I Love Lucy: 11 Months

I can hardly believe that I am writing Lucy's 11 month post.  It seems just like yesterday when I was giving an update on her first month of life.  {Well, it feels that way minus the newborn exhaustion.}  This truly went by way too fast.  Surely you agree?  I'm about to have a one year old.  I'll say it again because I can't believe it either...I'm about to have a one year old.  Unbelievable I tell you.

The other unbelievable part is how irresistible this little love is.  How did we ever get so lucky?  Surely, God knew our family could only handle perfection.  And happily, I feel like that is exactly what Lucy is.

Even at 11 months old, Lu continues to have me in awe at her loveliness, excited about her milestones, and enjoying every minute of her budding and busy personality.

She is that wonderful.  If you've met her, you know.  And if you haven't, well, let me fill you in.

Eat

My littlest is still a great eater.  The only concern is that a little pickiness has emerged.  This is exactly the same month Maggie pulled this stunt.  To be honest, I am a bit shocked.  I really didn't see it coming.  I vowed to make sure Lucy was given a variety of foods and that no sweets were offered her way {minus the little sugar free popsicle lick she gets every once in a while from her bigs}.

Thus far her pickiness is subtle, but I see it.  She eats everything she likes off of her tray first and then squeals, moans, and whines in hopes of a response.  The response she wants is for me to remove her veggies and give her more meat and carbs.

Than being said, chicken, steak, pork, turkey, tortillas, crackers, waffles, pancakes, breakfast bars, pasta, and bread are her favorite foods.  Hmmm...sounds a bit like Maggie.

And then coming in a close second are fruits.  Lu likes just about anything in the fruit group.  But, her favorites are watermelon, raspberries, peaches, and grapes.  And then that leaves us with veggies.

These are always the last to go off of her tray.  She eats them, reluctantly.  She often throws half of them on the ground, but a decent sized portion makes it in and stays in.  Lucy eats a lot of carrots {I've added them back to her menu}, broccoli, green beans, peas, and sweet potato, but her favorite veggies seem to be squash and zucchini.

Lucy has also taken a liking to anything that is on my plate.   If I'm eating it...it must be better.  So that's where I play the whole fake out where some of her food starts out on my plate and then I "share" it with her.  Often she gobbles it right up and other times she's totally on to me.

Just like her big sister at 11 months, Lucy wants a fork.  I can't explain it.  And honestly, I don't really understand it {wish I did because I still fight Jack to eat with utensils as opposed to fingers}.  But it's true, everything tastes better off a fork to Lucy.  The only issue with this is she's still not quite there with the fine motor, so guess who gets to do the spearing?

Lucy is still a bottle drinker.  6 ounces four times a day.  It's almost impossible for me to believe that we are nearing the wean.  Lu is great with a sippy cup and I'm sure I will happily be ready to retire the bottle and all 15 parts that come with it and therefore need to be cleaned.  But, it's very bittersweet, as are all of these little milestones with my last Cibula babe.

Activity

All that eating can make for a busy girl.  And that, Lucy is.

Lu is busy, curious, excitable, social, and easily engaged.  And although, she is very similar to Maggie at this age in the eating department, she is the polar opposite of her when it comes to activity.  Maggie wouldn't let me put her down, Lucy can't wait to get down.  She pushes off of me, wiggles out of my arms, squirms to get to the next thing,  but loves to climb all over me.

Lulu is definitely a mover.  A few short weeks after she started her army crawl she progressed into a nice hands and knees crawl.  And from that, there has been no stopping this little one.  She pulls up on everything, pushes toy baskets around the room, tries to climb on furniture, speeds up the stairs, cruises, and is always on the move.

I recently pulled out a walker for her and for a while she was very intrigued.  We've had to keep it on the carpet to avoid any full throttle face plants.  I have found that she prefers her own means of mobility though.  I think in time she will see the benefits of the walker and it may become a new love.

Lucy enjoys any game that involves moving too.  One of her favorites is the up-down game in her crib.  She stands up in her crib, I stand up outside of it, and we say, "up" {I'm convinced she says, "up"} and then we both plop down and say, "down".  She could continue on like this forever.  I find myself always being the one to end the up-down game.  She adores any kind of rhyme that goes along with moving.  We do "The Noble Duke of York" with her on my knees {her favorite part is the upside down move} and we do "Patty Cake" with her feet.   Both of these get big smiles and lots of bouncing for "more".  Still working on the baby sign language here.

Lucy also enjoys a nice game of ball {I'm convinced she says "ball" too}, playing in the playroom, any musical instruments, walks in the red push car, and most especially being with her bigs.  There is nothing like waking them up in the morning or from nap time.  She can hardly contain her excitement.

Lu is still a regular at music and gym.  I find myself amused by the way she takes off when we get to both classes.  As if I was only good for the ride there.  She is crawling around, making new friends, and playing with the balls or instruments, depending on which class we are in that day.  I sometimes wonder if she knows which of the women there is her mother or if she even cares.  Again total polar opposite of Maggie and only slightly like Jack in this regard at this age.

Lucy is definitely the most independent of all my babies.  Again, the infamous word...bittersweet.

Sleep

Not much has changed in the sleep arena and for that I am grateful.

Lu still takes two naps a day.  A morning nap at 9:30 until about 11:00 and then an afternoon nap at 1:30 until 3:30, 4:00 on a good day.  Night time sleep is still a good 12-13 hours with bed time at 7:30 and morning wake up time at 8:00 a.m.

Just like my other babies, Lucy is a great sleeper.  The only obvious difference I see is that Lucy could go with a shorter nap or skip a nap in an emergency situation and still survive.  There is no way I could have gotten away with that with the other two.  I haven't tried the latter, but Lu leads me to believe this.  She just doesn't seem as sleep dependent as her bigs {and her Mommy}.

Her moods seem pretty steady.  I must note that just like any other baby {I assume} she does get the tiniest bit fussy when hungry or tired.  But, nothing that can't be handled.  Could it be she is that easy or am I just in third baby euphoria?

I find the biggest challenge with Lucy to be her energy.  I've finally found a way to simplify the bedtime routine or as I like to refer to it "the wild alligator wrestling match to the crib".  In the last month I have begun to long for my snuggled baby and books in the rocker ritual.  Previously, Lu just couldn't slow down long enough to listen to more than two pages.  So I traded the bottle and jammies for the bottle and books.

Now this does move the wrestling match to the changing table, but I am happily able to read two books straight through with a relaxed baby and bottle in my arms.  *sigh*

So Close To One

As I wrap up this post on Lucy's 11th month of life, I find myself an emotional and elated mess.  As ironic as it sounds, I can't remember life before Lucy yet, I feel like she just arrived.  How could we be celebrating a 1st birthday in a short month?

She has blessed us in so many ways.  She has also made life a bit more challenging at times too {only in the way of logistics}.  But all the while she has been that shining star in all of the trials we've unexpectedly experienced in the past year.  I have no doubt that God made Lu just for us and just when he knew we would need her the most.  The circle of life in so many ways.

I am curious and excited to see what her last month of being zero brings and I look forward to celebrating her very first birthday and showering her with all the love and attention she deserves.

Happy 11 Months to our cherry on top! {take that as a little hint to her birthday bash in the works}  We love you Lu and I can honesty say you have completed this family in every way!

All my love my littlest one!