Duke Anthony Felecos: 11 months old!

I need to go back and check but I think it's safe to say we've spent as many of Duke's monthly birthdays traveling as we have at home.  This means I forget the monthly stickers 99% of the time and apparently this time I forget to take a. single. picture.  Sigh.  We were in Colorado this weekend and it was a whirlwind trip complete with staying at 3 different places 3 nights in a row and the customary 18 20 hours in a car over the span of 4 days.  We rolled in around 1 a.m. last night and I am exhausted. But it was a wonderful weekend full of family time and celebrating my father in law's 60th birthday! OH and meeting the sweetest little nephew on the planet...Baby Noah.  To remind myself in 17  years when I'm sending my boy off to college, I'm going to make note of a few things making life with Duke at 11 months old my favorite. And then I'm going to start freaking out and planning his 1st birthday!

one fake laughing

Duke has started to fake and/or socially laugh when he sees everyone around him laughing.  It is so hysterical and only causes everyone around him to laugh harder because of the sheer cuteness.

two new car seat

We got Duke a fancy new convertible car seat this week! He will still be rear facing, but is totally riding in style now with this cushy seat and I think it's safe to say he likes it! And I like not having to lug around the carrier every time I pick him up from daycare.  #winwin

three pointing and "ooh ooh ooh"

Duke loves to point at everything this days.  He does this adorable little "ooh ooh" sound and points at something until I start asking him about it.  "Is that your closet?  Those are your sweatshirts!  Yep, that's your laundry hamper.  That's mama's nose.  Please don't smack me in the face."  He smiles and cracks up the more we interact and loves the attention his pointing can bring.  I love his adorable little chubby hand and the concentration he uses to point out all of his new discoveries.  He's a fast and furious learner these days!

four  clapping and waiving

In other "new skill" news, Duke is a master clapper and loves to waive {on his own terms though- don't expect it when for hi/bye ;)}  He gets especially excited and proud when he gets to clap and his enthusiasm is infectious.  I could literally burst, this kid makes me so happy!

five all the food

We are thankfully beyond the stage of Duke spitting out anything that goes into his mouth in a semi-solid form.  Kid loves him some food! I love being able to just give him nibbles of whatever we are eating.  Lasagna and meatballs were a HUGE hit this weekend which made my Italian in-laws very happy!

six the evening hustle: life with an 11 month old!

Before I became a parent, I heard a lot about the chaos that usually ensues between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. or so.  Now that I'm currently living it, I totally get it.  And on the nights Dennis doesn't get home until somewhere between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. {every night he works}, I have to put on my game face to tackle those few hours until I can clean up the house melt into a blob on the couch.  Lately our routine looks a lot like this:

5 p.m.- daycare pickup

5:10 p.m.- home- Duke gets a 4 ounce bottle and we either cuddle on the couch or he drinks it in his high chair while I rush around the kitchen and cook dinner while usually loading/unloading the dishwasher and doing the occasional silly face/dance to keep my boy happy.  Some nights, he's totally content with this, others he is a HOT MESS and can only be held. 

6 p.m. ish- Duke and I usually attempt to eat some sort of dinner together.  He usually just gets bites of whatever I'm eating and when Dennis isn't going to make it home for dinner, that looks a lot like leftovers or scrambled eggs and toast.  I love breakfast for dinner when I'm solo.  Duke loves pretty much anything right now: meat, pasta, fruit, steamed veggies, bread, rice, etc. and depending on his level of hunger, he will either sit in my lap or his high chair and beg for bites or crawl around and play/take the occasional bite.

6:30-7 p.m.- If it's bath night {no, he doesn't get a bath every night.  Sue me.} we head upstairs to do bath time, otherwise he is playing during this time if he's happy or screaming at me if he's not.  I get him all ready for the night with a fresh diaper and jammies and he takes a 6 oz bottle and some snuggles. He lays down perfectly most nights and I rub his little back under his fuzzy blanket and he giggles and he buries his head into it before crashing hard.

7:30 p.m.- 10 p.m. If I'm not a total exhausted mess at this point, I rush around the house and try to clean/pick up.  On the occasional night where I didn't eat before, I take this time to make dinner and then settle in for the night to read or watch TV now that most of our favorite shows are back on.  To be totally honest, I'm usually so wiped by this point in the day that I am laying on the couch having half-conversations with Dennis before retiring to bed and/or falling asleep on the couch!  #glamorous

Shout out below if you can relate to the evening hustle!  Now go out and kick some work week butt! Cheers :)

-T-