This update is SO late…but with good reason. Poor Harper had hand, foot and mouth disease and it took her a good five days to recover from that and she was so sleepy and low energy we didn’t even attempt photos on her actual 11 month birthday.
Harper surprised us by taking her first steps just a few days before her 11 month birthday! It was so unexpected that I just started to cry (happy tears!)
She’s getting more and more confident each day and she’s now walking regularly and it’s so fun watching her get steadier and steadier. I’m so proud of the little girl she’s becoming- and you can tell she is proud of herself—she will sometimes start to walk on her own and she gives me this sweet little smile that turns into a big smile as she walks towards me and I’m encouraging her. Her “thing” is to walk towards me smiling and at the end I say “give me a hug” and she spreads her arms wide and falls into me and it’s just indescribable how special those moments are.
I’m still in disbelief at how fast this year has gone by. At the end of this month I will be celebrating the day this sweet girl was born and yet it feels like only yesterday I held her tiny little body in my arms on the day that our lives changed forever.
Sometimes I feel like I’ll never quite have the words to adequately describe how much I adore her. I never ever feel like my words do her justice or that they reflect how much I truly love her. She’s at an age now where I’m really feeling a sense of closeness between us that is very special. She has always been a cuddly and sweet baby, but now that she interacts, communicates and understands more, it brought that to a whole new level for me. I’m her mama and she shows me she loves me and it’s the best feeling in the whole world. Sorry to get all sappy on y’all, but I’m just in one of those reflective moods.
I still think Harper looks like a baby…but watching her personality shine through and witnessing her growth in so many areas is making me start to see the toddler in her too. She’s curious and smart and responsive. It’s like one day she was a baby and the next day she started to surprise us daily with new skills.
Health: Harper contracted hand, foot and mouth disease (you can still see remnants from the spots that were on her face) a couple of weeks ago so that was rough on her. She was fortunate not to get the sores inside of her mouth and ate normally but she slept a lot, had a low grade fever and was fussier than usual. Poor baby. She is feeling great now.
Sleep: Harper is a fantastic sleeper. It is rare for her to wake up at night and when she does she will 9/10 times go back to sleep on her own. She sleeps through the night from about 7:30-6:30 a.m. Once in awhile she will wake up at 5:30 or 6 and we just bring her to our bed for the extra hour to 30 minutes. She still takes her paci for sleeping but we don’t use it much otherwise (though we did let her use it more when she was sick because she was irritable and it soothed her and allowed her to rest comfortably). We definitely lucked out in the sleep department and we didn’t sleep train her.
Diet: I am still exclusively pumping for Harper (read more about my pumping story here) BUT THAT IS GOING TO BE OVER SOON!!!!!!! (!!!!!!!) Can you tell I’m pretty excited? I have just over 500 ounces of breast milk in my freezer that we will use to feed Harper when I wean from pumping, until she turns one. We never used 99 percent of the breast milk I froze. Most people have a system for cycling it, but I had an ample enough supply that we could use either fresh or refrigerated milk for the last 11 months and that was our preference to maximize her exposure to immunity factors in my milk, which I’ve mentioned in previous monthly updates.
Looking back, I don’t know if it helped because Harper was sick throughout the year, but perhaps it shortened the length of her illnesses or prevented her from having more serious ones outside of the common cold? I can’t be sure, but she was only on antibiotics once which is pretty good for her first year.
So anyway, I ended up with this freezer full of milk and some of it was really old from when I first went back to work and I didn’t want to feed that to her even though I did test one of the oldest bags and it didn’t smell badly or like it had spoiled.
Fortunately one of the neonatologists I work with told me about a project at Rice University where they’re researching how to prevent 50 percent of fat from breast milk from getting caught up in feeding tubes and not getting to the babies who badly need it. I was able to donate over 100 ounces to that project. I’m just thrilled it didn’t go to waste. You can view more about that project here. Though I would have liked to have donated it to our donor milk program, I was not eligible because of the fenugreek I had been taking at the time.
As far as solids, Harper is eating like a champ and feeds herself so well. We don’t do purees at all anymore and give her everything but peanut butter and honey. She also drinks water from a straw or sippy cup now with her meals.
My body has been really weird this week. I feel like maybe my hormones are changing and it’s causing me to feel a bit ill. I am actually dreading weaning for completely superficial reasons, afraid my hormonal acne will return in full force. My skin is the best it’s ever been since I’ve been pregnant and pumping so I know the hormone crash is going to do me in. Time to apply an extra layer of acne cream. Sigh.
