And just like that, Jack has turned 11 months old!

Jack Tobias Tucker – 11 Months Old (taken during trip to Winston-Salem, NC)

Here’s a little update on how things have been with this guy since last month’s update…

General Health

Wow – talk about teething.  With Joe, teeth seemed to just appear and we’d say, “Oh look – Joe’s got another tooth!”.  With Jack, we know that they’re coming long before they make an appearance.  I’ve been at my wit’s end a few times because it’s clear he’s uncomfortable.  My usual remedies of chilled teething toys and the occasional bit of Tylenol haven’t been helping.  I’ve started to use some dissolving natural teething tablets which have seemed to minimize discomfort, but I’m also thinking about purchasing one of those amber teething necklaces.  There are some for sale at a local shop (For Mom and Keiki), and I may buy one if he keeps up the teething troubles…

Polished Multicolor Amber Teething Necklace

Other than teething, he seems to be doing well overall.  We’ve had to start giving him a little bit of prune juice each morning to help keep things moving.  We had tried mineral oil, but that left such a mess in his cloth diapers – so smelly and trapping everything.  I ended up having to strip all of his diapers using grease-cutting dish soap and I’d rather not repeat that again.

Sleep

Jack is slowly weaning down to 1 nap per day.  He is about 50/50 when it comes to morning naps.  If we’re out doing something, he doesn’t need a nap.  If we’re at home, he starts to cry and rub his eyes.  It’s as though he’s bored and figures, “Well, if we’re not doing anything else I may as well sleep.”

He takes an afternoon nap without fail for about 2 hours, sometimes 2 1/2 hours.  Bedtime is around 7:30pm and he is generally up at 6/7am.  It’s not uncommon for him to wake during the night.  I’ve found that if I turn the baby monitor off for a few minutes and then turn it back on, he’s put himself back to sleep.  However, if I get up and check on him in person then he will be wide awake and wanting to nurse.  So, guess which method I always try first?  Yep – turning off the baby monitor!

Eating

Jack still loves to eat.  He’s begun to throw food a lot more which has led to some interesting interactions.  Whenever he does this we use the, “Oh, that’s sad” method.  We’ll say, “Oh, that’s sad – I guess you’re all done eating.”  I’ll take away whatever food is on his tray and push his highchair back from the table.  The other evening he was throwing his green beans.  It was clear that he wanted to eat the chicken that I had been feeding him, but in my book if he’s hungry, he’ll eat the green beans, too.  So, I did the “so sad” thing and after 3 times of doing that, he happily ate the green beans.  We had a similar experience with some yellow summer squash.

Jack does not like to wear a bib.  Putting one on him is an exercise in futility.  He will either rip it off immediately or right when you think he’s gotten used to it.  So, we don’t have him wear one.  Joe loves a bib, Jack doesn’t.  This means more outfit changes, but I’d rather do that than pin his arms to his sides each time he has a bib on.

General Activity

Jack is a scooter.  He’ll sit on his bum and scoot-scoot-scoot around the room.  No crawling and no walking, just a whole lot of scooting!

He loves to “share” whatever he’s eating and will often hold it up to me and attempt to put it in my mouth.  However, if I actually put it in my mouth and eat whatever he’s offering (a Cheerio, a piece of carrot, etc.) he looks shocked that I would do such a thing. I think he’s mimicking what he sees us do with him.  He loves to look at himself in the mirror and has been trying to pull himself up into a kneeling position using the kiddie table, the foot stool… basically whatever he can find.

He loves to be in the bathtub but really doesn’t care of lying down on his back in the water.  This is different if he’s in a pool – in a pool, he loves it.  Go figure.  He still loves stroller rides, being in the Ergo carrier, and has started doing this thing where he’ll sit with me on the bed or on the sofa, then throw himself backward and laugh and giggle as if it’s the funniest thing in the world.  Pretty cute 🙂

Joe and Jack

Joe has really started turning on the big brother charm.  If Jack starts to cry, Joe will say, “Oh no – Jack’s not feeling well”.  He’ll give Jack sponanteous hugs and kisses that make me smile.

But there’s the other side of sibling relationships: Joe doesn’t care to share things with Jack at all.  We’ve had to have some discussions about how the toys aren’t just Joe’s toys, there the family toys and everyone gets to play with them.  We’ve talked to Joe about sharing and trading.  If Jack has a toy that Joe wants, he has to trade with Jack rather than simply snatching it away.

How Mom is Doing

I’m doing well.  I’m still taking an antidepressant and that seems to have helped a lot, but there are days when I feel like I’ve got a long ways to go before getting back to feeling normal and settled.  I’ve realized how much my depression affected our family dynamic and while I know that things will improve in that regard, I’ve got to keep working at it.

I’ve been taking more time to play and doing less work.  This means that walls still aren’t painted and things are taking longer to get done than what I’d like.  However, this doesn’t stress me out or fill me with anxiety as it has in the past.  I look at it and think, “Well – I’d rather have dingy walls than an unhappy marriage or unhappy children!”

Other Odds and Ends

Jack’s 1st birthday is coming up in April.  His 1st year seems to have gone by so much more quickly than Joe’s 1st year.  I guess it’s true that time does seem to speed up with each passing year.  I haven’t given much thought to a 1st birthday celebration other than to know that it will be small, low-key, and a lot of fun 🙂