AND Daphne took her first unassisted steps this past weekend! At least that we’ve seen. She was holding onto a walker toy and wanted to get to the side table but her arms weren’t quite long enough to get there without taking a step, so she did! I loved that it was right in front of me and it happened so quickly that I barely realized what was happening. Of course, we tried to re-create it, but that wasn’t happening. I feel like any day now I will look over at her and she will be taking steps.
The drool has returned, though not quite as much as before, and I believe it is because she is getting her fourth tooth on the bottom. You can feel it cutting thru the gum even though there isn’t a tooth bud just yet. And with baby teeth, one moment there isn’t a tooth and the next moment there is! It is crazy how quickly they grow in. She doesn’t seem bothered at all by it either which is so nice.
And just in the last two weeks or so Daphne has officially dropped her late cat nap (did I mention this already?) which means she is awake from the end of her afternoon nap, usually at 3:30 or 4 pm, to bedtime around 7:15 or 7:30. It is a long stretch of time considering she is only up for just over two hours between sleeping periods during the rest of the day. It’s nice that she is up so long during this time because it means she gets more play time and to see Eloise and Aaron more, but it also means that I have two kiddos running around when I am trying to make dinner at 5 pm.
We are still nursing one time in the morning, right before breakfast, but Daphne has become more and more uninterested in that feeding. I think it is partly because at that point, she wants to see Aaron and Eloise and Sadie! I can get her to nurse on one side (generally) for maybe a minute, but that second side is pretty much done. This is also really bittersweet for me. As much as our nursing journey was a struggle in those early days, I will definitely miss this time with Daphne! On the flip-side though, I know some mamas struggle to wean toddlers and there are lots of tears, so I am thankful we aren’t going down that road either.
As with Eloise, we are working on (baby) signs and Daphne is really good about understanding them. We have kept to the same signs we used for Eloise (milk, more, please, water, all done, and eat) but have also added “sit” since Daphne likes to try to stand up in her high chair (good grief). It is pretty early to expect Daphne to be signing anything, though she does wave her hands very enthusiastically in the air when she is all done (moments before she just shoves any extra food off her tray onto the floor…) and bangs on her tray for more food.
And as we approach Daphne’s first birthday, she remains such a good sleeper. She has always been a great self-soother (even as a newborn) which is part of the reason. Her lovie and pacifier are almost a requirement at this point though she will find her thumb if she can’t find one of the three (!) pacis in her crib. We also put both lovies in her crib too since she often panics if she wakes up and can’t find it (even if she’s lying on it and can’t see it). And she will hold both in her hands and rub them on her face. She infrequently wakes up during nap or bed time, and when she does, she very often soothes herself back to sleep. And, sleep related, I know at some point soon Daphne will drop this morning nap and transition to just one long afternoon nap, but for now she is doing really well with two naps that are about 1.5 to 2 hours each (sometimes longer!).
{weight} 22 pounds is my guess.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} three bottom middle teeth, top four teeth, one more on the bottom cutting in.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 9 months (pants) and 12 months, 12 to 18 months, 18 months (Carter’s).
{diapers} just started into size 4 {from the honest company}.
{feeding} nursing in the morning around 8 am. 4 oz bottles at lunchtime, after nap time, and at dinner. bedtime is around 7:30 with a 4 oz bottle.
{likes} watching and chasing the Roomba, eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, banging on her tray, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, being tickled, talking, her Lovie.
{dislikes} having gas, lying down flat, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.
{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.
And here is Eloise’s eleven month update.
Happy ELEVEN months Daphne!
M
This post contains affiliate links.