We've ALMOST Made It!!

To one year old, that is! Brady turned TEN months on Saturday and as much as I'd like to say that I can't believe it, I kind of can! He's a busy man these days and I have so enjoyed watching him develop day by day. I feel like between 9 and 10 months he has changed the very most. He's definitely a thinker and a man on the move, but has all of a sudden started to LOVE cuddling.

The only "thing he can do" now is that he gives high fives. If you hold your hand up for him, he'll basically 'pat-a-cake' it until you get tired. He thinks it's totally silly. I've been trying to teach him to clap on his own, but he's not quite sure about it yet. He looks like he's ALMOST going to do it and then he moves on to something else. He loves singing Old McDonald. He laughs when we make the animal noises... especially the 'woof woof'. I'm still attempting the sign language because I've heard that'll kick in after a year, but I'm about ready to give up on that too!

We have definitely hit the stage where Brady will drop things - on purpose. I was kind of hoping that we'd skip this, but nope.... it's in full swing. He throws his paci across the room at nap time, although I think the past few days we've gotten over that. We had to do the whole "Cry it Out" thing all over again when that started to happen. He only gets his pacifier in his crib and in the car, so when he drops them, they're gone. I hate it when I'm driving down the road and all of a sudden I hear this little bounce noise and I know he's dropped his pacifier. Oh well. We had a few screaming car rides, but now he's good. We are having issues with the dropping food on purpose too. Oh man. The "High Chair Manners" are a beating.... I'm having the hardest time with it. I'm trying to teach him not to whine for his food, but that's not quite working. It just manages to get worse and worse, and I have to think it's because he's truly hungry. Any help with this?

We had our second run-in with the fire department this week. When we arrived at our first Bible Study for the semester, I was too busy talking to my friends when I was getting the stroller out of the trunk that I shut my keys in there. I didn't even hesitate, I just called the fire department. They were there within five minutes, sans sirens, thank goodness! Monica pointed out that perhaps Brady's just destined to be a fireman!

The Bug is talking a lot more but isn't making any connection to things yet. He says, "da-da", "ba-ba", "ma-ma", "na-na" and "la-la" but not toward anything or anyone. (That's why I've not been super excited about the mama thing.... it's not really toward me and he can only make the "M" noise when his mouth is full of food!!) Speaking of food, we've been doing a lot of table foods but can't fully rely on them yet since we don't have ANY teeth! I read somewhere recently that the average 9 month old has 3 teeth.... well, we're definitely not average then, right? Sometimes he LOVES table food and sometimes he doesn't have the patience for it. It depends on the day, I guess. We've done waffles, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, Lunchables, Jr., mac and cheese, grapes, bananas, green beans, string cheese, tater tots, tortillas, crackers, spaghetti, cantaloupe and honey dew melon. The veggies are the hardest thing to do with him right now since we don't eat at the same time, typically. I usually just do a pureed veggie in addition to what he normally eats. As far as the sippy cup goes, he does great with one, but NOT for his milk. He won't take his formula from a sippy cup. Do I just force it or do I just wait until we switch to real milk?

Anyway, I've been kind of doing the "single mom" thing while Jeff gets closer and closer to the Bar exam. (Two weeks from tomorrow, I might add). It's definitely not been as bad as I thought it would be, but as Jeff would say... "the hardest part is yet to come". I do have the utmost respect for single moms (except that crazy octuplet mom) and for those of you who go it alone a lot because your hubbies travel. Whew. By 7:45 I'm beat. It's all I can do to pick up the toys, throw the bottles in some soapy hot water and crawl in bed. I am so thankful for my parents and my in-laws who so often give me a 'break'. I don't know what I would do without them in town right now. Yesterday, however, Jeff spent the afternoon studying at the house instead of the Library, and was reminded of why he can't study at home. :) When the Bug realized that his daddy was home, he crawled right on over to his chair and pulled up on it and started patting his leg. Of course, what Daddy can resist that? I had to snap some pictures! (Oh, and Brady has started doing this new thing of closing his eyes when the flash is coming!!)