This post was partially written about 2 months ago {when Charlotte was actually 11 months old}, but the summer has been hectic and I have just now been able to sit down and put it all together.

I had to bribe her with her toothbrush in order to get the rest of these photos.

She has a love-hate relationship with that thing.

But her relationship with Pink Puppy is definitely love-love!

At 11 months, Charlotte:

• Has about 6 words {up, all done, bye bye, no, dada, boo} and 3 signs {all done, milk, and more}.
• Loves to turn the pages of her books and point to each picture.
• Loves to stand and cruise around the couch and the coffee table but has not yet been brave enough to take a step on her own.
• Cleaned up her toys in the bathtub all by herself singing “all done, all done, aaaaaall done”
• SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! This is a big victory for us and it was quite a process, but I’m sure every new parent has to work through issues and problem solve like we did… and I’m sure there will be many more times in which we have to do the same throughout the years.

There are many thoughts out there on sleep training vs. no sleep training and cry vs. no cry, etc. In the end, you have to do what is right for your family and what you are comfortable with. Charlotte has gone down for bed very well for the last 5 months or so. She is practically asleep before you close the door so that wasn’t our issue. Our issue was that she was regularly waking up between 2 and 3 to nurse, though around 10 months she began waking 2-3 times a night {practically regressing to an infant waking regiment}! It was truly making me a zombie – 10 months of minimal solid sleep will wear anyone ragged. Each time I would go in to soothe her though she began expecting to nurse simply because it was mommy who was entering the room. If I left the room after soothing her and laying her down {without nursing} she would scream and deliver the most angry wails from a tortured deprived soul.   It . was . awful.    And would go on for so long until I eventually nursed her, worried that she had been really hungry all along.  It’s the perpetual battle of a mother – is this the cry of a baby who is truly hungry and needs nourishment? Or is this the cry of a baby who has every need met but simply wants mommy snuggles?  Or is this the cry of a baby who has every need met but just wants to get up and socialize? For Charlotte it was simply in the habit of  waking at that time and had previously always been fed. Eventually, I got the idea to have Chris go in to soothe her during her 2am wake-up. If she was able to go back to sleep, then I could rest easily knowing that she wasn’t hungry after all. If she continued to wake up or cry then I knew she needed something {milk, diaper change, teething meds}. The first few nights were difficult for Chris because he wasn’t used to getting up frequently during the night and had to head in to work the next morning as usual. If Charlotte woke up we agreed we would give her 3-5 minutes to self-soothe, then Chris would head in to give her her binky and lay her down again. It worked like a charm. During the first few nights she was able to mostly soothe herself back to sleep within the first 2 minutes of our ‘wait and see’ time period and she was always immediately soothed by Chris giving her a binky and laying her down {she only gets a binky during naps and bed….so they work REALLY well for soothing}. I didn’t get amazing sleep the first few weeks because 1) when she is awake, I am awake…and 2) even as she started sleeping through 2 o’clock, then 3 o’clock and so on, my body was still set to be awake for a good 45 minutes at those times.

Here’s what Charlie has been up to at 10 months (leading up to 11 months)

Keeping cool with a buddy.

Manning her post at the front door.

And hanging out with Lola and Grandpa.