10 Months with Liam

Considering Liam is turning 11 months tomorrow, I'm clearly weeks behind with this post.  But, the words for this one have been swirling around in my head, and there's so much I feel needs to be captured.  There's been an explosion of development, personality, and laughs going on over here, and my busy mind has wanted to remember it all.  My going back to work has really thrown off our routine, and I'm still trying to capture some sense of normalcy.  Needless to say, I never managed to take any photos worth sharing this month, but thank goodness the husband was inspired this morning, and took the few I'm sharing here.  It was right after breakfast, Liam was still in his pajamas, I was in the shower, and the morning light was so lovely on this Columbus Day holiday.

Growth and Appearance

You measure over 20 lbs now!  I'm not sure how long you are, but you seem very tall to me.  You have 7 teeth.

Eating
Your favorite foods are still anything sweet (blueberries, apple sauce).  We can also add bread to the top of the list.  You eat three solid meals a day, plus some snacks.  We're working on reducing your breast feeding sessions from between 6-8 to anywhere from 4-6 times per day.  Right now, we BF when you wake up anywhere between 6 - 7:30am, and then again before your morning nap at 9:30am.  Then you nurse before your afternoon nap, sometimes before dinner, and always before bed. 

You love eating off of anyone's plate but your own.  Even if I take the food from your tray, put it on my plate, and then give it back to you, that is somehow preferred to the food only residing on your tray.  We know you're finished when you start dropping your bowl, spoon, and pieces of food on the floor.

Sleeping
You take two 1-2.5 hour naps per day (typically around 9/9:30 and 2/2:30pm), and go to sleep for the night at around 7:30 or 8:30.  You're usually waking up somewhere between 4 - 6:30am, and I'm still trying to figure out if it's because you're hungry, or you just can't get back to sleep by yourself.  If I nurse you in the early morning hours, you sleep until around 7:30am and I usually have to wake you up.  I'm so grateful that this section of your monthly updates is so much shorter than it has been in the past.  Sleep maturity!!!

Development
The big news of the month is...you're walking!  You took your first steps the day before your 10 month mark, and you've been practicing ever since.  We're now at the stage where we have to put shoes on you when we go out!  You love pointing at things, and we talk all about the things you're pointing at.  Usually you want to touch whatever you're pointing at.  Many times, the thing you want to touch is way up high, and there's no way I can lift you up there to explore.  I love that you have this sense of wonder that you can touch anything you can see.  And I'm sad that we're grounded so you can't get everywhere you want to go.

You love to tease.  The other day you were crawling for our kitchen cabinets (where you're not supposed to be), and I chased after you to drag you back into the living room.  You laughed and laughed, and it became a game for us.  You would crawl away, I would grab hold of your ankles and tickle you, and you would laugh.

My favorite moments are on weekend mornings, when we're all sleeping in.  We usually bring you into our bed once you're awake, and we nurse, laugh, cuddle, and let you touch as many things as you can see around us.

Language
Your first word (other than dada or mama), surprise surprise, is touch.  You usually say it when you're reaching out to explore something, so we're pretty sure you know what it means.   You have a book called "My First Words", and it's recently become one of your favorites.  Before naps and bed time, you always want to spend a few minutes studying that book.  You point to different pictures and I tell you what they are. 

You have many little conversations with yourself, and I love listening to your babble.

One of the most exciting things (to me) that you've been doing is singing little songs.  You sing this one song that is a repeat of A flat to D flat (I know because I matched the notes on my flute).  This is so amazing to me, because you're singing a 5th interval.  It's always the same notes; always the same interval. 

Favorites
All of your favorites are pretty much the same as they've been the past couple months.  You love playing games, and one of your new obsessions is to crawl onto my or Daddy's back and ride around the house.  We call this "Monkey on the back".  You love anything with buttons.  Anything that lights up.  Anything in the cupboards (which are now locked up, thank goodness!)  And you love exploring.  You're usually very timid when we walk into a new place or situation.  But, once you have observed your surroundings for a bit, you'll jump right in and crawl/walk as much as you can.   And dancing!  You have one or two musical toys that you will dance along to.

It has been such a joy to be your Mommy for ten (almost eleven!) months, Liam.  I can't believe I'll be writing your 1 year post in just 1 short month.  It's flying by.  And we've barely even begun.