Liam: Ten Months

Likes: Tickles, people he knows, bathtime, food

Dislikes: Getting things taken away from him, carseat

Biggest Achievement of the Month: Eating on his own

Biggest Challenge of the Month: Sleep

Sleep: So this month has been weird, at the beginning we were fighting him on sleep, he wasn't sleeping through the night anymore and kept ending up in our bed because neither of us could get him down. And then one evening I go to the gym and when I come home, he was already asleep. No boob or mom needed. Since then (which was only last week) he will let dad put him to bed now (which hasn't happened for a couple months now) and he is back to sleeping through the night. OK that is sort of a lie, he does wake up a couple times but he puts himself back to sleep so we don't have to go in there so I count it.

Temperment/Personality: He is so happy. Everyone that meets him comments on what a happy baby he is and he seems to be warming up to people he doesn't know quicker now so that is nice. He loves getting paid attention to and making us laugh. I love when he is tired because he will just sit on your lap quietly and cuddle, it is awesome. He is still getting into everything and putting it all in his mouth but we have gotten better at making sure things that he shouldn't eat, he doesn't.

He never wants to be on his back (which makes changing diapers fun) and always likes to be exploring everything. I am working on when I take things away from him, I ask him if I can please have it and when he gives it to me (or I take it because he shouldn't have it) I tell him thank you. In my head if I start early he might get it ingrained in his brain. And he seems to get less upset when I make it seem like he has a choice to give things to me, maybe it is just a coincidence but it seems like that.

A funny thing he started doing this month. When he is done eating he likes to just play, well since I don't enjoy that I normally would just pull my shirt back down and he can't play anymore but this month he started doing something new. When I pull my shirt down he looks at me, pulls it back up and contiues playing, it is amazing to see that he now gets that connection. Also, I can ask him to bring me something he is already holding and he is doing that. And if we are moving rooms or something I tell him to like for example, pick up his ball and sometimes he does it, (sometime he needs more encouragement) and then hangs onto it. SO many new things he is getting now. He also reaches for people now, we hold out our arms to him and he will reach out for certain people.

Eating: He is still my big eater. Still on the boob, but sometimes he doesn't eat long because he gets distracted easily. I have been wearing a nursing necklace lately though and it seems to be helping to keep his attention. But sometimes he has long sessions and I think some of it is a comfort thing but he gets so excited when he sees me pulling out the boppy that it is sweet.

He is still on purees because I can't gaurentee enough is getting in his mouth to keep him satisfied with feeding himself. But he doesn't seem to mind and in addition to feeding him fruits and veggies we are also doing the phase 3 foods which are like actual meals.

We let him feed himself pretty much whenever we go out to eat. We order a side that he can eat (like fries or eggs) and just let him grab it and feed it to himself and judging from the mess on the floor, he seems to be doing a lot better. We are trying to let him try lots of new foods and when we cook, I try to just give him some of his own so that he can eat with us too. He doesn't like watching us eat if he isn't getting any.

We are working on getting him to drink out of a sippy cup but so far he doesn't love it that much. He would prefer we hold onto it for him.

The Superficial: He is so so pretty. And he is getting lots more hair although because it is blonde, unless we stick it up, you really can't see it. I am pretty darn sure his eyes are going to stay blue and I hope so because he gets lots of compliments on them. At his last docotor's appointment he was 18 and a half pounds and is 17 in tall. He did drop for his percentage but the doctor said that is normal and she didn't seem worried about it. He is still in 9-12 month clothes.

Milestones & Firsts: He is pulling himself up on everything and will move along the furniture or whatever he is holding onto. But he seems kind of cautious about letting go of anything although he is confident enough he will hold on with only one hand but when we try (and he feels like cooperating) he can stand up on his own and has done it for about half a minute. He is babbling lots now and I am pretty sure, to him, mama means food.

Quite a few firsts this month. He had his first professional photo shoot (we didn't do newborns). Although we do weekly pictures, that is just me and my mom, we actually paid someone to do a nice family shoot and it went really well and the pictures came out amazing.

He showered for the first time with me. I was sitting at home with him on my day off and needed to shower and thought, couldn't I just bring him in there with me? I looked around online and grabbed the stuff to bathe him, put him on the floor in the corner (I have a stand up shower), did my normal shower routine while he sat and played with a shampoo bottle and when I was done, I just held him and bathed him, so much easier and I am not constantly looking outside the shower to make sure he is OK.

He went to his first bonfire. We had our monthly bookclub outside this month and had a nice fire, he didn't seem to interested in it. He also went to his first baby shower (his first one outside of me that is). One of my good friends is due in October and had a coed baby shower to which we brought him to and he provided some entertainment for us.