Ten Months

This month seemed to go by faster than any of the rest. I'm not sure why, but geez, it feels like I just posted his 9 month update! I can't believe we are only two months away from his first birthday. Crazy.

Milestones and Firsts...

• He sure knows how to make us laugh. He does these squinty eyed smiles and the more we laugh, the more he does them. He also holds some of his toys in his mouth and carries on with playing or whatever he is doing while he holds it. And his favorite thing to do is open all the drawers and throw, sometimes at very high speeds, everything out of them. His school told me that he opened the child proof lock on their cabinets the other day :| We are in trouble! He is just like his Dad - curious about how everything works.
• He just started clapping a few days ago. I always clap at him, especially when he does something well. 
• His two front teeth began to emerge about a week after his 9 month birthday. One of those has broken through his gums and you can see about half of that tooth. The other one is following close behind. My little man is growing up!

• He crawls, stands and furniture walks really well. He has stood unassisted several times for a few seconds and he walks with his Playskool Walk 'N Ride. He seems very close to walking.
• A very sad, for me, milestone... breastfeeding has come to an end :( :( :( Our last breast feed was on Friday night, May 25th. My freezer stash at daycare ran out in mid-May. I planned to continue with one or two feeds per day, but it just didn't work out that way. Grayson was done with breastfeeding and I could tell. If I think about it too much, I get very sad. Honestly, I wish I could have exclusively breastfed him for one year. I know that if I wasn't working, I could have done it. But instead of dwelling on that, I am going to be happy that we made it to nearly 10 months. That's pretty darn good :)
• He is a fantastic eater! He feeds himself really well and tries everything we give him. So far, he loves it all. We are pretty much done with buying purees. I give him whatever we are eating: chicken, beef, lamb, pork, fish, all veggies, all fruits, cheese, eggs, etc. He has had almost everything, but he eats mostly Primal/Paleo now because we do. 

Bison and broccoli. Yum!

• He has been using his sippy cup for water and does really well with it. I am going to start transitioning his formula into the sippy cups. 
• He adores his Daddy! He has been such a Momma's boy for so long, but lately he has really taken to his Dad. He gets very excited and shrieks when he sees him, and wants him to hold him. It absolutely melts my heart, and I know it makes Nick very happy.

•  He is absolutely obsessed with the water. We started our second set of swim lessons now that we moved and wow, did he have a blast! He was splashing and laughing and shrieking. He had so much fun. Much more fun for both of us than when he was 3 and 4 months old. He even crawled across the floating mat. I cannot wait for our pool to be finished!

• REI had a sale and we splurged on the Burley D'Lite bike trailer. I am so excited to be able to ride my bike again now that I can pull him along with us. I love my bike and I need the exercise! It also converts into a jogger so I can mix it up.

Other tidbits about being 10 months old...

• He still says "mama", "dada", "baba" and shrieks at the kitties and Apollo. 

• He is sleeping great. 11-12 hours every night. His naps are getting less frequent. He is pretty much down to one nap a day. 
• He is wearing mostly 12 month clothes.
• He is wearing size 3 diapers.

 San Diego Zoo Safari Park

I used to...

I used to care about my car being sparkly clean and now there are baby blankets and baby jackets and baby toys spread across my back seat.

I used to worry about what I looked like and now I go to work with baby drool on my shirt, and instead of trying to get it off, I stare at it and think of my baby boy.

I used to look forward to buying myself a new pair of jeans and now I get giddy to buy a new rash guard for my little man to wear to the lake.

I used to think about work and life when I fell asleep every night and now I fall asleep thinking of how much I miss my son after I put him to bed.

I used to be able to read the news and now I am afraid to because all I can think of is how awful it would be if something happened to Grayson. I couldn't handle it if anything ever did. I wouldn't be able to go on. I have to stay away from the news.

I used to get angry at stupid things and now I find myself kinder than usual. I have always been sensitive to other's feelings but having my son has brought out the best in me like I couldn't imagine.

Being a Mom is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. He gives everything a whole new purpose. He makes every day an amazing day.  He makes my relationship with my husband better, with my family better, with everyone better. He puts life into a different perspective for me.

Thank you, my sweet boy. No words can express how much you mean to your Dad and I.

xoxo,
Megan

Nine Months

It was a hot weekend, so we took this month's pictures almost naked :)

This age is SO MUCH FUN! Can he just stay this age forever?!?!?!

Milestones and Firsts...

• His favorite thing to do is move! He crawls like a champ now and then climbs up anything he can find. He loves to stand and cruise down the furniture. Crawl, sit, play, crawl, climb, stand, sit, crawl, play. Both Nick and I never stop moving either so I guess I am not surprised.

Video clip of our active, happy boy:

• He loves to explore. He is much more independent now. He is very adventurous and brave, and curious about everything around him. He is such a boy. He bonks his head and falls/tumbles sometimes, but we make a point to not react except in a positive, distracting way and he carries on without even a whimper.
• We are still breastfeeding and he usually has 3 bottles of formula at daycare.

• Boy can he eat!!! He "complains" when you don't feed him fast enough! I just started adding containers of cut up finger foods (fruits, veggies, chicken, bread, puffs, etc) and applesauce or yogurt to his daycare meals.
• His sleep is the best it has ever been. He goes to bed by 8pm and I usually have to wake him up between 7 and 7:30 to go to "school." He still fights his naps, but he takes about an hour and a half to two hours worth of naps.
• He had his first "hair cut" at home. I trimmed the sides of his hair so they weren't growing into his ears.
• He loooooooooooves the water! We are in the process of getting in-ground pool quotes because I am obsessed with the water too. SO excited! For now, we are playing in a little kiddie pool and at our community lake.

Video clip of G playing in his pool:

Other tidbits about being 9 months old...

• He is {almost} always happy. He really seems to enjoy life and that makes Nick and I so happy.
• He loves when Daddy plays with him, especially pull-the-baby-in-the-box :)

Vine video clip:

• He is "talking" a lot lately. "mamamama", "babababa", "dadadada"
• He hates laying down for diaper and clothing changes. I have to do them as fast as I can and distract him with anything he will focus on. He is way too busy for this laying down stuff ;)
• His eyes are still a dark blueish with green in the center and his hair is still a very light brown with a reddish tint. He looks like he got a lot of features from Nick's Dad.

Playing at the lake. We sure love our new house and neighborhood!

• He is wearing 12 month clothes.
• He is wearing size 3 diapers.
• He weighed 19lbs 11oz, measured 27 inches long and his head circumference was 45cm at his 9 month check up yesterday.