Caleb 10 Months

Photo Credits: Hope Photography 

Age: 10 months
Weight: 27lbs
Size clothes: Hard to tell! Mostly 24 month but squeezing into them. I don't know what to do next because they don't make onesies beyond 24 months. Do they have a plus-sized baby line? Or clothing line made for baby giants?

Interests: Caleb has taken up the sport of throwing balls. Actually he will throw everything that makes a noise when it hits another object. He thoroughly enjoys tossing a ball around with himself. Crawling still remains his main hobby and he has added climbing over things into the mix. If I put a big pillow in a doorway tp stop him from entering that room, he will say "Challenge accepted mom. I bet I can try to scale that!". He loves to try to climb over daddy when they are snuggling in bed. Caleb is in the "deconstruction" stage of development right now, when he tries to take everything apart, knock over towers I build, take object out of boxes, remove all the books from his bookshelf, and take all the puzzle pieces out of his puzzles. A few weeks from now he will enter the "building" stage, so right now  am cherishing how fun it is to watch him gallop towards a tower to knock down every single block. Every block must be leveled.

Challenges: Sleep is a challenge right now. Caleb has been on a constant growth spurt since I returned from visiting my family in the Bay Area a few weeks ago. He eats 2-3 times at night and he chugs. He must really need those extra calories for that massive brain that must be growing in his noggin. The good thing is he doesn't stay awake for hours (usually) but the broken sleep is exhausting. It is not recommended to night wean until your child is at least one year of age am I can see why. He is truly getting quality nutrition at night. The second biggest challenge has been to keep him out of the kitchen. We don't have a gate or contraption that is big enough to git through our kitchen entryway and right now our kitchen is not safe for him to play around in. We have been temporarily blocking it off with our coffee table and a couch cushion but our little climber takes this as a challenge and will try to scale the cushion or push the coffee table. Oh vey. At least we know he is super persistent!

Milestones: Caleb is now consistently saying "mama", "Mum",  "Mehm""Dadada, "Da", and "Deh" when he desires that particular parent. It is the sweetest thing to hear your child request you by name! Just this morning John asked Caleb "Buddy, do you want mama?", to which Caleb loudly responded while jumping out of his seat next to dad, "MEM!!". My hear is so full during these moments. Caleb is also banging two object together and if he could get his hands on some cymbals he might never stop playing with them. Caleb definitely recognizes his name now and will turn when called.  He is giving us "kisses" which equates to him bulldozing us with his face while his mouth is open. He has actually pushed John off the floor bed by nuzzling into him super hard! He is an intense cuddler. Another interesting milestone that is developing is parental preference and separation uncertainty. When one of us leaves the room he is playing in he might start to cry and become upset. I might be playing with him in his room but when he sees dad walk by the door all he wants is to play with John. This typically occurs between 9-12 months.

Eating/sleeping/pooping: Caleb has expanded his tastes in food! He is actually consuming a bit more during feeding. He continues to love beef and chicken liver, scrambled egg yolks, sweet potatoes, coconut oil, and zucchini. We have added cooked pear, cooked apple, cooked carrots, and squashes into the mix. So far most of it ends up not in his mouth but he sure is having fun! Since we don't have a dog to clean up the mess it makes it hard for me to prioritize feeding him solids.  Can we just nurse until he can ask for solid food? I mean, seriously I can make the food in my sleep, always have an open tap, don't need to clean up a floor, a face, and a highchair, and can never leave my boobs at home when we are out and about. In all seriousness my breastfeeding goal is 2 years, the World Health Organization's recommended minimum.  Sleeping? Caleb takes 1-2 naps a day. If it is 1 nap it is usually 3-3.5 hours! If it is two naps they can vary from 1-3 hours each. Bedtime has been a lot earlier recently due to Caleb's desire to rise with the birds at 5am. Let's talk poop. Can I just say that this in between breastmilk and solids business is plain old nasty? Especially with cloth diapers. Yet another reason I dislike solids.

Funny Memory:   This month I bought an ikea potty chair because they were finally back after a 1 year worldwide shortage. I didn't want to miss the boat again. John laughed at me and asked why I was getting it. "Oh, they might run out again! It's never to early to start with toilet awareness!", I pipped. Ensue massive internal eye roll from husband. The next morning I put Caleb on it just for fun and he peed. He seriously peed. On. The. Potty. I thought it was a happy accident but decided to try again a few more times that day. Lo and behold, he went two more times. I had considered doing elimination communication with him at 6 months and just got lazy and never tried. I researched it again and started implementing several times during the day where I would take him to pee. After 1 week Caleb was going 4-5x a day and having 1-3 wet diapers, usually during naps. He now will get fussy when he needs to pee and will hold it for up to 3 hours so that he can empty himself on his little potty chair. He must really be aware of when he is wet and doesn't like the sensation (I mean, would you sit around in a wet t-shirt for more than 10 minutes?) and enjoys avoiding getting wet. I don't have any expectations for this to last or to make this "potty learning". For right now, our little squirt can squirt all he wants on the potty or decide he likes the ease of a diaper for those satisfying uninterrupted tinkles when he is playing. This phenomenon continues to make me giggle and be impressed at the same time with my wise little son.

Want to see more pics of our trip up to the Bay Area? Check out my sister's photography blog Hopefolio. Photo Credits Hope Photography 2014.