10 Months Old

Dear Noel,

Ten months. Ten whole months you've been in this world, and as each day goes by I can scarcely believe that yet another day has gone by. And each day you just get cuter and cuter. You are such a pleasant baby, happy and smiley so much of the time. You're starting to learn how to actually play and it's really, really fun. You love peek-a-boo and for someone to "chase" you on our hands and knees.



We play this game with you that is just hilarious: we start to fill your shape sorter with shapes and other small toys, and you immediately know what's coming and try to attack it, but we make you wait until we've got it full and the lid on, and then we say "go!" You beeline it for the shape sorter and rip the top off and chuck it and all the shapes and toys out of the bucket and over your shoulder. You don't stop until you have emptied the bucket, and for good measure, also thrown anything else in the vicinity over your shoulder as well. It is so funny.


    Playing.

This month you got some more teeth. You're up to six already. You have your front four teeth, and both of ones to the right of those front four (three on top, three on bottom). You're a teething champ, and while you get a bit fussy, you really handle the whole thing pretty well, especially considering you've gotten two teeth on the same day twice already.



A few days ago you signed "all done" and "more" for the first time, and while your signs are still pretty sketchy looking, it was obvious that's what you were doing, and I'm excited for you to start signing more as you get a bit older. Also, the other day after dinner I said to you, "Are you all done?" and you, clear as day, said "Aw done." We were shocked, but you seem to keep saying it, so maybe you actually have a new word already! You still say "mama" and "dada," and you also say "Uh oh" or "Uh" when we say it. I think you're going to be more verbal than Lane was, at least early on, and that you're going to be a bit less physically agile, at least in the beginning.


    You've watched Lane do this so often that now you want to draw, too!

While you do like to walk while holding onto our hands, you have no desire to try it for yourself, and you prefer to drop to your bottom and crawl after anything you want. You're getting good at squatting and standing back up, and one of these days we're going to see you stand yourself up right in the middle of the floor.

We took you for your 9-month checkup a couple weeks ago, and you're up to 18 pounds and 28 inches long. You love to eat, which explains why you've tripled your birth weight in ten months! You're still fond of purees and still get rice cereal, oatmeal, some pureed veggies, and yogurt almost every day, but you're finally starting to take interest in table food that's not completely smooth. You'll eat scrambled eggs, bananas, grapes, regular oatmeal, raisins, and some veggies if they're very, very soft. You'll also eat quinoa or bulgur that's been in soup and is soft and watery, but you are not a fan at all of regular rice. I also let you have some zucchini bread this month, and you loved it. You ate an entire piece and would have eaten more had I let you.


    You like to put your fingers in your mouth while you're eating and then run them through your hair...

You're still sleeping pretty well, although we've had a few rough nights this month. I think the three teeth you got gave you a bit of trouble and you'd wake up, but would always go back to sleep after I nursed you. You still also usually wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning wanting to eat, but after I nurse you you'll go back to sleep for another hour or two. I'm looking forward to the day you start to sleep past the crack of dawn on your own! But until then I'll just soak up the early morning snuggles with you. You're finally nursing well and I've enjoyed nursing you this month, a welcome change after the past six months. You take your time now and don't get frustrated, and it's made me much more happy that I didn't give up. You'll even nurse for comfort now, something I never dreamed we'd be doing. I'm so happy that I don't dread nursing you any longer.



Noel, I love you so much. I was talking with your Aunt Rachel just the other day and she was talking about how she couldn't imagine loving another baby (the one in her belly) as much as she loves your cousin Maddox. And I told her that it really is just amazing, that you love the second child every bit as much as the first. Your heart just grows to love someone else, and it really is amazing that God made us that way, capable of loving multiple people every bit as much. I'm so happy that you're part of our family, that God has given you to us. I'm sorry for the times I fail you, but I promise that I'm trying to show you love and to cherish every day with you. I hope you remember that when you are older; not how clean our house was or what kinds of food I cooked for you, but that I loved you with everything I had. Because I do.

Love,
Mommy