10 Months Old

Nicholas is 10 months old.  Sometimes it's really hard to believe.  And yet, it's getting hard to remember our family before he joined it.

Eating:  He loves food.  Black beans seem to be his favorite, but there has been very little he's turned down.  Yogurt is the only thing I see him consistently rejecting.  Sometimes he loves baby food, other times he prefers table.  I guess it just depends on how hungry he is.  Milk varies from 8-16 ounces with the babysitter (3 bottles) with 2-3 nursing sessions with me.  He tolerates formula if it's warm enough.

Sleeping:  Nicholas has become a decent nighttime sleeper.  He goes down consistently between 7 and 7:30 and was waking at 4 to eat.  A week ago I started to wean the 4am feeding.  This morning was the first day without a "dream feed" and he lasted until 5.  He will still have occasional "cry outs" which are not enough to really wake him, but are just enough to wake us.  At least we can go back to sleep rather quickly and we are not having to even get out of bed.  He takes two naps a day.  A good day is 2 naps of 1.5 - 2 hours each.  An average day is one nap of 1.5 -2 hours in the morning and the car ride home in the afternoon.

Activities:  Nicholas loves bath time.  He likes to splash and dump water out of a small cup.  He crawls quickly now and pulls up on everything, cruising around furniture.  A few times he's been seen standing without support, but it generally lasts only a few seconds and often times we aren't sure he realizes he's doing it.   He loves to play the piano.  I recently got an upright so he'll pull up and reach up to play a few notes.  He also likes to play the toy piano and dance.  His favorite toy is his push car that helps him walk around.

Language:  Nicholas loves to "talk."  He's made approximations of mama, dada, dame (give me in Spanish), and mas (more in Spanish).  He will also sign "more".  All of these, except for an occasional "mama" are done by repeating an adult.

Other cute stuff:  He is learning to give kisses.  He recognizes the word "Beso" (Spanish for kiss) and will open his mouth a little and lean in as though to give you one.  It's pretty cute.

He loves to make all sorts of noises.  They accompany his play with cars often.  He loves to raise his hands above his hands.  Sometimes it's to show you something, sometimes it's to wave.

Outtakes:

Apology Accepted

One night earlier this week (I want to say New Year's Eve, but I'm not sure), Mikaela had a major meltdown at bedtime resulting in many, many tears, and for lack of a better description, an anxiety attack.  Mike and I were very concerned about this behavior and how to go about it without "giving in", undermining our parenting, but also reaching her and calming her down.  Eventually, we did.  It was odd, so we did a little research to see how we might combat, and ultimate prevent something like this from occurring again.  Then last night, as I was putting her to bed, we did our normal routine, reading "The Story", saying our prayers, etc.  When prayers were done, and we were saying goodnight, she said, "Mom, I'm sorry I did all that crying the other night."

I was blown away.  We had never mentioned that night to her.  I promptly told her her apology was accepted, she was forgiven, and used the opportunity to reassure her of my love and more importantly God's unconditional love for her.

I have a long way to go in my own spiritual life, but I am so thankful for my kids.  It has helped me in a way I could have never imagined.  Being their mother, loving them like I do, helps me understand, just a little, how much God loves me.  Me, the queen of meltdowns.

I hate that Mikaela had that "episode", but I'm so grateful for how it pointed me and her to Christ.  May 2014 be full of Christ-centered moments.