10 Months

Can you stop getting so big for just a second?

You are 10 months old today and boy are you cute! At one day past your 9 month-day, you crawled a little backwards and then pushed yourself right up to sitting. Now you can do that just like it's no big thing. And you usually look so proud when you do it!

On my birthday, you clapped with two open palms! Previously you had been clapping with one open hand and one in a fist. We were in the car with gjoy and paw paw and paw paw said, "He's clapping! How cute!" I said, "I know. That one hand in a fist is really cute." Then my dad said, "No, he's really clapping!" I looked back in the mirror and there you were clapping away. Now, you can do the whole pat-a-cake all by yourself! And if we clap you'll clap right along with us and grin like you're the star of the show! Which, of course, you are! Throw in your cute little wave and you are unstoppable!

You've started doing something I call the Mowgli walk. You'll be scooting around on the floor and you'll push yourself up to your hands and feet. That puts your cute little butt up in the air and you look like Mowgli from The Jungle Book. You haven't actually covered any distance with this stance, but it sure does make me laugh.

And you're trying really hard to pull up. You just can't quite get everything to work.

You've had some trouble with your ears this month. At your 9 month appointment you had an ear infection. We went back last week and you had infected ears (we're not sure if they were still infected or infected again). A new antibiotic was prescribed and you've been doing well on that.

We did spend a few hours in the after-hours clinic on Saturday. Thankfully we haven't seen any more offending diapers so hopefully the problem has passed. We will get you rechecked this week, though. Mamma and Daddy want you to be well!

Yesterday, due to our schedule, I nursed you at 7:00 am and you had bottles after that. You didn't eat much (of your bottle or baby food), but it's been over 24 hours since I nursed you and I don't feel uncomfortable or full at all. This has just confirmed my suspicion that I'm not making enough milk for you. So, to formula it is. You did great with your bottle this morning drinking almost 7 ounces so I'm happy with that. You didn't appear to mind, either, so that made the (quick) transition even easier. Of course, we still get to snuggle in the chair and that's the part I love!

You've recently started "fixing" your hair. You'll rub your hand on the back of your head and essentially brush your hair forward. This is not the way I fix your hair, but if that's what you want, go for it! There are many times you do this while you're having your baby food. That leads to food in the hair. Nice.

Speaking of baby food, you do not like the stage 3 stuff. Makes you gag. I'm sure it's the pieces of food and you just don't know what to do with it! Daddy and I keep trying and we give you food off our own plates when we have something that you can eat. You also don't like refridgerator-cold food. Also makes you gag. If it's colder than room temperature, it gets 10 seconds on medium in the microwave.

Your vocabulary is growing. You have said "dada" a few times, but those are still minimal in comparison to the number of times you say "mama." Last night you started with a little "rarara." This is in addition to the "lalala" and the rare "bababa." You also growl and when I imitate you, it hurts my throat! The growling leads to the squeaky-door noise which cracks me up every time you do it. These noises combine to make up your staying-awake noise. We can always tell when you're tired and trying to keep yourself up. You make some great noises, kid!

You have discovered the Christmas tree and will gently pat the branches and lights. You love to chew on your two ornaments that I hang on the bottom just for you. I can't wait to see what you'll do on Christmas...probably just chew on everything.



I love you bunches, X-man. Keep on giving me those slobbery kisses and the great big hugs! Daddy and I just love them!

Love,
mamma