My Dearest Little - 10 Month Letter

My Dearest Little,

How is it possible that, once again, you are another month older?  My mama heartstrings can't believe how fast you are growing and how happy it makes me to witness it all.

You are changing so much every day now.  Not so much physically - although you are doing that too, but mentally and emotionally.  You are becoming so much more of a little man and it leaves me amazed each and every night.

You love baths.  You have always loved baths, but now you can play and even try to walk in the tub - which is not allowed and you often hear me say, "Caleb we sit on our bottom in the bathtub." "Caleb on your bottom please." "Caleb, bottoms only, no standing."  I am almost completely certain that you know what I am saying and don't care..you want to stand and you don't care what I say about it.  It usually always ends with our bath time getting cut short and then the fight to get dressed.  Apparently being in your birthday suit is what you prefer, our carpets and clothes don't agree with that though.

We went through a rough patch this month with you sleeping until it is time to leave during the week.  Our normal routine is for me to wake up at 4:30 - or try at least - get everything ready and loaded in the car and pick you out of the crib at 5:30 to drive down to Mima's.  For about a week, almost two, you were deciding that you wanted to wake up right around 4:30 and hang out with me while I got ready for work.  Well this is great except for the fact that I shouldn't be late to work, we have a 35 minute drive down to Mima's each morning, you like to roll off the bed so you can't be unattended and you "yell" at me when I am brushing my teeth.  I am very glad that you have gotten back on schedule and are back to sleeping until I come get you.  This mama appreciates it - especially since I can hit my snooze button at least 3 times when you don't get up early :)

Eating is still one of your favorite things to do.  Who am I kidding, it is definitely your favorite thing to do!  You have 2 teeth - which you got almost exactly on your 9 month date - and are taking complete advantage of them.  You are still eating homemade purees but are now getting more solids.  Your eating routine is as follows:

6:00 AM - morning bottle - 8 ounces

9:00 AM - morning oatmeal with fruit - about 1 cup total

10:30 AM - morning bottle snack - 4 ounces

11:30-12:00 - lunch - 6 cubes homemade puree or 2 containers of processed food, plus some snacking off of whoevers plate is closest.

3:00 PM - afternoon bottle snack - 4 ounces

5:00 PM - dinner - 6 cubes homemade puree or 2 containers of processed food

6:00 PM - you get bits and pieces of whatever we are eating for dinner

7:00 PM - goodnight bottle - 6 ounces

This may seem like too much food, and trust me we have asked, but you are just perfect.  You love to eat and if I could eat as much/often as you and not gain weight, I totally would.

Your friendly personality has been enhancing so much this month.  You have always been a friendly baby, but you can now give high fives and knuckles and absolutely love it.  You love to show people your tongue and love to play shy.  You know that it gets you more attention and no body is hating you for that. :)  You know that they ladies love you and can't get enough of them.

Your brother Hanky, what can I say about you two more then I already do?  I love you both more than I ever thought possible.  I can't believe how good you both are with each other.  You two are best friends and I'm pretty sure you both know it.  Hank is the perfect height for you to pull on to stand up with now and he just lets you.  We couldn't be happier with our choice to have you both grow up together.  You two are back and forth in the house all day, every day and it fills our hearts with joy.

Playing.  You are a pro little boy!  You play with others or by yourself perfectly.  You know where your toys are at all times and love having such a variety.  We have been so blessed with getting a ton of toys from friends who's kids no longer use them or never liked them.  Your daddy is also guilty of letting you get a new toy for our house almost every time we go to Target, Ace, Ikea, etc.  I love watching you play and figure out how to use the new toys, or remember how to use an older toy that you forgot you had.

Family time.  I can't get enough of seeing you interact with your family.  You have so much love for the people around us and I am so thankful that you have those relationships.  You are a love bug and we got so lucky with you being such a happy baby.

Laughing pictures have become some of my favorites that I get on a daily basis!  You are a funny little boy and you definitely know it.  You crack yourself up and that makes me smile even more sometimes.  How can you not smile after seeing these photos?

 Sleep is still going great.  You like to go to bed by 7 each and every night and if you don't, well we all pay for it.  You sleep all night without any problems unless we keep you up too late.  We have noticed that if you aren't at home in bed by 8 at the absolute latest, that you wake up a lot more during the night and you never sleep in any later the next morning.  It may sound limiting to doing things, but I would much prefer you get a great night's rest then us enjoy an extra 30 minutes out and about.  I love wearing you while you sleep and it makes me miss having you in my belly.  I still can't believe that I ever grew you in there and am so happy that you are now sleeping in my arms.

You are a great snuggler - YES - and love to be snuggled up in a nice cozy blanket, no matter what temperature it may be outside.  You are known for snuggling so much during your naps that you wake up with wet hair from sweating and people always think that you just got out of the bath...if only they really knew! :)

This month you have gained complete confidence in standing.  Much like crawling, we weren't sure if you would ever hit this point - kidding, but now you are here and we love watching you learn and gain confidence.  You will pull yourself up on anything and everything now but have not yet ventured into letting go.  I am thinking that will be very soon to follow this next month though.  Also, I think you might start wanting to walk pretty soon because you are learning that you need to get somewhere but currently must drop to all fours and fly across the room crawling.  We shall see my little snuggle bee!

You are the light of my life Snuggle Muffin.  I can't imagine our life before you anymore.  I don't know how we survived this long without you and you can bet that we aren't ever letting you go.  

I love you so much

Mommy

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10 Month Stats:
Weight: 21.2 pounds - you have lost weight but we think it is due to your constant mobility
Height: 30 inches!
Clothes: 9, 12 and 18 month