Thoughts from the wife of a "wind farmer"...: 10 Months Old!

Since my last "month old" post was a few weeks late, it really feels like Parker reached the 10 months mark faster than he should have! He sure is a happy, beautiful baby boy. Unless, of course, I'm trying to get him to take a nap! ;)

Nap times are still an issue in my house. I'm already curious as to when the day will come that I'll be able to just put him in the crib, and he'll just fall asleep on his own. I've at least nipped the cradle swing, bouncing up and down motions I used to do. He just got too heavy, so now I just rock him and sing to him. One negative thing my little boy has learned to do is pinch though. This normally happens when I'm rocking him. And it's not a pinch with his thumb and finger. It's actually grabbing a wad of my skin and gripping it super hard. It hurts!

He is not sleeping through the night anymore, and I think teething may be to blame. I have stopped picking him up and rocking him though, now I can generally just lay him back down, pat him on the back for a little while, and he'll drift back to sleep. He does wake up anywhere from 3:00-5:00 for a nursing session.

I've added a few more foods to his menu: ham, turkey (which he gobbles up, ha, ha!), blueberries, and as far as "real" food goes, I have given him cheerios, yogurt, and bites of cheddar cheese! He also has begun drinking white grape juice (which I dilute with water).

He is quite the expert at climbing up stairs, which is why we now have baby gates galore. He also got his third and fourth teeth in, all within two days of each other, with another two fighting to make their debut very soon.

One thing I'm not too proud about is that he has learned how to throw a fit. This happens whenever I'm trying to either confine him to his high-chair, car seat, or changing table (he would much rather be crawling around exploring). He arches his back and stiffens up and lets out a wail/scream so loud you'd think I was doing some real bodily harm to him. I'm sure this is just the beginning.

I took him to the park and pushed him in a swing for the first time. He likes it, but only lasts in it for a few minutes before he's over it. Whenever we have a nice day, he really enjoys walks in his stroller.

Now that he's an expert at pulling up, he's working on cruising (walking holding on to furniture). His favorite activity is opening any door that has not been baby proofed and pulling all the contents onto the floor. He especially loves when I give him free reign in his nursery and he can pull all his books onto the floor.

He loves to be chased! If he is crawling on the floor and someone walks towards him and says, "I'm gonna get you!" he speed crawls away while squealing in delight. It's precious!

He is quite the independent boy and has no problem playing with a pile of toys all by himself.

I have to try my best to keep the floors clean because if there is a speck of who-knows-what on the floor, he will pick it up and chew on it. What's funny is he knows when he has something in his mouth that he shouldn't. If I try to get him so I can take it out, he speed crawls away from me, and then once I have him in my arms he's arching his back away from me. There is nothing too gross for Parker, either. Some items I have pulled out of his mouth include: carpet fibers, wood chips, rocks, paint chips, pine needles, Christmas tree needles, grout, leaves, dog food, and the list could go on and on.

He loves going into the bathroom and banging on the toilet and bath tub. Boys are strange!

I began brushing his teeth this past month. He LOVES it! I'm sure it feels good on his sore gums, plus the baby toothpaste is pretty tasty!

He got to experience playing in the snow for the first time! At first he fell back into the snow and just laid there with a content expression on his face. I'm not sure what was so interesting to him. Either the blue sky or the slightly cool feeling on his back. I love how the pictures turned out, except for my rookie photography mistake: I didn't have my back to the sun. Stupid shadows.

All was good until his hand fell out of his mitten and he got a fistful of the cold, wet substance. Needless to say tears followed and our snow experience lasted all of maybe five minutes.