Two days ago, Anneliese turned 10 months old. It’s hard to believe she’s almost a year old!
(Sorry in advance for the weird color in these pics… fluorescent gross lighting at night. ew)
Anneliese is just. So. Cool. I can’t get over her.
The babbling has begun. She doesn’t do it constantly, but when she has something to say, it’s profound. She’ll talk to her toys, or answer questions I ask her, or say hello to her mirror-self.
The floor bed is getting a work out. This is the stage everyone wonders about in the beginning. “But what will happen when baby starts crawling?” This is what happens. She has just started climbing out on purpose. It’s super-cute. And I don’t discourage it much because that’s the point. She CAN get in and out. I want her to practice.
And the last couple nights/naps? I’ve been able to lay her down awake (but calm/rested/nursed) and either sit with her, not patting her back or anything, or even leave the room while her eyes are still open, and she goes to sleep. Sometimes if she won’t lie down after a few attempts, if she seems HAPPY (but I know she’s tired), I’ll leave her on her bed and close the door. She fusses for about a minute and then it’s quiet.
Last night when we did that, I know she climbed out of her bed, because some of her laundry was on the floor the next time I went in there, but when I went in to check on her after 40 minutes of QUIET, she was asleep on her bed. She knows what it is for.
This morning, she woke up at 5am, and I just held her until about 5:30 when she was trying to nurse, then nursed her, and put her on her bed (around 6). She sat up. So I held her again, put her down again. She sat up again. One more time, and finally I just decided to leave her. I closed the door and she fussed a little but by the time I got back to my own bed across the hall, she was quiet. I watched her on the monitor as she looked around the room from her bed, picked up her pacifier, put it in her mouth, lay down, and fell asleep. In 4 minutes. She’s getting the hang of things.
Oh… and after that, she slept till 10am. Then I watched her on the monitor as she crawled off her bed, looked around a little, then stood with her tummy and head resting on the bed. Super cute and kind of funny. Eventually, after about half an hour, she started calling out for me, and I came and got her. Eventually she’ll be able to wake up happily, crawl off her bed, find some toys or books to look at, and entertain herself for a while before needing me. I’m so excited for this!
(Blurry iPhone picture of the video monitor when she was resting her tummy on the bed)
Anneliese doesn’t dance yet, but when I turn on music, she gets excited, grins, and claps. She loves it!
She has FOUR teeth now (can you see in the picture on the right, below?) and almost 2 more. Any day now. I really thought the next 2 would cut last week but they’re taking their dear sweet time… my poor baby is hanging in there though.
She pulls up on furniture sometimes, but it’s not really a compulsion for her. She’s content to explore details of things, more than large expanses of area. She has taken a couple “cruising” steps but nothing really significant there.
She’s really working on her language though. When she babbles, it sounds like speech. She has great inflection and it’s usually easy to tell what she is trying to convey. And? I think she’s said some words. No joke. I don’t know how people know what their baby’s first word was though… because it seems gradual. If “hi” counts as a first word, does it count when she waves to people and says “haaa” ? I think so. She has done that, and said “baa” when we leave. I know she understands what it means (along with waving) and is trying to make the same sounds I do.
I was singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to her the other day, and at the end, I would stop, ask “More?” and then sing some more if she seemed receptive. Well after several times, when I asked, “More?” she said, “aaall done” (in a baby voice and not 100% clear, but it really sounded like the words “all done”) so I asked her, “Really? All done? Finished?” (and signed “finished”) and she whispered, “Yeshhhhh.” Tell me she’s not talking. I won’t believe you.
This morning I was giving her blueberries while I cooked some eggs. One at a time. Each time she finished one I asked, “Do you want more?” and about 5-6 times she said “yesshhh,” so I gave her another. Finally I went to get my camera, and what do you know? She stopped doing it. Of course. But I swear this girl is talking. You’ll just have to believe me.
I love getting to know Anneliese. She is such a sweet, quiet, introspective girl. She watches everything around her, and offers shy smiles to strangers. She is so gentle with her baby friends, even when they climb all over her and poke her in the eyes (hehehe). She is learning so much (She put a puzzle piece where it belonged in the puzzle the other day! Instead of just taking them all out! And she was trying to put the balls in the holes in the toy above.) and I’m so excited for whatever comes next.
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Aww, this is so great. Congrats to the ten monthiversary.
Sounds like she’s talking to me! I notice things with my 8 1/2 month old that I wonder if he’s saying words…when he’s upset he says ‘maaaaahhhm’ and I can’t help but feel he’s talking about me. haha
oh, she is TOTALLY talking, my dear. henry was using two-word sentences on his first birthday. so i’m sure she is, too! love that first shot of her. she’s so sweet.
Hi, Please tell me more about Anneliese’s sleep. Your posts back at 8 months were very helpful, especially in terms of moral support. I’d like to hear more about how you got to this point, what her sleep routine looks like now. It sounds like you have been successful in getting her to sleep through the night and fall asleep on her own.
