Baby Paul: 10 months

Look who's in double digits months! Time is flying and I'm starting to think about Paul's (low key) first birthday. Here's what our man is up to at 10 months!

I call this his "senior picture pose"

 Firsts:

- He learned to clap this month, which is really adorable! Usually he will clap on command but not 100% consistently.

- He wore his first bunting, which I bought on a facebook group for $10. Score! A friend sent me her sons' bunting but it's 9-12 month size and Paul is too small for it. Hopefully it will fit him later this winter. Truth be told, this 6-9 month bunting is pretty big on Paul. He's so tiny.

- He got his first IV and catheter - which are obviously not fun milestones and something we hope he doesn't have to experience again. At least not for a very long time! Thankfully his kidney tests came back normal so we just have to go back for another ultrasound in 9 months (which is better than every 3 months). He was such a trooper that day. It was a long day for him. He was so tired that he fell asleep during the first 50 minute test. It was really quiet in the room and the machine doing the scans provided some nice white noise!

What are you doing to me, mom?

- We celebrated his first Christmas which will likely go down as the lamest Christmas ever as Paul and I were recovering from the stomach flu and Paul got an ear infection (that we were able to just treat with drops instead of oral antibiotics). We got him one toy but he really loves it - especially the phone!

My little elf and me

- He also learned how to give (sloppy, open-mouthed) kisses, wave, and to turn the pages of a book when we read to him. It's fun to watch him figure things out!

Challenges: 

- Sleep has gotten better as we did some sleep training in early December. It's still not as great as I'd like as he's up 1-2 times a night but that's an improvement from the 3-4+ times he was getting up this fall.

Eating:

- He's still team breast milk. He'll eat purees and we learned that he likes graham crackers and loved the cheesy potatoes Phil's mom made for our belated Christmas celebration. But in general he is not interested in true solids. I need to stop comparing his eating to other babies because everyone is so different. But when I see kids his age chowing down on pancake and Indian food or anything that is put in front of them, I feel like something is "wrong" with Paul. But then I talk to friends who took more of the traditional approach to weening where you give purees and transition to true solids after a year and then I feel less stressed about his eating. Baby Led Weaning is all the rage these days and I can totally see the benefits of it but I guess we just have to follow Paul's lead and accept that he's just not ready for true solids yet.

- On the topic of breast milk, I'm completely done pumping! Hooray! The stomach flu wiped out my supply. In a matter of days I went from making 30 oz to less than an ounce! I was ready to wean anyways as we have enough frozen to last until he turns 1. It was interesting to see how my milk changed at the end. The milk on the left is from my frozen stash; the milk on the right was freshly pumped. The freshly pumped milk was super watery and didn't seem to have any fat in it, which makes sense as I barely ate anything for days when recovering from the stomach flu.

Growth:

- He didn't grow much in the last month - he was 16 pounds 5 oz when we had his kidney tests on December 20th. Maybe he's up to 16.5 pounds by now? We'll see. He's solidly 4th percentile and I've accepted that he's just going to be small. Now that he moves around so much I think his weight gain is going to slow down even more. I'm predicting that he will maybe be 18 pounds at 1, but maybe less!

Loves:

- Smiling. He is such a happy, charming baby!

- Making funny faces. He's still a super expressive baby. In the photo below he looks terrified of the cabbage roll Phil and I shared at the Eastern European deli where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner!

- Playing with his toys and crawling around. Some of his favorite toys are his little people animals, his new walker toy and the cell phone grandma Joan got him.

- He's getting faster and faster at crawling but isn't really up on hands and knees. He more so crawls on his elbows/forearms, but he uses his legs more every day. He isn't  pulling himself up on furniture yet but I'm sure that will come in the next month or so. But for now he loves crawling all over the place and getting into things he shouldn't have - like power cords and Oscar's food.

- He loves chasing Oscar down, which she hates!

- He still loves being read to. His favorite books are Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, Snuggle Puppy, Baby Faces, That's Not My Owl, and Goodnight Moon. When we read "Baby Faces" he knows to laugh at the picture of the baby laughing, which is super cute! That's probably his favorite book. He gets the biggest smile on his face when he looks at all the cute babies!

- LOVES playing peek-a-boo. This is his favorite game. He especially loves playing it with a blanket on daddy's lap.

Dislikes:

- When we put ear drops in his ears to treat his ear infection. It's a 2-person job.

- Having his hands or face washed after eating.

- Having his nose wiped.

- Getting his diaper changed and getting dressed in the morning - especially if he is hungry. Diaper changing has become EXTREMELY difficult as he wants to roll onto his stomach.

It's hard to believe he will turn 1 in 2 months! The last 10 months have flown by but I really mean it when I say that every month gets better and better and I look forward to seeing him learn more! His grandmas are convinced he says multiple words (ha!) but we aren't as sure - but I look forward to hearing what is going on in that little brain of his!