Weight:  20 lbs. The formula has helped the pounds to stick.

Health: He is doing good. We haven’t had any real concerns here.

Diet: With being a month out from having a nursing journey of some sorts for a whole year, I am doing whatever I can to make it a reality. Besides pumping at home, I won’t do that. I am drying up so my supply is really diddly squat, but I am determined to make it another month of trying. As hard as it was emotionally to start giving formula, it really has been such a help. He has about 3 or 4 six oz bottles a day. As for nursing, Walt feeds about 5 times a day, and on average it adds up to 1 hour of nursing. My app says that we have had 109 feedings over this last month, and spent around 20 hours nursing him. I have also pumped 38 times over the month. We are feeding him 3 “meals” a day, and he is really getting the hang of real food. I have kind of lost track of what new things he tried. He is eating mostly what we eat at meals without much doctoring for him.

Clothes: He is in size 6-9 month in clothes and size 4 in diapers.

Sleeping:  Bedtime is around 8:30. He is doing so much better since we added formula. Our PAT educator also said because he started crawling that may have affected him sleeping better too. Regardless, I am just happy that he isn’t waking up several times during the night. During the week, I wake him up around 5:30 and do a quick nursing session before putting him back down. Due to school pick up times, his schedule is all over the place. He usually takes at least one nap a day if he sleeps in until around 9. But he can do two naps a day depending on when he actually wakes up. On the weekends, I don’t get him up until closer to 7am.

Likes:  He loves the “That’s Not My” book series, and he squeals touching the sensory pages. He has these little egg musical shakers that he loves. He loves his lotion bottle. He has to hold it when I change his diapers otherwise a wrestling match ensues. Honestly, he loves to put anything in his mouth so everything becomes a toy to him. He loves his walker, and just zips around the living room and kitchen in it. He likes getting his teeth brushed. He enjoys any type of music, no dancing yet but he does love listening to it.

Dislikes:  He still does not like it when I leave the room. He does not like to wait on a formula bottle. He can hear when we are making them and screams until we get them to him. He also was terrified of the movie Tarzan. Any animal that came on the screen he started crying in fear.

Nicknames: Walt, Wally, Wally Bear, Wally Olly, Waller, Wallace, Wallaby, Butters, Sweet Bean, Stinkerdoodle, Waltie baby, Cutie baby, Sweetie baby, Baby guy, and Baby Walter. It’s really gotten out of hand…

Milestones: He is full blown crawling now. This kid is everywhere. He is trying to pull up on everything too. He has free-standed for a couple seconds, so I think standing more independently is on the horizon. He can squat down without falling down. He is able to hold a food pouch packet on his own without flinging it everywhere.

Quirks: He juggles his food before he puts it in his mouth. He will swap it from hand to hand.

We parents are:  doing pretty good. We are kind of on a high from adding Daisy to the crew just yesterday. We just realized we couldn’t live without a dog. Things have been pretty crazy scheduling wise. We are half way through the semester, so it is a heavy time at work. Really when you think of it, all the times are heavy at work, we just shift the kind of things we are doing. It is a really exciting time right now. There is a lot of great collaboration and brainstorming which is my happy place at work. Tom ran his first range as fire arms instructor, and he is living his dream out every day. It is so good to see each other doing our thing.

Big kids are:  doing alright! It has been a busy month, and we have been managing. Both are doing really well at school, and are even waking up early to start their days. They love the holidays, so kicking off this sprint to the end of the year with Halloween this weekend really ramps up their spirits. They both love Wally in their own little ways. George has been trying to hold Wally a lot this month, which if you know George in real life is a little terrifying. Daphne is still obsessed with him, but now that he is moving, she has turned into more of a boss of him.

In case you are curious, here is George at eleven months and Daphne at eleven months. I was a little weepy looking back on them as babes.

Here we are in your last month as a baby, Wally. It is bittersweet trying to soak up all this baby stuff up for the last time.