10 Months!!!

Oliver is 10 months old!!!

I am incredibly behind in posting this... we are busy around here.

At 10 months, Oliver is busier than ever.  He is funny, sweet, fast, and always on the go.  So far, every month that has gone by, as much as I've missed the previous, the new month has been my favorite.  Well this month that stopped being the case.  This is my least favorite stage.  He is into everything.  It's that really busy stage between being happy sitting and running around.  Wild, wild, wild!  I know when he's walking, I'll miss when he was smaller because once he walks, that's it for the real 'baby' aspects.  But he's so fast, that sometimes I find myself reaching to put him down as if he could stand and just walk.  Oops.  Not so.  I always have to laugh at that, but he's so crazy fast (did I mention that?) that I forget he can't walk.  I love every thing about him right now though! He is curious, smart, and loves to learn.  He's increasingly impatient and has the standard short attention span of most his age.  He's starting to lose his baby-ness and is taking on more and more toddler traits.  If you'd told me when he was smaller just how fast this would happen, I wouldn't have believed it.  

When I think about me having a baby, I still see me with a small less-than-5-month old - or just a newborn.  I felt like that would last longer.  As if the days would magically turn into months and the weeks would be years.  There's no way to grasp how fast these last few months have flown by.  June?  It seems like yesterday.  February, wasn't that this morning?  I know it's the middle of December, but I still find myself wondering how it really came to be.  

Moving on..............

At 10 months old, Oliver weighs 18.4lbs (he's holding strong to 18lbs... he feels WAY heavier though!).

He is still wearing all the same sizes as last month - which were the same sizes from the summer probably!  Some 3-6 month stuff from Gymboree (he's actually in a 3-6m shirt from Gymboree today paired with a 9m Carter's onesie and 9m Carter's pants).  I share the brand for anyone who may be curious about how sizes run for different companies.  He's wearing a size 2-3 shoe.  His 3.5 sized shoes from Stride Rite are way too big and his size 2 shoes from Carter's are just right.  He has a few slip on crib shoes and the 0-6m fit really well right now, but we recently got a couple pairs of 6-12m so they'll last a while.

The diaper situation is the same.  Mixed pockets and disposables (nighttime).

I love that now that he's older, we don't have to take a fifteen pound diaper bag around all of the time.  I had a great Petunia Pickle Bottom one that I LOVED and bought before he was born, but it was so not functional.  The straps were awful.  It's my work bag now and is perfect for that along with a few diapers and wipes and a toy or two.  Mom bought me a Skip Hop bag and it's by far the bestest kind out there as far as I'm concerned.  Awesome in every way.  Right now though, I use my tiny Patagonia day bag because it's most functional.  Anything that doesn't fit stays in the car because let's face it, I'm not going to put him on one of those ook, grimey, plastic bathroom flip downs so we'd be trekking back to the car anyway.  I used to just use my lap if we were out, or the stroller when we had it with us - sometimes those options still work depending on our whereabouts.

I don't know how I got off on that bag tangent... I love bags.  Love them.  I have way too many.  I don't care to part with a single one though.  Bags and jackets.

Here are a few pictures from the park that's in the back of our neighborhood.  There's also deep water access, tennis courts, disc golf courses, hiking trails, skating ramps... it will be a lot of fun for Rover when he's older.  For now, we enjoy the swings and sometimes the slide.  It's also fun to find a bench to watch boats and kayaks.

Oliver.

He's such a mess!  What is he up to these days?  Wheels.  He loves wheels!  There are two toys he has a particular attachment to - one is a blue bamboo vehicle (no idea what it is!) that has independent wheels, which he loves because it can be on one side and the wheels will still rotate.  The other is a little wooden plane that has a propeller on the front that he loves to spin.  He can be found playing with those about 70% of the time that he's in the playroom.  He also loves balls.  Especially the cats' balls.  He'll chase a little ping pong ball around on the floor for minutes (that's basically like saying hours for grown up time).  Every other toy just gets a few seconds so one that will last minutes is a big hit around here!

He still nurses like a champ.  He gets solids at dinner and he eats just about anything.  There really isn't anything we've given him that he didn't like.  He gets Cheerios as a snack occasionally during the day, mid morning and late afternoon.  We will probably be in a good routine of breakfast solids sometime in the near future as the one year mark approaches.  For now, we're still going slow.  Some of his favorite foods include macaroni and cheese, peas, avocado, and apples.  Particularly macaroni though.  He also really likes veggie dogs.  Recently, he figured out how to use his zippy cup. It's still pretty hit or miss, but we give it to him with dinner just in case he decides to really catch on.

He naps about an hour in the mornings and a solid three hours in the afternoons.  His schedule is very routine, which I love. 

His hair has gotten really long in the last several weeks.  When I look at pictures from September and October, it's amazing how much more hair he has!  He still has five teeth, three on the bottom and two on top.  No sign of any new ones in the last couple of weeks.  My guess is that the next one will be the bottom as well.  He's done great with nursing and hasn't bitten hard.  Sometimes he'll pull off using his teeth, but it's more irritating and just a small 'ouch' compared to a real bite.

Still says the same words, 'mama,' 'dada,' 'bye bye.'  He will often look at us while he says those, but we still don't think he's making associations quite yet.  I have noticed that when he wants to nurse he says 'nananana.' I'm not sure if that's just what comes out when he's hungry/frustrated/sleepy, or if it's what he's going to call it.  If we don't want him to touch something and we put our hand over whatever it is, he'll make an attempt to swipe our hand away.  Little personality.  

His smile lights up a room.  He has one dimple on his left cheek.  When he's playing, he'll often crawl over to sit in your lap just to check in for a minute before heading back to play.  Gentle reassurance is so sweet.  Nola continues to be a source of giggles and laughter.  She is really starting to enjoy his amusement too!  

A few photos from Thanksgiving...