Flora’s 12 Month Update

Just a little late…..my sweet baby girl’s official 12 month update. What an amazing year it’s been watching this ‘chill baby’ develop and grow into the happiest, calm, sweet and funny big babe (refuse to call her a toddler yet). She’s taught me so much about motherhood and life and continues to challenge and uplift me in the best ways possible. Here’s what’s going on with us right now at nearly 13 months! 

You can see all her previous updates here ( looks like I missed month 11 -oops)! 

WEIGHT & LENGTH

Flora is a petite little thing, hanging in the 30th percentile and weighs almost 19lbs and is 28 inches long. She’s wearing size 12-18 month clothing and I still feel like all of her pants are constantly too short! 

 

FOOD ALLERGIES 

At the end of December we had Flora’s first in-office oral food challenge with soy. As a reminder, she’s currently allergic to dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut ….but she PASSED her soy challenge and we can now eliminate that from the list! It was VERY stressful and nerve wracking for me, we were in our allergist’s office for 6 hours, but she exhibited no reaction to the soy milk she drank over that course of time and our allergist doesn’t consider her to be allergic to soy at this point and instructed us to give it to her as we want at home. Admittedly,  she hasn’t had it too much since she won’t drink soy milk no matter how hard we try! TOMORROW we head in for her baked milk challenge. I’m very nervous and thankful that Austin will be able to be with us for this one. And hoping and praying for positive results!!! On my allergy to-do list is to call and order another AuviQ pen since in January and we are eligible for another free one and also get some allergy awareness stuff for Flora – like a bracelet, labels and a pouch/carrier for the epi-pen. We have none of this right now! I also need to make a copy of her allergy plan to have with the epi-pen at all times! 

ECZEMA 

We are going through a rough phase with Flora’s eczema right now – I can’t tell if it’s simply the dry winter weather OR food that she’s eating and irritated by. I’ve also been having dairy again in my diet – so that could be to blame, too! All I know is that I’m back to trying every balm and lotion under the sun and have been applying 0.5% cortisone a lot lately. We recently tried an Aveeno Oatmeal Bath that seemed to help soothe the itching and I apply Aquaphor 24/7 since it’s the only thing that seems to work. I also have been using Vanicream  and it seems to keep her skin pretty hydrated during the day. I’m thinking about ordering this $30 honey eczema cream that everyone raves about and today I’m making my own DIY eczema cream with essential oils – I’ll report back! 

FEEDING

I’m still breastfeeding Flora, mainly because she’s not interested in any of the non-dairy milks we’ve tried to give her. Though we’ve weaned considerably and I mostly just  nurse her when she wakes up and before she goes down for naps/bed – which isn’t exactly a great habit I want to get into but its working OK for now. She eats 3 solid meals a day and then several snacks. I struggle big time with her food because right now I’m making nearly all of it from scratch because of her allergies. If I don’t have time on Sunday to spend SEVERAL hours in the kitchen prepping for the week I’m in a constant state of frustration when I have nothing to quickly give her. We are continuing to introduce new foods and have a big long list of allergens yet to tackle (garbanzo beans, sesame/tahini, strawberries, coconut, lentils, tomatoes, fish, avocado) but once I do I feel like it will open a ton more doors for me! Here are some of her favorite meals and foods, she’s pretty much eaten ANYTHING I give her and has a really great appetite thankfully! 

Breakfast: Chopped up fruit (mango, apple, banana) and oatmeal. This is what she makes nearly every day! I usually make her old fashioned oats on the stove top and simmer in either shredded apple or blueberries and cinnamon. 

Recipes for the below all coming soon! 

Lunch/Dinner: Turkey or beef meatballs (I add veggies like onions, carrots, zucchini and grains – quinoa or oatmeal), whole wheat orzo with a variety of veggie mix ins and dairy-free butter or olive oil, chopped up zucchini, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, risotto, shredded chicken or turkey, ground turkey , black bean ‘chili’. 

Pre-Made Food: ABE’S muffins are her very favorite treat!! I try to limit them because of the added sugar but they are a favorite around here, Puffs of course, frozen veggies & rice are my JAM – I keep my freezer stocked and they make throwing together meals for her so easy. I recently got ‘riced’ cauliflower & sweet potato and broccoli & cauliflower and they make it even easier! 

I still am constantly using my Beaba Babycook to prepare her food – and she still gets quite a few chunky purees simply because they are easy! 

DEVELOPMENT

Flora is on the move though not walking yet – kind of stresses me out since Piper was walking and practically RUNNING at 11 months but I know she’ll walk when she’s ready. She’s pulling up on everything and loves to walk around while we hold her hands. She’s taken several steps! She loves to wave hi & bye and it’s the cutest thing ever :) Her vocabulary is pretty much the same with mama, dada, dog, tries to say Piper. She claps and lets you know when she’s not happy! Playing with her sister continues to be her favorite thing to do – but she also loves to play with her new glitter blocks, cars, balls and touch/feel books. She has 4 teeth with another one on the way up top! 

 

SLEEP

Flora’s been waking more than usual- and we are currently trying to get her onto a 1 nap routine. Generally she’s a go-with-the-flow baby and will either take 2 shorter naps or one longer nap at 1pm at the same time Piper naps. She often gets over-tired and cranky trying to make it to 1pm though! This is a work in progress. The other sleep issue is she has been waking up around 11pm and then again at 4am the past few nights. I usually go in and rock her and nurse her for a few minutes and lay her back down. NOT A GOOD HABBIT but I’m so tired that I don’t care in the moment! I started weaning her (successfully) from sleeping with her pacifier but then found that having her pacifier actually helps her face eczema I think! But I know it’s time for that …. so I will continue to work no it!