Kisses and 10 months

You are 10 months old today! Here's an update on some new stuff you're doing and some things you're still doing.

Well Shawn's daycare nap schedule didn't work at home for me or dad. I'm at a loss. You're cranky and spend much of your time crying because you're tired, but you won't fall asleep. Dad rocked you to sleep today and then put you in your swing. I attempted to just let the swing put you to sleep with the intention of turning it off and that didn't work. Your grandma suggests letting you play and play until you fall asleep on the floor. If you're moving, you don't fall asleep though. All I know is you have to stop crying at me and clinging to me (and crying if I move away and don't pick you up) and you have to nap.

You now give kisses. They're open mouthed and you just kind of lean in and look up as you wait for us to kiss you. It's really funny. You don't give tongue like some of my friends said their kids did so that's good.

You babble a lot now and there are distinct "mama" and "dada" sounds and something that sounds like "doggy". I don't really count them as any official first words yet, just syllables. You also take the back of your hand and move it between your lips when your mouth is open and you're making noise. Or you like to make noise and have us pat on and off your mouth so it sounds like an Indian war cry. SO funny! You tend to be very vocal when in public places, especially if you're getting food. As long as food is involved you're happy. We have learned to not give you egg though. You had some nights where you were throwing up and I thought it was because you overate on melon, both cantaloupe and watermelon. Then one day you had neither and threw up anyway. The only other thing in common was egg. Hopefully you outgrow that. We found a substitute but it would be easier if you weren't allergic to or intolerant of anything.

We bought you a kid-size chair for your birthday and have it in the spare room. Last night you were playing on it like it was a jungle gym. At first your only way to get out of it was to fall forward and face plant in the carpet. Soon you figure out you should turn to face the back of the chair, putting your feet on the ground first, and then push yourself out. Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhOwIkq4p8.

You've also figured out how to go down stairs. Usually you go up the bottom 2 or 3 and then come back down once we yell for you. You stay facing the stairs and put your left foot on the stair below, then slide down on your belly while reaching the next stair with your right foot. I showed you that a few times and then all of a sudden you just had it.

You mimic a lot right now too. If we clap our hands, you clap. If I say, "WHEEEEEE!!!" you squeal. If I sign "more", you sign it back (which makes it really hard to know if you're copying or you really want more food). If I blow raspberries, you blow them back.

You apparently like black olives. You ate about 2 ounces of them last night. I was grossed out. Your dad was proud.

Your dad and I have started to label your actions as 50-50, 75-25, or 100-0. They refer to the chances of you breaking your neck. He and I were talking one day about the fact that I let you try most anything for you to see if you can do them physically. He is a little more protective. I said if it's a 50-50 chance, I'll let you try it, but still be there just in case. He said he hoped there are things I wouldn't just let you try. I said if it was a 100% chance of you breaking your neck, I wouldn't let you do it at all. I think other people would find that a little odd. We find it funny and know exactly what we mean when we say those things.