Highway to the Baby Zone: 11 Months Old!

Happy 11 Months to my Baby Ronan!!

This post comes almost two weeks late, but under the circumstances, hey - that's just how it had to be this month. I returned to work on Monday and am trying to catch up from being on leave for a week, and to top it off, I have to worry about my boss going into labor any day now at which time I will be managing our retail category alone for the next three months. Not to mention this being such a sad and tough month for my family. It's a lot for to handle, that's for sure!

I can't believe that in just under 2 1/2 weeks I'm going to have a 1 year old (cue the tears!). I surprisingly feel really okay with it. I thought I would be sad and want to cry at the end of the infant stage, but I really don't feel as sad as I thought I would feel. The only fleeting moments of sadness I have are when my little buddy cries at night and needs his mama to rock him to sleep. When I sit with him just the two of us, alone in his room, rocking in our glider, that's when I get misty eyed. I know how precious those moments are and how fleeting they are. There will come a time soon when I won't be able to hold my toddler and rock him anymore....and he won't want that, either!

Ronan has really made some big leaps this past month. He is so funny, curious, sweet and kind. I love him more than life! Let's recap the cuteness:

- Learned to hold the phone up to his ear

- Can now "walk" by pulling up on and pushing his walking toy

- Points to the dog in his picture book when asked

- Says "dog" when he sees one

- Can clap, wave and blow kisses on command
- "Feeds" money his goldfish crackers

- Got his first molar, for a total of 8 teeth! (NOT fun for Ronan....or Mommy and Daddy)

- Attended his first birthday part for his friend, Miss Natalie (who turned 1 this month!)

Well, I can officially say (since there are only a couple weeks left), that I made it a full year of breastfeeding! My boy never once had a drop of formula, so I was able to reach my goal. My milk supply has definitely taken a nose dive this last month (as I had read it would as the body regulates hormones), and I got the okay from the pediatrician to add a few ounces of whole milk when he needed it to make up for that. I even got permission to switch over to 100% milk at 11.5 months, which is NOW! But, I will keep nursing at home and pump a couple times a day. If I can get a few more months of him getting a little, I will. But I'm SO excited to be able to have the extra time at work so I can spend my lunch break at the gym! The hardest thing about breastfeeding has definitely been giving up my exercise routine. I miss it so much, and feel so tired without it. Mama's going to get her muscles back now!

We received Ronan's birthday invitations and they were sent out this week. I can't believe it! I know this party is more for us, kind of a "We survived the first year!" party, but I still want him to have a blast. I've picked out a couple small gifts that we will give him on his special day as well. His birthday is on a Tuesday this year, so we will take the day off work (cough cough) to spend with our special little man, just the three of us. I hope the gifts bring the biggest smile to his face!

Here are a few pictures from the last month....my next post will be about my 1 YEAR OLD!

Sleeping on his way to Natalie's Birthday party