Ten Months

Double digits already? Who took my squishy newborn and replaced him with a toddler-esque little dude? Let me simultaneously scream, 'No, slow it down!' and 'I adore each new phase, bring on the next!' because I can't decide which way to feel about this milestone.



oh, the changes.


I kind of like how I divided up the nine month post according to the hot topics in baby life: eating, sleeping, and motor milestones/achievements. Not that our lives can be fully captured in three topics but those are certainly the biggies, no?

Eating:
Let's analyze solids first and wait for the breastfeeding discussion a bit, shall we? Truman eats three meals a day plus one or two snacks but in the past few weeks he's caught his mommy's picky eater gene. At first he only wanted to feed himself and avoided all things spoon related and then that quickly morphed into him only wanting to eat what suited his refined palate at that very moment, which of course changes daily. Sometimes fruit is a hit and sometimes it totally fails. Sometimes graham crackers are like gold around here and other times they must taste like dirt. Basically we are happy when the kid agrees to eat ANYTHING we put in front of him because he definitely has opinions on what is good enough for his taste buds.



He tried his first french fry the other day at a restaurant and of course he chowed that down in record time. Sweets are always a success story, too, so I really do think he is trying to assert his opinion about food these days. Great. Grand. Wonderful. I guess the fact that he is gaining weight and eating 'enough' is what we'll go off of and I'll try to stop stressing about my kid tossing food on the ground, as if it's his personal mission in life to feed Henry the dog 5 ounces of people food a day. :) Needless to say Henry is a BIG fan of Truman these days.



The milk saga continues around here as Truman now nurses only once a day (if that), in the mornings right after he wakes up. That is when he is still sort of sleepy and cuddly and patient enough to wait for my let down. Otherwise, every other attempt at nursing is a no-go and usually leads me to feel like a total failure breastfeeding mom. I hate seeing him push me away as he turns his head to search out a new form of entertainment. But no matter how dark, quiet, and calm of a place we 'nurse' it doesn't work out anymore because this kid is simply on the move and cannot be bound by my boob. His distractedness is even affecting bottle feeding these days, as he can't sit still long enough to take in a whole bottle without NEEDING to get down and play/touch/search for various objects. I admit that when he is too restless for a bottle it does make me feel a little bit better about myself and my 'slow milk flow' because if the fast bottle doesn't cut it in Truman land then it must not be a personal thing against the tats. In fact, I'm certain that Truman is weaning himself from breastfeeding simply because he is a busy-body now and it's not because he doesn't love me. Isn't it sad to know that it took me a long time to be okay with this revelation, and not feel upset about it? He will usually take about 4 bottles in various amounts, totaling around 20 ounces each day. I'm sure you don't care about that but I'm big into milk numbers these days so you must oblige me.



So most days we get a loner nursing session in before we start our day, and sometimes even that is a struggle, and then it's me and my beloved/hated pump for four sessions each day. I am basically an 'exclusive pumper' now and I am usually pumping about 2-4 ounces less than what Truman takes in bottles in a given day. I counted up my freezer stash and we still have 200 ounces left but we have started to add an ounce of whole milk in breastmilk bottles occasionally because of our pending Missouri trip (leaving on Saturday 1/1 and not returning until Saturday 1/8!!!!). I won't have access to my stash down there so I need to make sure we have enough milk on hand or I will be incredibly ticked if I have to buy formula during our vaycay. Seriously. Two more months until his birthday---I am totally going to lean towards the finish line tape on this one and make it at all costs. And so whole milk is my friend to cushion our trip with a little extra milk padding. Wish me luck!

(Dressed up for his first Christmas!)


Sleep:
A much happier topic around here. (Sigh. Smile.) I'm beaming as I tell you that Truman now sleeps through the night about 90% of the time. Pause: let's remember that until he was 8.5 months old he NEVER EVER slept through the night, not even close. So this is still relatively new and awesome and is my one redeeming fact when I get sad about the lack of breastfeeding. Most of the time he goes down at 7:00 or 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00. Of course there are still times when he thinks it's necessary to begin a party in his crib at about 5:00 and then it's a tough call on our part---do we just start the day early since we can't really complain about a nice long sleep stretch like that; or do we have Nate give him a bottle to see if that will stretch it out a little more? Decisions decisions. Luckily we don't have to make that one too often.



