Tenth Month

Development

He worked on cruising this month! He takes about 3 steps along furniture. He loves to stand, usually with support (both from adult supervision and from his hand grabbing something), but sometimes he'll stand without any support for up to 20 seconds. He'll stand at LeapFrog and cruise from end to end, and he'll also turn around. Karston even learned to steady himself (while jumping silly) in Jumperoo! He has a couple of common phrases now. He says Hey Dada when he's happy (Daddy should be proud! even though he's said it while nursing too), Momomomom when he's getting fussy (hey!), and Ish when he's exerting himself.

Layette

We moved on to size 3 diapers this month now that he's solidly above 17 pounds. We tried size 3 diapers back at 16 pounds since previous diaper sizes were best at the low end of the range, but size 3 were too big then. He still wears 9-12 month onesies and rompers. Clothing that doesn't go on over his head is easier ... setting him down to dress works best.

Feeding

He's back to nursing more, I think for comfort not for calories. He ate more food at the start and end of this month, with a big dip in appetite in the middle. His sharp new teeth can make that ... umm ... less than pleasant for me. In fact, I have scabs for the first time since the first month (not nearly as bad as then, though).

Sleeping

Well, he got two new teeth this month. That means he wants comfort, he wants to cuddle, but he doesn't want to sleep. However, if he cries himself to sleep in 10 minutes, he usually doesn't wake up as often at night which makes the crying much easier to take. If he really gets to crying though, he'll never sleep, and then we'll never sleep (for up three hours, ugh). Plus he can really fight off the afternoon nap sometimes. We don't swaddle him anymore because he fights it.

Furniture

Passing 16 pounds meant the end of Baby Bjorn: it was a wonderful baby carrier while it lasted, but he's awfully heavy to hang off the front like that. The baby backpack has been wonderful, but when he stands on tiptoes, he's really close to falling out. He got a Jumperoo that's been great for burning off extra energy. The Intellitainer back in business if he stands around it, not trapped in the bucket. Also, we used the bigger baby bathtub for over a month. So he's really bigger now.

Travel

He says a street fair so fun, and stairs are so funny. We have plane tickets for June, so more travel coming.

Mom

I'd like to sleep. Some days it's tough to go in to work, and I'm glad I like what I do enough that it energizes me so that I can usually overcome it. Today I fell asleep for 20 minutes while trying to get him down for his afternoon nap. I was zonked out!

Total weight loss: down 10 pounds (from conception weight) and still holding.