11 months and counting....

The first year of this little baby....err....boy's life is just about GONE! Can you believe it? He is now less than one month away from that big 1 year milestone. Such a happy guy still on most days, despite some recent battles with endless teething pain and an ear infection. Mr. Talin is still also a great eater, and is now pretty much able to handle most of the food we eat. It is more just me wanting to use up all of the gourmet baby food we have made him. His favs are avocado on toast, cheerios or baby puffs, crackers, and BANANAS!!! ...and more bananas, and more bananas ;-) But he really does like just about anything. The other night I mixed some pea soup with quinoa to give it some texture and down the hatch it went...daycare the next day commented on his loud farts and big poops...whoops! He is still breastfeeding, only twice a day. And I am free of the pump. Just plain sick of it I think. I'm not producing much milk, but he still is drinking up 2-3 times a day when I am at home, so we'll just stick with that for as long as it works. At this point with Forrest I had already stopped breastfeeding, so I am just happy to make it this far. That year milestone is my goal and I'm confident we'll make it till then. With the breastfeeding goal, though, has come a baby who STILL wakes up to eat in the middle of the night. Even now. I have been reluctant to let him cry it out at this time, or to stop feeding him as this night feeding does keep my supply up. But, in a month or two, it might just have to go as I do crave my night's sleep back. You couple this one nightly wake up with Talin and Forrest's other random wakeups that happen due to poop, sickness, or just those darn night terrors and uggh! One tired household of Fulton parents!

I like this picture as he looks younger than 11 months here!All contained in the sling, except for his mondo baby noggin that is :-)

Munching on some snacks....

LOVES the swing!

He is sitting at 20 lbs, having just gone to the doctor for his well child exam and vaccinations (6 months...whoops, running a little behind schedule over here in this household. We will skip 12 months all together and aim for the 15 month appt. to get caught up). I know, here I am a medical person and I can't even get my kids in on time for their appointments. BUT...not entirely my fault. Our pediatricians office has a 2 month wait...yes two MONTHS. And my kiddos are for the most part very healthy. And we have had an appointment or two cancelled due to the pediatrician getting sick, etc. So, I'm not so worried about it. I kind of agree to wait on some vaccinations and spread them out a bit anyways when these little one's immune systems are a bit stronger.
 He has been shaking his head NO when he doesn't want something, or is done eating, or while he is getting his diaper changed and doesn't agree with the situation. He also, occasionally, can do the sign for "all done" though this has been hit and miss lately. Also, he has been saying "YA" and I *think* it might actually mean "ya" or yes, or at least a verbal agreement.
He and his brother also have been playing a bit more together, at least when Forrest is in the mood to be gentle and playful. When the mood is right Mr. F loves to pull baby T into his room and shut the door, kind of a little kiddie break away from the parents moment. We love it as the two of them usually last anywhere from 10-20 minutes alone before all hell breaks loose, etc. Forrest loves that Talin is "in his room playing and not crying" and I think Talin loves the POSITIVE attention, (key word, positive!) Sharing is still and probably will become more of a problem. Forrest seems to want everything Talin has, even if it isn't the least bit interesting out of Talin's hands. He usually rips it out of poor T's grasp. We tell him if T's hands are on it, it is his to play with, and he can try to TRADE with T for a different toy. Sometimes works, often not. Also, Talin is getting more of a preference for which toys he really likes. It used to not matter what he played with, but he has gotten a pretty strong grasp lately and will really hang on to a toy he likes if F is trying to pull it a way. Part of me likes that he can stand up for himself now, just a bit, and part of me cringes as I know he will probably begin to mimic Forrest's actions here soon, which unfortunately include hitting, etc. Ahhh well, what can you do except keep trying huh!
Anyhoo, Talin baby is meeting his milestones right on target. And...for an update....we have a WALKER!!!
woohooo, (I think :-)
He decided to take his first, (very teeny tiny) baby step just 1 hour ago. I don't think he's going to be walking laps quite yet as he has become the champion crawler and that seems to suit him just fine. He can catch up with, (or escape from...) his brother much better that way.
Perhaps some walking snipits will be posted soon, we shall seee!