Sweet boy--how are you already 10 months??  
You are learning and growing so much almost daily it feels like!  You have become such a fun, funny little baby-- you are always doing things that make your daddy and I laugh and that make us call the other person and say "Did you see that?  Did you know he could do that??".  We love it and we love you so much!

We celebrated your 10 month birthday by going to the Mother Goose story time at the library with Jake and his mom.  You two were so cute playing--you especially loved the parachute!


You weight about 19 pounds now, maybe a little over that, and are wearing mostly 9 month and 12 month clothes now.  You can fit in 6 month and 6-9 month clothes, but they're just too short for you in length.  You're still in the same setting on your diapers, which is good.  I don't think you'll be outgrowing them anytime soon!

You still have your milk protein intolerance, but we still think it's getting better.  Right now, if I eat something that has dairy in it (which usually only happens by accident if we go out to eat) I can tell because you usually wake up a little congested and you always spit up a little after you nurse.  So, I don't think it's painful or really hurting you, but it doesn't seem comfortable--and your body still obviously has a hard time digesting it still.
You're talking and yelling up a storm these days.  Sometimes you scream in this really high pitched voice--it's like you're just seeing what your voice can do!  Sometimes we have "conversations" back and forth, talking by making a noise with our hands and mouth (like how daddy used to do with you when you were little).  
You also talk a lot--it just sounds like you're so ready to say real words instead of just babbling.  I think it's that you're getting some different inflections in there now.  Sometimes you talk loudly and sometimes you talk quietly, almost to yourself.  You say "mama" and "dada" a lot, but we're still not 100% sure you know what you are saying.  Though, almost every morning after you eat you crawl over and look for your daddy and smile and say "dada".  So, maybe?  You also say "baba" a lot and something that sounds an awful lot like Aja--but maybe that's just us. :)  Whatever it is you're saying though, you say it a lot. 
And, this month you brought back your "liderliderlider" noise.  We're so happy--we love it, ha!


You also have started to blow raspberries on us, which also always makes us laugh.


You're sleeping really well lately. We've been trying this month to be really consistent with your bedtime and put you down at 830pm.
 
You usually eat and then go to sleep pretty easily--we still read some books and then you nurse and I try to sing to you a little--it's a relaxing way to end the day.  Your favorite song right now seems to be Jesus Love Me.  Most nights you sleep until the morning--which is anywhere from about 630-730am.  At that point I bring you in our bed to eat and sometimes you go back to sleep for a bit and sometimes you're up for the day.  I find that when I put you to sleep later, you tend to wake up earlier. 
You're taking 2-3 naps a day still, depending on how long your morning and afternoon naps are.  Usually you nap for an hour and 15 minutes in the morning and an hour and a half or so in the afternoons and I try to get a 30-45 minute nap in for you in the early evening.  If I ever lay down and nap with you though, you tend to sleep for 2 1/2-3 hours.
 
And, you LOVE your lovie, which we love.  It helps you to go to sleep and if you wake up in the middle of the night we watch you crawl over to it and go back to sleep.  You hold onto the little bear's arm and when we go to pick you up from your crib, you're usually standing up waiting for us, holding onto your little lovie.  Melts my heart.
 
Sundays are still your super nap day.  The other day you slept on your daddy for almost 3 hours at church--and long after church and class was over.  You wouldn't go to sleep for me, but fell fast asleep in his arms and stayed that way for a long time, passed out, mouth open and all.  It was one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time.  We didn't want to wake you up, even to go home!

You're also doing really well in the church nursery now.  You go on Tuesday mornings with me (but that's over until the fall now) for 2 1/2 hours and just this month you started napping in there in the swing!  Big boy!  You also eat and play and are usually happy when I come and get you, which makes me so happy.  You also go some Wednesdays with your daddy and on most Sunday mornings.  I love that you like going to church.

You're eating solids 2 times a day usually, with an afternoon snack most days as well.  Sometimes you really like food and other times you're just still not so interested.  This month you tried blueberries, blackberries, peaches (you loved them!), broccoli, kale and bread and I started mixing foods for you as I made them.  You also still love fruit from your mesh feeder--mainly you eat apples, pears, peaches, cantaloupe and watermelon.  You maybe would rather just eat them, but you take huge bites of them still!
 
You also had some table food for the first time--bananas, blackberries, cantaloupe, broccoli and bread. Daddy gave you some broccoli one day at dinner as we were eating and you sat there and gnawed on it and loved it!  Be thankful that your daddy isn't nervous about things like this, because he's the only reason you get to do anything cool, ha!

