Sleeping All Night

In the week after our baby turned 10 months he slept through three of the nights. Then he stopped sleeping through the nights.

Until ... last Sunday night when he woke up I made an in-the-moment decision to not feed him. I held him for a minute and then put him back in his crib. He did not seem happy about that but I returned to bed and listened to him. I wasn't sure how long I was going to give it. I dozed off for a little bit so I can't be sure but I think he cried/whined for about 15 minutes before going back to sleep.

It's been a week and he hasn't called for me in the night since! He does about 10 hours. ~8PM to ~6AM.

Cameras

Sometimes it feels like the only pictures I'm ever going to get are ones where he's trying to get the camera.


Or playing with an old camera.


But there are other times too.


Seriously though.


But you know what? He's cute when he's focused on cameras anyway.

Lovely Weather

It's a beautiful day outside! So we went to the park with some friends.



(Alright, I thought the wind was a little chilly to not keep his little head covered.)

He played on the ground more than ever before. He loves watching other kids. He thought the wood chips in the play area were snacks. And he tried to join the ball game with the little kids on the basketball court. It sure was fun to see him explore!



And his friend too! She's just a few weeks older than him and prefers to get around on foot.

Gate

Hot Cup installed a gate so we don't have to worry about our little guy getting into the kitchen, bathroom, or stairs when we aren't prepared to watch him closely.



I felt kinda guilty about it at first. But it's been nice and for the most part he doesn't care.

10 Months!

He loves how much he can move. He's such a pro.

He loves to open and close doors and cupboards.


He loves to eat. His favorites are fruits and Gerber Graduates.

He loves to play. His favorites are his train, his car, and his daddy.


He has this toy with three handles and each has a button. He got it for Christmas and for several weeks he only knew the red handle had a button. We'd give it to him with the red furthest from him and he'd immediately turn it around, grab the red, and not let go. It was too cute so I didn't rush to teach him about the other buttons. He knows about them now but the red is still his favorite.


He loves books. His favorite is Where is Baby's Belly Button?

He loves cars and other things with wheels. He gets really excited, especially when they're moving.

He loves going outside.


He loves to stick his tongue out. Both when he's got the pacifier in and when he doesn't.


Sometimes he treats his pacifier like it's a toy for his tongue.

He loves playing with buttons and zippers.

He loves animals. We often see dogs when we're out walking and he gets excited about that. And there are cats at his grandparents' homes that he loves to follow around.


He loves bathtime.

He loves mirrors. There's been a few times when he's tried to grab something in the mirror. Like for a split second he forgets it's a mirror. So cute.


He's pretty good about getting his teeth brushed, especially if he's holding the tube of toothpaste while I do it. He thinks it's more about biting than brushing, but that's okay. Sometimes he'd rather chat with the little boy in the mirror. And sometimes I think about how that little boy is really my baby's best friend and not me.

He has 5 teeth now. Almost 6!

When he grinds his teeth we give him his pacifier so pretty soon he's going to think it's a way to ask for one.

We're pretty sure he's left handed. When he first started handling toys I thought he was right handed. But lately I've thought otherwise. He uses both hands a lot though so we'll see.

He gets on his feet a lot. With both hands and feet on the floor or when his hands are on something that isn't too tall. He kneels up a lot too but I don't think I have a picture of that.


The other day a little boy was here who is just a couple weeks older than our baby. Our baby kept following the other one around and talking loudly. It was super cute. I need to have him play with other babies more often.


I think he understands a lot of words and also recognizes some sign language. It's hard to tell a lot of the time though :)

The night after he turned 10 months was the first that he slept through the night. In the four nights since then he's slept through two of them. In this short time it seems to be directly related to how his naps go. When they don't go very well he sleeps through the night. Hopefully it's not too long before he learns to do it every night. (Because thankfully he's usually a great napper!)


I love when he grabs my shoulder with both hands and squeezes excitedly when I pick him up.

He's so cute when he's excited.

I love when he has me take him to the picture of Jesus on his bedroom wall so he can look at it for a while. My Grammy gave me this picture more than 25 years ago.


This picture has also been on his wall for the last 5 months or so. I love it but he cares less.


I love when he wants his mommy.


I love when he comes up and pats my feet or grabs my legs.

I love when he gives me hugs.

I love all his cute expressions. Here are a few for you.

Eating

Last time I mentioned breastfeeding but I also love feeding my baby solids. He loves mealtime!

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I hadn't planned on introducing solids until 6 months, but he would stop and watch me eat whenever I ate in front of him, so a couple weeks before he turned 6 months I started him on solids. And he loved it!

At both his 6 month and 9 month doctor appointments I felt a bit pressured to be feeding him more. At 6 months I thought it was odd since introducing any before that time wasn't supposed to be necessary. And I felt a little defensive at the 9 month appointment too because I felt I'd been feeding him well and that he was eating a lot for someone his age. But for the most part I've tried to follow their advice. Our baby loves to eat so whatever.

(At 6 months they told me he should be having three solid meals a day instead of one. At the 9 month appointment they told me to give him more meat, carbs, dairy, and fats. His weight had gone from the 35th percentile at birth, to the 12th percentile at 6 months, to the 5th percentile at 9 months, so I can see how they don't like the trend. But he seems healthy and happy to me.)

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I try to put small bites of what I'm eating on his tray so he can eat it as finger food. So far he isn't interested. He'll touch it and when he feels it isn't like a cracker or Cheerio he'll never touch it again. But sometimes he'll let me pick it up and put it in his mouth. In fact, he often loves to eat what I'm eating. But if he doesn't like the feel then I need to feed it to him.

At lunch time he demands I keep snacks on his tray or he won't eat from the spoon. Even though he loves eating from a spoon. (Actually, having a fruit like applesauce in every spoonful does the trick too.) It's pretty funny because he isn't like that at breakfast or dinner. So I'm going to use lunch to try out some new finger foods so that hopefully it's not always Gerber Graduates.

UPDATE: Almost immediately since I posted this he's been better about eating lunch without the constant presence of snacks.

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Sometime in his seventh month I started making his fruits and veggies myself. Store bought baby food seems so expensive, and it looks and smells gross. Homemade baby food is cheaper and looks and smells yummy! I've really enjoyed making it - it's easy!

I've made mac and cheese too and want to make another pasta. I'll probably make it tomato based since 10 months is when they can have tomatoes. And he's almost there! Tomorrow is the 9th!

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If you read all that then you should get a medal. But even better: there are pictures and a video!




This video is from December 2nd but he still makes this noise while he eats :)

Breastfeeding

I should have done a post about breastfeeding a long time ago because I love it. Love love love it. I am so delighted that I've been able to feed my baby in this way. He's such a cute little eater and I miss the days when he would eat every couple of hours. We're down to like 3 times a day and that's really sad for me.

UPDATE: After a week or two of insisting on only three times a day (+middle of night), he decided that a little drink another once or twice a day would be nice. Yay.