Tuesday, May 27, 2014

11 Months: A Letter

Caysen,

We are so so so so blessed to be writing about your 11 months of life. You are getting ever closer to that one year mark and after the year we've had, I just can't believe it!

You are growing so big these days. You are 18lbs as of your last weight. You are on the chart finally for weight at 10th percentile, but apparently you are stil lagging on height as you are still only at 1st percentile. You wear a size 3 diaper, your clothes range anywhere from 6-12 months depending on the brand, we just started putting you in 12 month clothes and it fits in the shirts just fine, the pants are still a little large.

We are working on changing up your feeds.You were on a continuous feed until a few weeks ago. We dropped your over night continuous feed and have switched your feeds to bolus, but and recently just switched up your feeds to be four hours apart and bigger feeds. It's slow going but needs to happen. You like not being hooked up to your pump all day long and having more free time! (or maybe that's just mommy!)

In the past month you have decided to surprise us and drink a little by mouth, but usually only water and only when you want to. It isn't any certain time or thing that makes you want to drink it seems, and there's nothing that really seems to motivate you.  We are praying you will conitnue to want to eat by mouth, that you will enjoy it and just decide one day that you are ready to eat food. Right now, you just play in food, make a big mess, and hold it. You like to chew on harder foods like apple slices and chips, but don't prefer to eat much of anything.

You are getting stronger, and we are noticing some progress! When sitting you will rock foward and bear some weight through your arms. Occasionally you will fall to your stomach, and you don't hate it anymore. You will lay there, and sometmes you will ROLL OVER! I am so excited to annouce that you are now 11 months old and can roll over from tummy to back if you so choose! yay! We have tried to practice bearing weight through your feet and well, you just aren't a fan. We will keep trying!

Sleep. Oh is sleep ever elusive. You don't always sleep well at night. You wake up if you need turned (since you just learned how to roll, maybe that will change!) You wake up if you lose your paci, and more often than not you were waking up with gas issues and lately you were waking up because either your nap was too awesome or your stomach was really hurting (had a few days off issues of purple blood coming from your stomach). Switching to bolus feeds instead of the long feed and you actually seem to sleep harder. It has been really nice! Hopefully you will continue to improve in this respect!

We love that you are developing your personality and talking to us more, smiling and laughing and interacting. Your favorite games are Peek A Boo and Pat A Cake, making your dimple show without a doubt. You LOVE to watch your brother, you enjoy doing anything that invovles getting out of the house.  Car rides usually allow you to sleep, you enjoy coming to church and watching praise and worship with your ear plugs and serving with us - you are an excellent door greeter! You're quite the adorable little guy and tend to create a traffic jam at the doors when we serve!

We are just trucking along to your one year mark - happily watching you grow and progress now that you are s/p interstage. It's a thing of beauty, to look at you and realize just how far - you really have come! God has really outdone himself when he gave us you! Planning your 1st birthday gives me nothing more than chills thinking about the journey we have taken. This time a year ago I was having headaches and vision problems, slowly losing my eyesight while anticipating your arrival. Together we have gone through SO MUCH, and I couldn't be prouder of you!

Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy