10 months old!

I think my "baby" is no longer a "baby". He has grown so much in the past month! It has really been a crazy one! Between being us all being sick, a few tornado scares, Jarrod being gone for three weeks, Stratton learning to crawl, birthday parties, showers, mother's day . . . . it's been hectic to say the least!

Play: He is such a busy, busy boy now! He has already learned how to open drawers and cabinet doors, pull or push things off tables, he has head butted just about every piece of furniture we own-and has the bruises to prove it- and he is mastering the art of pulling up. . . . and falling over! He loves to be outside! My dad bought him a new wagon (like the one Carson and Olivia had that he liked) yesterday and took him for a ride yesterday evening, he said he loved it, so I guess we will be going for walks pulling a wagon now. He likes the cat and the dog, he gets so excited just watching them! He also likes books, well eating them anyway! We try and read to him every night, but it's hard when he is constantly trying to grab at them!

Sleep: Stratton usually goes down sometime between 8:30 and 9:00pm. And he is almost always bright eyed and ready to get up and go by 6:00am. And it doesn't matter what time you put him to bed he is always up early. I think we just have an early riser on our hands- great. Lately he wakes up and will play in his crib for awhile, he rarely fusses when he wakes up. He takes 2-3 naps a day. There have been a few days where he didn't nap at all- that makes for a fun evening. I know it must be hard to slow down and take a nap at daycare when there is so much going on, but he is so much more pleasant when he gets good naps!

Food: He is finally eating small pieces of food like a champ! I was amazed at how quickly he caught on to feeding himself! Anything he can eat with his hands he is into. He LOVES puffs and those yogurt melts, they are such a life saver!! Instant happiness for a fussy baby! He is eating 4-5 tbsp. of cereal in the morning along with a container of fruit for breakfast, a container of veggies and a container of fruit for lunch and the same thing for supper except depending on what it is we might give him some more cereal. We are in between stage 2 and stage 3 foods. He doesn't seem to be picky, except it doesn't seem like he like anything with tomato sauce, like the step 3 spaghetti or lasagna. He is still taking about 5-6 bottles a day, 6 oz in the morning and at night before bed and then 4 oz along with his meals and one around 3pm for a snack. He absolutely will not hold his bottle. My mom says I never held mine either, so maybe it's hereditary, I think it's just pure laziness though!  He really doesn't like the sippy cup-even the ones with the straws he might take a little water out of, but no way will he take his formula in one! In fact he gets pretty upset when you try to do so! But he at least he will hold those, so maybe someday soon we can get him weaned off those bottles!

Clothes: He is wearing mostly 12 months or 12-18 months. I am really glad it's time for shorts!! We can actually put him in 9 mo size shorts since his waist is so skinny. Pants in a 9 mo size however, look like man-capri's-not cool. So, those we have to buy the bigger size, as we have to in body suits and one pieces. His torso is so long that he needs at least a 12 mo for the length! I broke down and bought several things from Target a few weeks back. Going to daycare is really messy!

Miscellaneous other stuff: This kids LOVES to take a bath! I think he would stay in there for hours if we would let him!! He has 7 teeth, might possibly be working on #8 right now? He loves kids and likes to watch other kiddos running and playing. He has also just started to have a little bit of separation anxiety from me. I hear it's pretty common at this age!