Truman naps twice a day now, and has fallen into a pretty solid routine of passing out for about 2 hours in the morning and at least 1.5 hours in the afternoon. Gone are the days of 4 mini-naps and I can see that he'll be a once-a-day napper pretty soon. Again: such a big boy!!!

(spoiled, happy baby)


Milestones/achievements:
As if there was ever a doubt that my son is the product of two first-born, stubborn Germans--he proves he has his own agenda and is just now starting to army-crawl. Yes, I know that most babies check this off the list much much earlier than 9.5 months. But he totally didn't feel like it before, you know? It's like he felt his parents pushing him to crawl and so he defiantly ignored us and did it on his own terms. Now he is all about pulling himself forward on his belly and it practically became an obsession of his lately. Like, 'MOM I HAVE TO CRAWL TO THAT SPECK ON THE FLOOR OR I'LL JUST DIE!' type of a thing. Cute but not so cute when we have to actively guard all the non-baby type things in the house now. I'm sure it will only be worse when he is walking--but if we stay on this slower than the norm path it might be well past his one year birthday for that milestone.



Not up on all fours yet, but close. Not pulling to stand yet, but close. As I've said before this gives me great practice as a new mom who tends to be a little psychotic about my son because I'm learning to let him do things on his own time and not freak out as much. (stop laughing, I'm trying!). What's that saying about all babies doing things on their own clock, when they are ready? And the whole thing about not comparing your baby to others? I'm telling myself that Truman is perfectly healthy and isn't 'delayed' but he has a mind of his own. It seems like he prefers to focus on one task at a time, giving 100% of his attention to it until it's mastered, then he is able to move on and focus on something else. He might not be the first of his friends to crawl or walk but I have to remember it's not a race. He'll hit all the milestones when he is good and ready, I suppose. He is the boss and I'm not. Chalk that lesson up to motherhood's biggest pill to swallow.



He's gotten really into saying, 'Da Da' when he sees Nate. Simply adorable, right? But then again, he says 'Da Da' when I request that he says 'Ma Ma' instead. Not cute. Still waiting on my moment in the spotlight over here! He'll try to imitate a lot of sounds we make and sometimes he gets close. But when in doubt he always revert back to the old favorite 'Da Da.'



If there was a 'Like' button for opening and closing drawers, Truman would hit that baby about a million times per day. Drawers = sweetness. Also totally sweet? Watching objects fall from hand onto ground. It's totally mesmerizing to toss toys and food and everything possible and see how they fall.



Still clapping and waving and shaking head vigorously to say 'NO!' He will also making a farting sound with his mouth on command which is our prized trick of the month. Actually, imitating us make all sorts of sounds is a new fun thing around here and sometimes I swear Truman is trying to talk to us and relay actual information to us through sounds. His faves are still yelling, squealing, and making high-pitched vowel sounds in order to wake the neighbors. We are using baby signs when we think of it and I know he 'gets' some of it, some of the time. Yes, we are totally that couple who signs to our baby and it's actually pretty fun if you ask me. Signing 'more' and 'all done' and 'milk' and 'doggie' are the most frequently used signs when we can remember to use them.



In other news, he now has six freaking teeth. His two top middles came through this month with authority and are basically the cutest things in the world. Speaking of growing things, his hair is getting pretty awesome. A few long strays here and there and it's really filling out compared to his bald days.



Oh, and for at least a month, if not longer, diaper changes have become my least favorite activity. In fact, Nate and I might become professional alligator wranglers because Truman has perfected the alligator roll during changes. I know some of you can picture it: remove old diaper, and as soon as the new one is ready to go on, the baby starts to spin so you grab him by the feet and he keeps spinning. Thus the alligator roll. Horribleness all around. I've actually gotten really good at applying a diaper and various articles of clothing with Truman on his stomach or sitting up, or even crawling around. Sometimes I need to catch my breath and drink a recovery shake after those diaper changes because they are absolutely draining.

(our little hippie baby, straight outta San Fran)




So here we are at ten whole months. Sleeping more, staying in one place less, and worth every second of it. Bring on 2011 because 2010 was freaking awesome. :)