I’d settle for getting a 4 hour stretch during the night!
My daughter is also 10 months old (only about a week younger than Anneliese) and we are also a paleo-ish/WAPF sorta low carb family. Sort of. Bread has crept back into our diets, so perhaps I only like to think of myself as still paleo/WAPF, but at any rate, baby isn’t given any wheat or cereal.
After your posts on sleep, I decided to try the crying in arms thing because she would fall asleep nursing, but didn’t want to be put down. It worked well, although it was certainly frustrating and hard for a little while. Now she welcomes settling into her bed after a drink and being rocked. Sometimes I can put her into her bed awake (but tired) and with 15 minutes of me shhing her and patting her back, she will go to sleep.
We went through a period of her waking up every hour or so, but drifting back to sleep if we went in to pat her back. After that, I moved her crib in next to our bed so I didn’t have to get up to go pat her back, I could just reach over. That helped for a while, and she would sleep from 9p.m.-2a.m., but then would be up constantly, or would end up in bed with me and attached to my nipple all night (which meant I didn’t sleep well). NOW? Now she’s moving in her crib. She wiggles and squirms and gets herself caught on the bars, and tries to roll over where there isn’t space and bangs the bars, and cries, sits up…. she wakes up this way every 30 minutes or so.
So I’m considering creating a floor bed like you have done. I’m also thinking of lowering her crib mattress so that I can leave her in the crib without worry — even though that will put her lower than our mattress and harder to pat back to sleep…
Sorry for the very long comment, but your posts on Anneliese’s sleep have been helpful and reassuring. Please write more!
K.
It sounds like the crying in arms is going well for you… it was such a hard thing for me at first but realizing I was RIGHT THERE and there wasn’t anything WRONG helped.
The last week or so, Anneliese has had a harder time with sleep, waking up more often and not going down as easily. I think it’s probably 2 things – she’s cutting her 6th tooth , and maybe having a growth spurt (she wants to nurse tons and she is also eating more food than before).
Bedtime has been around 8ish, and I try to nurse her while awake (even in the light if necessary) and hold her for a little while with her sheep and offer her paci… then lay her down when she seems relaxed. Before this teething/growing thing, she would just lay calmly on her bed, and drift off. Now she lays there for a few minutes, then sits up and cries for me. Sometimes I’ll nurse her a little more, then hold her , and again, lay her down awake. I’m really trying to get her to NOT fall asleep in my arms.
She’s had a couple GREAT nights – one night was 11.5 hours STRAIGHT of sleeping for her. If she did wake up (I’ll never know) she put herself back to sleep.
For your situation – I would try to be more hands-off. That’s what I’ve been progressing to… so instead of 15 minutes of shhing her and patting her back, just pat her back without the shhh.
Then when that’s working for a couple days, instead of patting, just lay your hand on her back, and only pat if she stirs.
When that’s working, just sit beside her and don’t touch her, but if she stirs, put your hand on her back so she knows you’re there.
That’s the kind of progression I’ve been doing and it seems to be working over time. I just can’t wait for this tooth to cut so we can get back to our new normal!
Also, bread sneaks into my mouth now and then too.. not at home and not every day, but if it’s a particularly yummy looking thing… yeah. I have moved from saying “I’m grain free/primal” to saying “I view grains as junk food.” haha.
I love the bed idea and how Anneliese is figuring it out! Mine’s currently about to turn 7 months (tomorrow!) and sleep is right out of the picture for her at the moment, since she’s too busy crawling all around and pulling up and babbling. I will maybe try this bed idea though, once our baby gate is put up.
Congrats! She is getting so big. I think little ones have that instinct in them to not do anything for the camera. It takes me a lot of effort to get my baby girl to smile when the camera comes out. However, when it is put away she is all smiles!
I’m sure she’s talking! My first baby started at 7 months. For a week or two I kept saying that I was probably imagining it, but then one day she looked at me and said “mama” then looked at her dad and said “dada”!
This is my first time here (clicked over from Mark’s Daily Apple). I’m a Navy wife, too! And my youngest is 8 months.
Christy
Aww, this is so great. Congrats to the ten monthiversary.
Sounds like she’s talking to me! I notice things with my 8 1/2 month old that I wonder if he’s saying words…when he’s upset he says ‘maaaaahhhm’ and I can’t help but feel he’s talking about me. haha
Look at those cheeks!
I love to read your posts about Anneliese, what an awesome mother you are to such a precious little one. Our own daughter and now our granddaughter both began to talk before they were age one, so I know Anneliese is definitely talking to you! You are very blessed to be able to spend so much quality time with her. Your excellent mothering skills will help her have a content and happy childhood! Thanks for sharing your blog with us…
Oh my word, she just keeps getting cuter and cuter!