10 Months

Yes, Allen is now 10 months old. Officially, it was Friday, but who's counting?! He decided to mark the occasion with a climb...up the stairs...from the bottom to the top. Yep...he made it up all 13 steps with very few mistakes and no tumbles! I was freaking out, standing right behind him the whole time, but he did it all himself. Patrick grabbed the camera and snapped some shots...

Allen was definitely proud of himself and just laughed the whole way up! Drew did not attempt the stairs until he was about 13 months. Oh how the second child moves faster!

Saturday, after dinner, I was cleaning up the kitchen while Drew and Daddy took out the trash and watered the plants outside. Allen had finished his food and was getting very fussy in his highchair. He pulls on his bib when he is done and tonight it popped up and landed on the tray of the chair. He got really quiet and I looked over...he had discovered the pocket at the bottom of the bib was full of food! He was just sitting there...picking out rice, cracker crumbs, etc. and eating with all his might! I laughed so hard...I just had to take a picture. (And yes, it was a clean bib so there wasn't any old food in it!)


Here is a brief recap of Allen's 10th month...
Activities:
Sitting up
Clapping
Pulling up (on everything...including Maddie!)
Standing in bed (like a little caged monkey...)
Crawling
Cruising
Climbing stairs

Physical/Medical:
No new teeth (seriously?!)
Ear Tubes
Back peddling on sleep...up 1-2x/night
Startled by loud noises

Social:
All smiles!
Loves to laugh...especially at Drew and Maddie
Loves to sing songs (Itsy Bitsy Spider is his favorite)
Does not like to read books...at all...it means sitting still!
Smiles the biggest smile you have ever seen when the Jakers! theme song comes on (Drew gets to watch it at night while Allen has his bath...I let Allen watch the song before we head off)

Food:
Prefers anything he gets to feed to himself - favorites are bananas and Ritz crackers
Could really do without his bottle...he has to sit too still!
Is very impatient during meals...either feed me or let's move on!

Allen's personality is definitely showing through. He is always on the move, going quickly from one toy to another. He really prefers toys that make noise or play music. Our "baby" toys are becoming obsolete...he would rather play with Drew's toys any time! He had grown attached to his "lovie" for bedtime. Luckily we have four! (2 bunnies, a lamb and an elephant) And even though he is going full speed all the time, he is still very loving and gives great hugs!