Ten Months

Amazing as it seems, in less than two months our daily routine will be very different. You will be going to day care & I will be returning to work. Although I am sure it will be very sad for both of us, I am confident that it will also be a very good change for both of us. However, the recent changes that we have seen in you make me realize that I will miss out on many 'first moments' of your developing ways.

One of the biggest changes I can think of in the last month is your smile. When we are out, people often comment about what a smiley baby you are & it is quite often true. However, you still choose when you are smiley. If someone comes up to you & starts talking to you- you still give them your sober look & will sometimes smile. When we are out now, you are typically looking around, babbling & trying to get people to pay attention to you. So when you are the seeker of attention, you are all smiles. When someone pays attention to you without an invitation, you really think about whether or not they are worthy of receiving your smile.

The second biggest changes is eating. You are finally eating table food with some regularity. Those yucky baby meals are no longer finding their way into the grocery cart. The variety of things that you will eat & the finesse with which you do so had developed so dramatically in the last two weeks it is amazing. I literally was dreading meal times with you, because you just never knew how it was going to go- but all that is different now.

Sydney keeps saying that you are a big baby now & is she ever right. At your nine month check-up you weighed in at 20 lbs 4 oz., but I have a feeling you are much more than that now. When your sister was your weight, she was walking so I was not carrying her that much. It seems that lifting & carrying you is becoming my strength training. You show no signs of being close to walking, buy you have found your own mode of transportation. You are a bum scooter- you dig your heels in & pull your self along. You are a big fan of rolling from your back onto your stomach (especially during diaper changes!), but you seem to have forgotten how to get back over to your back. In the last few days you have started to get up onto your knees, but you don't like to be in this position & start to cry. So, I am not sure if all of a sudden you are going to have a breakthrough & start crawling or not.

You have also started to pull yourself up, but have only managed to get to your knees. I keep wondering if I should be worried about some of the gross motor skills that you have not accomplished, but everyone keeps telling me not to worry. Hopefully soon you will figure out to complete your roll, get into a sitting position & crawl. Once you are doing that I will likely wonder why I was in such a rush, because I am pretty sure you will be into even more things than you are now. Recently you have taken a liking to playing with the shoes in the closet, sliding & lifting the stool (which makes a heck of a racket), opening the fridge, playing in Logan's water dish, & pulling stuff out of any drawer you can open.

You & your sister are more & more becoming playmates. The good thing about this is that you can occupy each other & give Mommy & Daddy more time, but the bad thing is that you cry if she takes something away from you & she will often get upset if you are after something of hers. This is only the beginning of those battles.

You have perfected your wave in the last month & you are so proud of it. As soon as anyone says goodbye you will often start to smile & wave. You will also give kisses upon request. Your sister calls them 'drooley kisses' because they are open mouthed & very wet.

Sleeping...a very important element in my life. You have gotten much better. We only had one rough week this month when you were waking up at 5am & would not go back to sleep. You are napping twice a day now & will usually nap for an hour or more at each one. The past couple of days however have been a bit trickier. You have really started to babble a lot. You are constantly saying, "da da da, da da da" & this is often all we hear when we first put you in your crib. You will play around & after about 20 minutes decide that you want out. No deal on this one from Mommy- you still need that nap. Even though you would rather play right now, a well-rested baby is a much happier baby.

The legs went on the table to encourage you to try getting up.
The Leap table is one of your favourite toys.

Playing with your sister.
Problem is, you can't figure out how to get back out without bumping your head.

You are on your tummy, which you keep doing- but get mad that you can't get back. I can't figure out if you prefer sleeping on your tummy or not. I guess once you figure out the rolling over thing, this will become clearer.