 I was nervous about you choking, but you did well.  I think your puffs have given you some good practice. :)   You're cute with the puffs too because you seemed to instinctively know how to work your little cup, where you have to reach your hand in to grab some.  You look like such a big boy eating them--especially when you see your cup in the diaper bag, crawl over to it and grab it and start eating them all by yourself.  How did you grow up so fast?
 This month, you've learned SO much.  One of the biggest things is that you're really on the move now--pretty much anywhere you want to get to, you can.

You crawl behind us from room to room--you've gotten so fast!--and you can walk along the furniture to get somewhere.  Sometimes I set you down for a minute to do something and look up and you're gone and I have to go look for you around the house--so crazy!

 But, I can tell that you have mastered crawling now because it's no longer something you're doing 24/7.  You have moments where you'll just sit again too.  It's like you know that you already know how to do it, so you don't have to keep practicing all the time.  I remember you doing the same thing with rolling over and pulling up too.

You are into EVERYTHING these days.  Our house is pretty well baby proofed at this point, but you still manage to find any little bit of anything left on the ground and shove it in your mouth and you love to explore any new thing that's left out.
Your new place to crawl is under the table, but it's horrible because one of two things always happens--you either get stuck or you try to stand up and bonk your head.  I try and let you have a little freedom as we're playing, but I think the table might become an off limits place, at least until you realize you can't stand up, because that wood is hard!


You still love when we open the blinds in your room so you can look outside--and you now like to try and pull on them when I'm trying to rock you to sleep!

Your favorite "no-no's" are definitely the bathroom and the dog crate.  You love to pull down all of the toilet paper and I've definitely caught you with your hand in the toilet once.  You also love the plunger and the little pieces on the bottom of the toilet.  Why is it that things that are dirty and gross are so cool??

You also apparently love the taste of dog food.  I hope you don't think I'm an awful mom for saying this, but you've now put dog food in your mouth on more than one occasion.  I try to keep it all picked up off the floor, but you've learned how to reach your hand in to their kennel and pull out fist fulls of food.  And boy do you throw a full out fit when I empty it out of your hands and mouth!!

You have become very opinionated and definitely let me know when you don't appreciate something I do--which usually involved taking something out of your hands and mouth that you want to eat that I don't want you to eat, like money or plastic or dog food.

We also bought you a little walker this month and you love it!


Your face when your Daddy first set you on it was pricceless--he said you were SO happy!  
It's like you couldn't believe you could walk!  Now, you'll crawl over to it and pull up and start walking with it on your own.  Such a big boy.  I don't know when you'll start walking on your own.  You seem like you're close, but we haven't ever seen you try to take any steps. 

Also, you started to stand on your own around the beginning of this month and now you are super steady.  You stand like it's nothing now and can even do other things, like clap or eat a puff or play with your toys, while your standing.  I think the longest I've seen you stand before dropping down to sit is about 20 seconds. You rarely fall now, though it does happen sometime when you're reaching for something or trying to walk along something, resulting in some nice bangs on furniture.  Usually though, you just drop down to your bottom or to crawling.

Around 9 1/2 months you started really waving.  At first, when you'd do it back to us we weren't sure if it was a wave or not.  But,  in the last couple of weeks you've really started doing it regularly and it's precious!

You also learned how to clap about a week or so ago and now you do it all the time.  I LOVE it!  You just randomly clap all the time.  This morning you started clapping as I was changing your diaper--cracked me up.  At least you weren't trying to twist and flip over and crawl away, which is what you normally do!

You've started really playing independently this month, which is both fun and a little sad to me because it means you're growing up.


I love just watching you though and seeing you play with things and explore on your own.  It's so cute.

You also love playing with people too.  One of your favorite games is peek a boo.  We play by covering and uncovering both our faces and yours and you laugh and smile!  We also play by bending down around things--such as your toys or the counter or he couch--and you've started bending down and standing up to play too (or looking around a corner).  I love it.

You also really love playing in your room.  You watch the fan, climb on your stool, play with the door stops and the door knobs, crawl around, pull toys and books off your shelf, look out the windows.  We usually play in there every morning.  


You also still love books.  You'll sit and look at ALOT of them now and don't get bored.  It's so fun--you'll help lift the flaps and turn the pages and smile at certain parts.  We read pretty much every day.  Two of your favorite books right now are Quick As A Cricket and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?.

