TEN months

Wow, I have fallen behind on my regular posts because I have been diligent about getting my thirty days of thankful posts up each day. I never thought that posting each day would be so stressful ( I kid, I kid).

sit still? haha. yeah right, mama.

But something worth blogging happened this past week.

Sal turned TEN months old.

If there has been any one month that I've seen the most dramatic change in both growth and development, it's been these last four weeks. Four weeks ago, we returned from our trip to the states with a little 18 pounder who was just learning how to stand holding onto somthing for dear life. He could pull to a stand, freeze, and trust-fall with no one to catch him. And now, I sit on the sofa, marvelling as my 20 pound son re-arranges furniture ( namely, kitchen chairs) around the house. Slick tile and hardwood floors make for awesome chair sliding. Who needs a walker when you've got chairs?


Movin' chairs

Not this guy.

He pulls himself up, and maneuvers with ease. He can bend over and pick something up with one hand. He has a better awareness of his surroundings, and falls much less than he did just last week.

It's amazing. It really is.

He also got his first haircut, by yours truly, and although I was afraid I'd hack it, it didn't turn out half bad. We also started brushing his teeth since he now has eight teeth, with two more on the way. This kid seems to get his teeth in fours. Cah-razy.

Along with the cutting of teeth, we've also been victims of sleep disturbances over the past few weeks. At first I blamed jetlag, then I blamed teeth, and now, well---I'm not sure what it is. He is waking without fail,every night at 10:00p and sometimes again around 2:00a. We let him cry it out, and he goes  back to sleep 75% of the time, the other 25% it escalates, so we get up and change his diaper, feed him and put him back to bed.

He had a visit with our pediatrician here this past week, and he has grown 5 cm (1.5 inches) and gained just under 1 kilo ( 2 lbs) in 5 weeks time. Perhaps all this growing is contributing to the nightly wake up? Who knows, but that's a whole heck of a lot of growing to do in such a short period of time. It's been his biggest spurt yet.

Sal is an eater. His favorite foods this month have been spaghetti with dad's sauce, blueberries, fresh pumpkin and mama's homemade goldfish crackers. He'll try anything once. Sometimes even twice. The only food he continues to refuse are peas. I find it funny, because he will eat things like capsicum and kidney beans, but not sweet peas. He has also decided that breastfeeding-is-so-last-month and has weened himself off on his own accord. I finally gave up trying to force the issue, and grumble, grumble my way into the kitchen to scoop out the formula. It was a good run while it lasted. To be honest, I never thought I would last as long as I have and am totally okay with being done.

The toy of the month.

As far as playtime, this month has been so fun. It's so rewarding to watch him grow up into this little man. We spend a lot of time with other children, generally a year older than his age, and he does his best to keep up with them. He's quite observant and there are times it looks as if he wants to say, "Hey guys, throw the ball to me!". I want to tell him, "It's just a matter of time, bubba..You'll be off running with the boys, having the time of your life." He has a fondness for anything with wheels, so I treated him to a few little construction trucks that he has spent hours rolling around on the floor, sofa, and his dad.

We love you Salvatore!