10 Months Old

Is it just me or are the months getting shorter? Just when I have adjusted to saying that Eli is 9 months old, he turns 10 months old! His one year birthday party is going to be here before I know it! The past couple of months have been so much fun with Eli. He is doing SO much more now and interacting with us. I am so thankful and so in awe of God's grace and goodness. This little boy has blessed my life in so many ways! Josh asked me the other day if there was any way I could love Eli more than what I do now and I don't know how I could! My heart is so full of love for my little boy!

We (Eli and I) are visiting my parents this weekend, but I couldn't let that stop me from continuing my tradition of updating the blog on his monthly birthday; especially when I have so many things to post! Let's get to it!

Sleeping: His sleeping habits have remained pretty much the same. He still takes a paci at night and for naps, but usually spits it out once he's asleep. We're going to let him keep using it until he's a year and then we'll start to phase it out. My little scheduled baby loves his nightly routine and is so used to it. Like clockwork, he will start rubbing his eyes around 7:15 every night signaling that it's time for him to go to sleep. We still rock and give him his last bottle of the night around 7:30 and put him down in his crib around 8 every night. He sleeps until about 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning and then is up for the day. He wakes up fully charged and ready to go! The past week or so has been a little rough due to teething, but most nights he sleeps GREAT! He still takes between 2 and 3 naps during the day. His babysitter is starting to let him put himself down for naps during the day and says that it's going pretty well. We're going to start trying that at home, too.

Eating: Eli loves to eat, but you wouldn't know it from looking at him. His babysitter says that he loves to snack all throughout the day on top of all the meals he's eating. One of these days, I guess all that food will show up on his little body! He still takes anywhere from 20-24 ounces of formula every day and he's eating baby food at least 3 times during the day. We are branching out and letting him try new foods to expand his tastebuds. He's had cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, crackes, and goldfish and has LOVED every bit of them all, even the cottage cheese, which I wouldn't eat even on a dare. I don't want him to be picky though, so I'm letting him try everything, even if it's something I don't eat. He LOVES the YoBaby organic yogurt and I'm a fan of it, too. Last night he had the YoBaby 3-in-1 meals (yogurt, veggie, and fruit) and ate all 6 oz. of it without stopping. We'll be buying some more of those for sure!

New Accomplishments:
-Trying to walk!!! He's been wanting to walk since he could crawl, so we're so happy about this. Today on his 10 month birthday, he took the most steps-about 7-that he's ever taken. I don't think it's going to be much longer before I'm chasing him around the house!
-Waving bye-bye
-Knows the words "Maggie", "light", "ball", and "Daddy" He'll look for each one whenever you say that particular word; it's really cute.
-Knows the word "No" but doesn't always obey
-Still babbling like crazy, but loves saying "Da-Da" the most

Likes:
-Mommy and Daddy
-Talking to Maggie
-Going for rides in the wagon
-Looking at lights
-Balloons
-Praise Baby
-Pushing his train, lawn mower, walking toy all across the house
-Feeding himself
-Playing with phones, computers, cameras, DVD players, DVR's, cords, and air conditioner vents (and yes, we tell him "No" every time he gets near one of the aforementioned objects!)
-Playing peek-a-boo
-Taking baths
-Brushing his teeth
-NUK paci at night and for naps during the day
-Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, and Goodnight Gorilla books
-Playing the game "I'm gonna get you" with Mommy and Daddy
-Climbing on everything
-Turning off lights

Dislikes:
-diaper changes
-getting dressed
-I was going to put naps, but he's gotten better about going down lately that it's not nearly the struggle that it used to be. Hooray!