We have a lot of little windows that are just the perfect height for you.  You love to crawl over to them and look out--especially if the dogs are playing in the back yard.  :)  You still LOVE being outside, but I guess looking out the window is the next best!


You've started to laugh in expectation of things recently, when you know what's coming. And you have absolutely the best little laugh--especially when you really find something funny!  Like if I'm changing your diaper and your crawl off naked, I'll say "I'm coming to get you" and you'll look at me and laugh as you try to escape.  I guess you're remembering and learning some cause and effect, smart boy!
You also think your Pop is really funny.  He makes funny noises and sounds for you and you smile and laugh.  I love it--I need to get it on video!

You love your feet!  When you're in your carseat, we often look back and see you playing with your feet--banging them together, kicking things or sucking on your big toe.  You're a funny baby.

You also like to use your feet to step on things and you've started trying to climb on things.  You climbed up on your little stool in your room the other day, just like it was no big thing.  You stood there for a while and almost made it back down to the ground, but tumbled over at the last second. I took some pictures of it but you did it after you escaped during a diaper change and were totally naked!

You still love the dogs and get so excited when you see them.  You chase them around the house and crawl to wherever they are.  Occasionally this month they've laid on their bed and let you pet them.  You were in heaven!

You also still love the roomba and have been cracking me up lately with it.  When it comes by you, you've started trying to put your feet on it, instead of grabbing it with your hands.
 
And, you've started turning it off and on with your nose.  I think you got frustrated because you have a hard time pressing the button in the right place with your little hand.
 
These days you often carry something around in your hand as you play and crawl around the house. 
 And, because of this, you've learned how to switch something from one hand to the other when I'm changing your clothes.  Something you even switch it without my prompting--that blew me away.
Your current favorite thing is a spoon from the kitchen.  I can always hear you coming when you're carrying that!


You like taking sips of water from our cup, but make the worst face if it's too cold.  If I let you, you'd rather stick your hand in the cup and suck the water off of your hand!



You make the funniest faces.  You make a little scrunchy face, where you scrunch up your nose and mouth.  So cute.  And, recently you've started sucking air in and out through your nose whenever you get really excited about something.  We're not sure where you picked that up but it's pretty funny,

You're my little helper these days as I do work around the house.  It's fun that you can hang out with me--we talk, sing and play and you are generally happy.
You've started wanting to pull things out of things--toys off of your shelf, books out of the stack I've just made, clothes out of a box, wipes out of the container, clothes out of the dryer.  It's so fun to see  you learning new things.

You discovered the joy of playing in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago, especially now that you can open the cabinets.

You can't open the refrigerator door yet, but if I was ever to leave it open for sec (don't worry babe--that never really happens!), you'd be all about sticking your feet into it.

 We've started wearing you in the backpack carrier this month and you love it!  You're up high and can see everything and you just hang out.  We took you to the park in it one day and I use it a lot to do dishes or cook when you want to be with me.


A couple of weeks ago we had gone out for a run and I turned the water on to take a shower, set you down on the floor and walked into the living room to get my water bottle.  I usually put you in your bouncer didn't this time for some reason and in the few seconds I was gone, you headed straight into the shower!  I came running back in when I heard your little panicky cries--you were directly under the water, facing up looking at it, frozen.  It was like you had no idea what was going on!  It's a little funny now, but I'm just so thankful you didn't get hurt.  You definitely got soaked though.  So, I guess we can say you took your first shower this month. :)

Most days though, you just take a bath in the regular bathtub, like a big boy--you've definitely outgrown your ducky tub and like playing in the big tub. Some days you want to play and play and some days you're over it after a few minutes though.

You also slept in a pack n play for the first time at your Aunt Eli's house.  As long as you had your lovie, you were good to go.
 Your hair is actually getting a little long on the sides and in the back, but still sparse on top.  It's looking like it'll be lighter, like your daddy's.  And, no more teeth this month--still just the two on top and two on bottom.
 You're still a great car baby, after we get through the initial trauma of getting in the carseat.  And I love how you started crossing your legs like this when you ride in the car most times now.
 We got caught in our first rainstorm while out running errands about a week ago.  You loved it--you screamed and started bouncing up and down and kicking your feet!  I was glad we had an umbrella though! 
 Sweet Aedan, you make life so much fun.  Our prayer is that as you grow, you would know deep in your heart how much we love you, but even more so how much God loves you and that you would love Him back with your whole heart.  I know He has big plans for your life and I can't wait to see it unfold.