TEN Months Old!

What. A. Month! It seems that this month has taken Luke from a baby-baby to an almost-toddler! At the beginning of the month, he was just mastering his army crawl and was starting to realize that things existed in the plane above his head. Fast forward to now and he is moving as fast as lightening (as evidenced today when he beat me to the laundry room and had the cats' water bowl emptied before I got to him!) and is climbing on EVERYTHING. He is cruising from his activity table to his tool chest to the ottoman to the sofa- he can pretty much get anywhere he wants to go. He doesn't like being contained in his pack and play (or in anything else, for that matter), but mama has to make dinner somehow!

He weighs right at 20 pounds and is about 30 inches long. He is wearing mostly 12 month clothes now and is still in a size 3 diaper. And speaking of diapers, oh. my. goodness. I think it would be easier to diaper one of the cats. When I put him on his changing table, he immediately flips over and tries to climb off. If I change him on the floor, he just crawls away with that little nakey booty up in the air. I've found my best technique is to change him while he is standing up - I cannot wait until he can wear the size 4 diapers - I will FOR SURE be switching to the type that just pull on.

He NEVER sits still and is always on the go. He wants to know what I am doing at all times and wants to hold/touch/eat whatever I have. He seems to have no fear and will go to anyone or investigate anything! In the picture below, he is trying to eat the camera. It is so fun to see him be so curious!

One of his favorite little tricks is to pull things off of shelves and cabinets. I have moved everything (I think ;-) that is dangerous to shelves that he can't reach! He will pull up on anything that he can get a grasp on and then will explore whatever it is that he finds! He loves to play with his books, loves to turn the pages, and loves to point to different things on the pages. He smiles when I get his favorite books out and gets so excited when he turns the pages.

One of the cutest things he does is at bathtime - we have been pretty consistent with his bedtime routine since he was about a month old, so he is starting to know the drill. Once we take his clothes and diaper off, he now crawls into the bathroom and pulls up on the tub and tries to climb over the edge - he LOVES his bath! He kicks and plays and would stay in there for hours if we would let him. He likes his bath toys, but his favorite thing to play with in the tub is the stadium cup we use to rinse him - he puts his whole face in it and then talks and squawks - he likes to hear how his voice sounds from inside the cup!

Unfortunately, he has had two more ear infections over the past six weeks - we are meeting with an ENT tomorrow afternoon and I think tubes are in our immediate future. I know that tubes are a very routine procedure, but it still scares me to think about having to put him under anesthesia. I don't want to continue to need antibiotics all the time, so I guess this will be a good solution. He starts Mother's Day Out in September, so I hope that the tubes will prevent every little cold from turning into a raging ear infection. We will see!

His two bottom teeth are almost completely in and his two top teeth are making their entrance! The top right tooth is in more than the left and it is just SO cute. Cutting these top teeth has been quite the production. It seems like the bottom teeth just popped up...not so with the top ones. They seem to have caused him quite a bit of pain and discomfort - sucking on his washcloths and some of his teething rings has seemed to help - hopefully we are in the home stretch on this!

He has started to babble more and more. He says dada and baba and kihkih - I don't think he is actually associating those sounds with anything specific, but he sure loves to say them. He also loves to yell out and make very loud noises! We were in the grocery store last week and he just randomly yelled out - it was hysterical. He kept doing it throughout the store - he got tickled at himself and just did it more and more.

He has also started to look at some objects when I say the names - he definitely knows "kitty" and "dada" and "book" - we are working on adding more items to his little vocabulary every day!

A few days ago, Luke was playing in the hallway and things got a little too quiet - I quickly investigated to see what he was up to and found that he had discovered the toilet paper. Great. He had the best time unrolling it and then playing with it. We are now taking extra precautions to make sure that all of the bathroom doors are closed/toilet lids are down/etc - who knew the bathroom could be this much fun?

He is still nursing like a champ (about 5 times a day) and is a huge fan of finger foods. In fact, he refuses to be spoon fed - he wants to do it himself. He eats pretty much everything that we do and has liked everything he has tried. He loves chicken and is a huge fan of waffles. He has started to drink water from a sippy cup or through a straw quite well, although he still refuses to drink milk from a cup or a bottle - hopefully he will get the hang of it before Mother's Day Out starts next month! 

I have about given up on him sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. For a little while, he was sleeping from 7-4, then from 7-5, but now he is back waking once or twice. Between the ear infections and the teething, I haven't wanted to push it - he relaxes immediately once I pick him up - I just can't resist. Once we're on the mend, I might try to push him through, but for now, I am just not going to worry about it. On a positive note, he is napping much more consistently! Sometimes naps push past the hour mark, but they are usually at least 45 minutes - enough time for me to get at least one chore (or a quick nap - ha!) in.

Speaking of chores, one of the funny things he is doing right now is chasing the broom and vacuum. He is OBSESSED with both of them. When I sweep, he chases the dirt pile around and tries to touch the broom. He wants to be on top of the vacuum and loves to play with the cord. Needless to say, he has to stay in his pack and play while I am cleaning these days!

I simply cannot believe how fast time has gone. I am currently planning his first birthday party and just cannot believe it is time to be doing that - how did this happen?

We love him more and more every minute - we are just so grateful for this little man!