Eleven Months with Eleanor

It completely baffles me that I only have one more month before my update says “one year”. How did this happen? Eleanor is continuing to grow so quickly, learning new things all the time, and like I said before, this is such a fun age to be her mum. Seeing your child discover the world – pretty incredible.

Highlights & Milestones

At the beginning of this past month, we got to celebrate my first Mother’s Day, which is obviously not about Eleanor in the typical way I write these updates. However, I have to mention it because it was so cool to celebrate with my little family. I am so blessed by this little lady and the fact that she made me a mum!

Eleanor is on-the-move! Oh man, she is everyone. She loves crawling around the warehouse, which really keeps me on my toes because there’s so much she can get into. She climbed the entire massive staircase there the other day, and I was amazed by her determination. She’s still cruising around holding onto tables, chairs, etc., but she’s also started to stand on her own here and there. Sometimes she’ll stand in one spot without holding on for awhile, and the other day I caught her doing it and then clapping for herself. She doesn’t last too long in one place or being confined in a seat.

This girl has so many faces, and it’s hilarious. If she is in a particularly goofy mood, she will just run through them all and watch you laugh at her. She is still sticking out her tongue and doing a cheese grin with her two front teeth, but she’s also added a lip smack, a head tilt (her version of a hug I think?) and very passionately shaking her head, which is sometimes communicating “no” and sometimes just being silly.

Eleanor has mastered standing, sitting and crawling around in the bathtub now, which is a welcome change from when she first started standing in the bath but wasn’t quite stable enough to do it on her own. I think the fact that she can really explore the entirety of the bathtub has made her really enjoy her baths, and now, she isn’t quite as eager to get out.

A couple months ago, we had her checkup with the Dr., and her weight had fallen off the charts. Our Dr. wasn’t too worried because in every other sense, Eleanor is doing fantastic and had been small since birth. However, she thought it would be worth checking into. So this month, we had a checkup with a paediatrician and a paediatric dietician. Eleanor had to do a blood test to make sure everything was good and there was nothing more intense happening i.e. celiac or thyroid disorders. Everything came back normal for the most part, but she is low in a couple vitamins. We are giving her a couple vitamin supplements to make sure she continues developing on track. More than anything, the paediatrician believes that Eleanor is simply small genetically and will continue to develop as she should.

With all of that, I have been particularly focused on making sure Eleanor is getting enough to eat. The girl L.O.V.E.S. food. If you have food near her, she WILL find you. She isn’t overly picky. Some things we have tried and found her not to like at first, she will end up liking the next time. It’s helpful to get to an age where she has fewer “off limits” foods than not. I find myself taking a face-to-face conversation with a doctor, paediatrician, or paediatric dietician to heart, relying more on their advice than the 1.3 million articles and websites’ advice. I recently read this article, and I just laughed. How true!

We have gotten into more of a routine this month, which is a welcome change for me. I found routine a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but now I am find it serving all of us the best. I’ve also recently dropped the dreamfeed, which is probably later than most would. I felt a bit sentimental about letting it go, but I think it was starting to disturb her more than help her.

The last milestone/highlight I can think of this month is that Eleanor has learned how to play peek-a-boo. It’s the cutest thing when she pops out with such delight. I’m loving her excitement and joy!

Likes

Food! (Risotto, oatmeal, bananas, grapes, mandarins, cheese, most meats and of course, raisins!)
Animals – the extreme excitement that comes over her when she sees a dog is incredible
Dancing
Water
Walks in her pram (especially if we pass a dog!)
People
Peekaboo
Bouncing on our bed
Books
Play chase (crawling)
Exploring
Climbing stairs
“Talking” on the phone
Facetime

Dislikes

Still not a lover of the car, but it’s not as bad as it once was
Waking up
Putting clothes on/changing clothes
Being confined to one seat or with one person for too long

How Am I Doing?

I am doing pretty well overall, but just like anyone, there are some moments or days that are harder than others. With figuring out Eleanor’s physical growth stuff this past month, there were moments of anxiety. I have a tendency to jump to the worst case scenario, and therefore, I have to really protect my mind when the unknown is looming over me. Fortunately, there are so many people who love and support us, including our Dr who is nothing short of amazing. I am so thankful for these people who are here to listen, pray and even just ask how Eleanor is doing. It takes a village – for the mums too I think!

Eleanor is sleeping pretty well, which is always helpful to me. I still find myself quite tired, and I am looking into my B12 levels at the recommendation of the dietician. Often times, they are connected back to the mum if the baby is breastfed and low in this. Aside from that, I am still really enjoying my time with Eleanor. I haven’t quite figured out some of the things I mentioned last month with my daily routine and contribution to missions, but I am not really in a rush to “figure it all out” either. I am really focusing on some personal things to get in place such as my health, habits, etc. I have been reading Organized Simplicity, which is a great book that so far I would highly recommend. I also have another book in the queue called Better than Before, which I’ve read bits and pieces through articles and can’t wait to dive into this one.

We are all getting really excited to travel to the States in a few weeks for a family reunion and to celebrate Eleanor’s 1st birthday (!!). It’s a pretty quick trip – only 2 weeks – but I think it will be a great time.