Clothes: For serveral months now, Harper has been wearing 12-18 and now she’s mostly in 18-24 month Baby Gap (she does have one or two 6-12 month items that fit). I only buy 18-24 now (her romper in this post is 18-24). We’ve always had to size up in her clothing since she was born.
Milestones: WALKING! That is the most major one but the other thing I will mention is that it is very clear she can understand many things. I can say “go get your basket” or “Where’s Mr. Panda” and she correctly identifies the objects and retrieves them when I ask her too. She also understands “put the eggs inside the basket” (or whatever objects) and does it. She knows “stand up,” “let’s walk,” etc. She also started to point at everything. She points and wants us to name everything. She can also sometimes identify objects we ask her to “where are the flowers?” and she correctly points to them. It fascinates me because I had zero knowledge of what babies can know by this age. I just kind of went with the flow. She also started to point when she wants something or will point at her book after we’ve read it because she wants me to read it again. Or she passes me a book she wants me to read. She is more vocal and babbles a lot but still no mama. I could have sworn she said hi dada the other day but it was probably my mind playing tricks on me. She’s amazing!
Ashley @ Words About Waverly says
Happy eleven months, sweet girl!!! And congrats on walking, so exciting! 🙂
wordsaboutwaverly.blogspot.com
ALEXANDRA BOOTHBY says
You have such a big mama haert
Terri G says
I had great pregnancy and postpartum skin as well (once I was out of the first trimester) and was also worried about returning acne, but I actually still have better skin now than before the pregnancy so maybe the same will happen for you too!
Anna D. says
I enjoy your blog! I mainly read for the OOTD posts, but I enjoy your Harper posts, as well. I did want to let you know that your breastfeeding has probably helped Harper build lifetime immunity. I breastfed my son, and he did pick up a lot from daycare, but that stopped when he was about one. And he has only gotten a bug a couple of times since then. He's now 22, in college, and I recall him only missing one day of school due to sickness. He has an iron core immune system now. Hoping it is the same way with your sweet Harper!
Anna D'Angelo says
Such an adorable girl! Congratulations on walking, Harper! 🙂 – Anna
PrettyLuckyMama says
Gosh she is so adorable !! Love her outfits and bows !!
Ashley @ Life on the Parsons Farm says
What a sweetie. How fun that she a walking! Ellie is so close but not yet. Hoping she starts soon!! I love reading updates yours are great since our girls are so close in age!
atparsons.blogspot.com
Dranrab says
Hey Veronika,
Do you think taking Fenugreek helped with supply at all? I tried it as well when I was nursing but didn't notice a difference.
Nicole B.
Dranrab says
Hey Veronika,
Just curious if you noticed an increase in your supply while taking Fenugreek? I tried taking it when I was nursing, but didn't notice a difference.
Nicole B.
[email protected] says
Yes, I did notice an increase. I was taking pills and drinking mother's milk tea.
Chasity Munn says
I am laughing so hard at the tantrums (sorry!!). I remember when Georgia had her first one. I stood there completely shocked that my little angel could scream like that. It will get better once she can talk. Of course it doesn't always work, but we can say "Why are you upset?" and she will either stop to tell us. Or just scream louder and continue to roll around. Get it on video a couple of times. 🙂
Tracey says
If you feel knots while ceasing pumping, put sliced cold potatoes on the spot. I got mastitis when my daughter was in the NICU and tried everything to stop the pain and infections from returning. Potatoes were the answer. Kelleymoms.com has other great breast feeding advice. Congrats for making it a year!
Jenn says
I just love reading her updates. She's such a doll! Almost time for the big birthday! Happy 11 Harper! xo ~Jenn http://www.twobytwomom.com
Schnelle says
Oh the tantrums! Aubrey recently started with this these too. She's all drama. WhenI was trying to wean her from her middle of the night feedings my friends mom gave me a little advice- she said that she remembers talking to her baby in a very adult way explaining why feeding at night is not a good thing anymore, etc. I've used this approach with the tantrums and it's amazing how well it works… most of the time. For instance, sometimes when it's nap time or bed time she fights me when we try to read because she knows that she's going in her crib next so I just talk to her and tell her that we can read a book and then go to bed or we can just go straight to bed now. She will stop fighting me and listen to the book 99% of the time… it amazes me every time.