Last Updated on 7 December 2023 by Colette
I know I say it every month without fail and you’ll just have to forgive me I’m afraid – but really, another month already? How is my baby girl 11 months old today?
It has been a busy month for Amy, well for all of us really, with getting Ben and Chloe back into the school routine and the effect this has had on Amy’s days. I’ve had a couple of night’s away for one reason or another but it didn’t feel so hard this time as I knew the feeding was going to be fine having left her already in July. I guess the next big step there is to leave her overnight with my Mum! (The other two had their first over night stops at my parents when they were around 8 months – Ben’s was for my 30th and Chloe’s our wedding night – it wouldn’t have been possible to leave Amy before now and really we’ve had no reason to anyway)
Breastfeeding / Weaning
I finally stopped breastfeeding Amy about a fortnight ago. She now has three 6oz bottles during the day and up to two 5oz bottles during the night. This is more than is strictly necessary however until she’s in her own room I’m not going to start trying drop the night feeds – right now its about making the nights easier for us all. It certainly doesn’t affect her appetite during the day.
Amy’s enjoying three square meals a day now – she sits at the table with us in her highchair and enjoys trying all the foods we are eating. She’s really good at trying new things and is happiest when I offer her food she can pick up and smush in for herself! She particularly enjoys chunks of cheese, pasta, fromage frais and cheese spread butties. She’s not so keen on baked beans or scrambled egg at the minute tending to spit them back out again but I think that’s just the texture.
She has sussed out drinking from a beaker now and really enjoys a drink of water with her meals.
Sleep
Finally, just two days ago, Amy slept right through the night from 7pm to 7am. I can’t tell you how chuffed we were when we woke up and realised what she’d done. Of course we’re not expecting this to be the beginning of a habit but its a step in the right direction. For the last couple of weeks she has been having one or two 6oz bottles during the night. Initially I wouldn’t say that stopping breastfeeding had made much of a difference and I fully regretted our decision as she was still having a feed around 11pm and one some time after 3am. Over the course of the last week she has missed that second feed quite a few times which is obviously big progress and I’m feeling hopeful that our nights will continue to improve. That said I’m expecting her to continue to wake until she’s in her own room.
For the most part I give her a bottle when we get home from dropping the big two at school and she goes back to bed for a couple of hours. She likes a sleep in the afternoon too but it can be tricky to time this right. This week I put her to sleep in the pram for a morning snooze as we were a bit late and I knew she wouldn’t much kip in bed. As it was she fell asleep and stayed asleep till we got to school. I’m wondering if this might work quite well for the afternoons. We shall see.
Weight?
As ever I have no idea what Amy weighs, I really must get her on the scales just out of interest. I’ve been squishing her into the odd 6-9 month vest but really she’s most definitely in her 9-12 month clothes and I need to actually go through and sort out the bits that I know are too small. I have started to sort out some of the 12-18 month bits and pieces that I have stored from Chloe – it always seems strange to see Bo wearing Chlo’s familiar old clothes! The biggest difficulty I’ve found with Chloe’s hand-me-downs is that the seasons are wrong with Chloe being summer born and Amy late Autumn!
Physical Development
When I wrote Amy’s 10 month update she had just started to wave – she does this all the time now and accompanies it with a very cute and sociable “Aya”. In the last week or so she has learned to clap her hands, which she really enjoys doing, and to nod her head. We’re pretty sure she does actually understand that nodding her head means “yes” but even if she doesn’t it’s blooming cute!
We’ve not had any new teeth this month however she’s going through a sicky phase again and has got quite a sore bum so I’m wondering if there may be pegs in the not so distant future.
Amy spends as much time as possible stood up now – pulling herself up on the side of her cot, the sofa, her basket of toys, my leg – anything she can grab hold of to steady herself basically! Occasionally she forgets she can’t actually stand by herself and lets go, this usually results in her banging her face on the floor. She had a cracking bruise on her forehead earlier in September! She is now cruising and is quite confident moving herself along to sofa and reaching out for things.
Language Development
Whilst Amy just has the one recognisable “Hiya” she is making a whole world of noises in conversation. She is, in fact, a right little chatterbox. Her favourite sound is “vuh vuh vuh” which Chloe likes to repeat back to her.
Family & Friends
Amy is an increasingly social little lady – she will smile at anyone who pays her a bit of attention! She’s not quite so much of a “Mummy’s girl” now that the boobs have dried up, but I think it’s safe to say it’s Mummy she wants if she’s hurt herself or feeling sad. She is now much more settled into her days with our lovely Childminder – though she isn’t as easy to get to bed on those nights, wether its that she’s over tired or just that she wants some extra time with us I’m not sure! She is generally very chilled out and is more than happy to entertain herself with a few toys – she likes putting things in and out of bags / boxes, anything which will fit in her hand, make a noise, flash etc etc. However, much as I said last month, she’s at her happiest playing with Ben and Chloe – they love to entertain her and do what they can to make her laugh.
Favourite things
She loves singing, being tickled and playing with her big brother and sister. She thinks her Daddy is hilarious. She is still happy to be front carried in the baby carrier though we are going to try a side carry soon.
Not so favourite things
She isn’t a fan of hats and hoods – which could be tricky as we’re entering a bit of a cold snap now.
And that hair!
This month I discovered I got get her hair into bunches – and she looks pretty damn cute I think! I’ve finally booked her in for a proper hair cut at the salon next week as her fringe is getting in her eyes and I think we need to get a bit more style cut into it now.
The next Amy watch will be her first birthday. Utterly insane.
You can read all about Amy’s first two years here:
Thirteen Months Old – Amy Watch
Fourteen Months Old – Amy Watch
Fifteen Months Old – Amy Watch
Sixteen Months Old – Amy Watch
Seventeen Months Old – Amy Watch
Eighteen Months Old – Amy Watch
Twenty-Two Months Old – Amy Watch
Twenty-Four Months Old – Amy Watch
Doesn't time fly! I am TWO on Sunday! TWO! This is a lovely post, with lovely photos. Mummy loves keeping track of my milestones too x
Aww she is gorgeous. And coming on so quick! I love that she is close to Ben and Chloe – I love watching our three play – it makes me smile loads and brings the odd tear to my eye – I bet you're the same 🙂 x
Yes definitely – I'm so proud of them x
How are our babies almost 1? That has flown past at the speed of light, I wish it would slow down a bit especially as I know I won't be doing this again.
It only seems like yesterday we were racing each other to the finish line lol x
I love reading these updates as my ly Indiana is only a few weeks behind. They sound so similar, although amy hAs much more hair. She looks so cute with her hair in bunches 🙂 xx