10 Months Old!

Well, today is 10 months and so it is time for the monthly update on our boy. Another fun month! I’m sure I sound like a broken record by now, but it’s just so true. I could sit and play and talk to Holden for an hour. And sometimes I do. He plays just fine all alone and does well to entertain himself. But he lights up when Jeremy or I get on the floor and talk to him and play. He loves it when we identify objects and he tries to imitate the sound – like ball, duck, boat, car . . . Normally when I start singing the pat-a-cake song, he begins to clap his hands. But today I said “clap” and he started clapping with a big grin on his face. Which reminds me that he learns so much; even when we are unaware of what all he is picking up on. He can also identify his belly now; but only with his shirt off. It’s kind of like - out of sight, out of mind. If the belly is covered with a shirt, he sort of looks down, but is unsure of where that belly has gone. He’ll eventually get it.

I have been trying to be diligent with the baby signing, but as of right now he’s still not joining in. I am probably not as consistent with it as I should be. He also still refuses to hold his bottle. I have accepted the fact that I will most likely be holding his bottle for the next 2 months. And so I will just relish in the fact that I get an extra 10 minutes of cuddle time 4 times a day. I have come to terms that he is probably not going to do it at this point. He has taken his sippy cup by the handles by himself. He more often likes to sling water everywhere than to drink from it. But I believe that we are making progress. :) He has done a lot more self feeding this month, which is great. But it does have it’s drawbacks. 1) It takes forever for him to eat a portion of peas. Especially since he picks them up on at a time to place them in his mouth. It would be so much easier to puree them and spoon feed him. 2) Often times his hands get messy with bananas, toast, peaches. Which is not a problem to me. But it never fails that every single meal time, at some point his hands go to his head and hair. What a mess! Just consider his beautiful curls and agree with me on this. What a mess!! But I know the self feeding is important. So I wait patiently for my slow eater to finish. And I take a wet washcloth and kind of wipe down all the crumbs and banana mush that sits among those curls. And we go on with our day.

He crawls all over the place and loves to touch everything. He is very clear what the word “no” means. And most of the time he is obedient. When it’s getting close to nap time or Holden’s bed time, that no word can make the bottom lip turn under really quickly. At our house, he knows what is off limits and now he completely avoids those things. At other’s homes, it’s a whole new world to explore. Just this past week when Jeremy came home from work, Holden got really excited and reached out his arms for him. He wanted out of my hands and into his daddy’s. That made Jeremy really happy. Before Holden came along, I was deep in desire for a baby. And Jeremy was also, but this is the part I remember him talking about and looking forward to. Jeremy coming home from work to a child that was so excited to see his daddy. And now it is happening. Holden loves his daddy!

Some things that he loves to do daily are: peek-a-boo, giving kisses (sometimes these 2 go hand in hand. When he turns towards me during peek-a-boo he kisses my lips. I love it!), pat-a-cake, talking, bouncing on his knees, rolling the ball with me and chasing the dog. Sometimes the days feel long, but they are all sorts of fun! We are trying to absorb these sweet moments because they truly are passing us by quickly!