Samuel: 10 months

Only one more of these monthly posts (after this) before our boy turns ONE YEAR OLD.  Almost impossible to believe.

This month, I've definitively decided we have a redhead on our hands.  Some days it looks like the color above (no denying the orange hue), and others it's more subtle like strawberry blond or auburn, but it's there. 

I think Samuel has gotten a lot more fun to James recently - he is faster at getting around (still an army crawl), and does more with toys than just chew on them (though that remains the primary activity).  But also, Sam has started getting angry when James takes his toys from him... working on sharing!  Above, he is playing with James at the play space inside the mall.



As referenced above, Samuel has got quite the speedy army crawl.  He bounces and rocks on his hands and knees but doesn't get anywhere, so he's happy to resort to dragging himself with his forearms :)  He has also pulled up several times to his knees to reach something.

Our feeding paradigm shifted just in the last week.  I have been trying to get Sam to feed himself, but he would just pick up something and then shake it off his hand, as if he didn't like getting his fingers dirty.  But then, he realized IT'S FOOD!  He is still happy to be spoon-fed (thankfully, since we need to use up our frozen purees), but he is also quite proficient at feeding himself with his almost-pincer-grasp and his two little bottom front teeth.  And we've been working on a sippy cup, though he mostly prefers to chew on it rather than drink anything from it.

Sampling of new foods:

Plain yogurt

Egg (yolk and white)

Salmon

Peaches

Cherries

Summer squash

Whole wheat pasta (our go-to: fusili)

Hard to know what his favorites are, because he just gobbles up everything, though the peaches and summer squash disappeared quicker than most.  I'm so impressed, because he even fed himself the salmon without hesitation!

I don't want to call it his first word yet, but I think Samuel says "da" in reference to Stuart.  These last few weeks after Stuart returned to work, when Samuel wakes up and I carry him downstairs, Samuel will whisper "da" and look around.  I now realize that it could also be his word for James ;)  Because he always looks for James first when he first wakes up.

Sam is still quite the good sleeper, with bedtime at 7pm, easily sleeping until 7am or later the next morning, and two naps during the day (typically around 9am and 1:30pm - the second one timed to correspond with James napping!).  He almost always wakes up happy, just chatting with himself and checking out his rain drop mobile until I come in to get him.

He is our sweetest darling, and it is so fun watching him grow!