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| Ten months - September 26, 2014 |
Cute and kind and funny and sweet, that is. :)
You are now ten months old (plus a few days), and you are a little man on the move. You're so busy that you're still hugging that skinny 10th percentile curve for weight. And it doesn't seem matter how many bites you take of scrambled eggs, quiche, muffins, grapes, chicken, shrimp, rice, Cheerios, pasta, bagels, donuts, bread, yogurt, squash, or anything else. You love playing and you love eating.
Eating will get easier and easier as you get more teeth. You have two big ones on the bottom, plus a third one that is poking its way through. Someday you'll have top teeth, and then you'll figure out that chewing is the best. You've been a good sport about teething so far. Mostly, you drool a lot and chew on your fingers. You've also been a pretty good sport about being sick. We've had a couple ear infections this last month, plus a few fevers, and even a first stomach bug. You get cuddly when you're sick, and you take more naps, and your poor little eyes look all red-rimmed and heavy, but you don't get terribly crabby. We're glad that you are feeling better these days, little man!
Because, oh boy, do you have things to attend to!
You need to pull out your basket of toys from under the shelf in the living room, so that you can dump it over and find your blue fuzzy kitty car, and the baseball that your daddy caught at a Cubs game a couple years ago, and the top to daddy's Lego canister that looks like a little white plastic top hat. You think it is hilarious when we put that lid on top of your head like a hat, and sometimes you try to put it on yourself, which doesn't work so well. You also think it's pretty funny when mama puts it on her head. You like crawling around downstairs because there are lots of places to go - exploring in the study, crawling under the dining room table to eat old Cheerios off the floor, venturing into the kitchen to chase the cats, laughing maniacally all the while.
And you have lots of work to do upstairs, too. You need to pull out all of your blue bins of toys from the white bookshelf, looking for white wooden car with colorful wheels, or for you giraffe finger puppet, or for your baby cell phone that makes noise and plays songs. You pull yourself up so that you can pull board books off the upper shelf above the blue bins. I think that you are starting to understand what books are and what they are for. You pull them down and throw them toward mama and daddy, and sometimes you even pay attention when we start reading them to you (though not often!). You are a little too fascinated with the cord to the floor lamp in your room and to you diaper pail than mama and daddy would like, but for the most part, you love dumping out your toys and playing quietly in your room, especially when the cats come to visit. You'll sit by Emme and pat (smack?) her with glee, and she tolerates it well, for the most part. You also like chasing Hildegard, though she is far more likely to run, and even paws at you when she is feeling threatened, which is sort of cute until she scrapes you (unintentionally) with one of her claws.
Also, you love love love pulling yourself up to standing. And it doesn't take much effort to do so. You easily pull yourself up using furniture to support you, but you also pull yourself against mama's legs using only her knees to help steady you. Not too long now before you can stand all on your own...or before you start walking...eek!
You are still in a phase where you don't love diaper changes, so we do a lot of singing when you are on the changing table. Mostly Old MacDonald and his crazy farm with a wide variety of animals - sheep, cows, geese, chickens, mice, ducks, butterflies, dogs, cats, anteaters, sharks, lions, and frogs. But we've also started singing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at bedtime diaper changes, and we've also started singing one of mama's favorite old Sunday School songs from when she was a kid. It goes "Ho-ho-ho-hosanna, ha-ha-hallelujah, he-he-he-he saved me, I've got the joy of the Lord!" You like that one because it sounds like laughing.
You think laughing is the best. Sometimes, for no reason, you'll give a big cheesy smile, squint up your eyes, and go "heh-heh-heh-heh" in the back of your throat. You remind mama of your cousin Cameron when you make that squinty face, because he used to do that when he was a baby, too. You laugh when you see the cats. You laugh when mama and daddy are laughing. You laugh when things are funny. You laugh when you are just trying to be silly.
You haven't quite figured out any words yet, though you seem to be understanding more and more that "ma-ma" means something when you say it. And you keep stringing together syllables (mamamama and dah!-dah! and buh-buh-buh) as if you are really trying to communicate in words. You love clapping, and you've also started doing the sign for "more" sometimes, which is about the only baby sign that we've really succeeded at remembering to try to teach you. You like waving, though you usually wave at yourself, and you don't yet wave on command. But about half mama drops you off at daycare these days, you tend to wave back when she leaves, so progress!
You've been a busy traveler this month. We went to Minneapolis for Labor Day weekend to hang out with Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Bethany (and Uncle Nick and Uncle Pete). We went out to New York for Uncle Dan and Aunt Jayne's wedding, where you charmed the pants off of everyone and had really great Grammy, Pop, Aunt Ruth, and GG time. We also drove to Chicago to visit Mormor and Grandpa, and to see Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Pete, and to go to the ordination of mama's friend - and your godmother - Charisse. You met so many people at the wedding and the ordination. People who have heard about you but not met you, people who have been loving you and praying for you long before you were ever born.
You've gone to the park with both your Grammy and your Mormor, and you love the swings!
Let's see, what am I forgetting? You are finally outgrowing your six month clothes and fitting pretty well into 9 month sizes. You have good sleep habits (the last two nights notwithstanding!), going down about 8:30pm each night, and not waking up until about 4am for an early morning feed, and then going back to sleep until about 7am. Thanks to daycare (which you LOVE), you are settling into a pattern of taking morning and afternoon naps...though you pretty reliably only sleep for about 30-35 minutes each time. We're still nursing, in the early morning, at breakfast time, and before bed. Sometimes in the afternoon as well. You still are mama's boy, but you're starting to figure out that daddy is pretty darn awesome. You are always sticking out your tongue, either in concentration, or to feel your teeth, or to laugh and giggle.
I don't know where the time has gone, little man. Ten months down. One year ago, we were starting to put the finishing touches on getting ready for your arrival. We were celebrating fall by getting excited to meet you. And now, we are taking you on long walks in the cool fall breeze, being a well-practiced family of three at this point. You've been with us for such a short time...and yet you've been with us forever, because what was life even like before you came along?
We love you so much, sweet Sam. Happy ten months!
Oh, what full and fun days with such a cute, busy little man!
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