10 Months Old Today

Where does the time go? Seriously, I must start every post about Caden's recent milestones with this same sentence, but it seems like just yesterday I laid eyes on my precious little boy for the first time. My eyes just fill with tears remembering that moment. There is nothing more magical than welcoming a new life in to the world!


These past 10 months seem like a blur. It's often very hard to see how much Caden is changing and growing from our vantage point because we see him every day.... but when we look back at pictures of him we hardly recognize the baby in them!! He's still a baby, but he's getting to be a boy much to soon! I cherish those rare moments when he will lay his head on my chest and let me rock or hold him. You see, he is much too busy for cuddles and hugs. He likes to laugh, babble, and move!

The last time I wrote a post like this Caden was just 7.5 months old and so much has changed! Back then, he was just starting to really get his walker figured out. Now, he is crawling all over the house, standing up on everything, and even cruising a little here and there. He loves to be on the move. He crawls around on one knee and uses the other foot to push himself along! It's so funny to watch. When he is really excited about something, he throws his arms up so high over his head with each "step" he makes. Sometimes he gets to going so fast with those arms swinging up so high that they don't get back down in time to catch him and he goes face first on to the hard floors... that is one pitiful little cry when that happens. It's funny how quickly babies figure out how to "show off." Caden knows when he is doing something cute!

One of his favorite games right now is playing 'chase' with Daddy. Daddy will get behind Caden as he crawls and say "I'm gonna get you!!" Caden responds with squeals and giggles and that 'show off' type crawl I just described where his arms swing up toward the ceiling as he tries to get away from Daddy before he is 'captured.' He also loves his Lion Toy (as we call it, but it's a push walker that looks like a lion). He figured out how to walk behind it on his own when he was around 9 months old. He hasn't quite mastered the art of turning it when he gets stuck!

Caden has also figured out that showing off for people in public is great fun! I think I mentioned in my post about our trip to Seoul that Caden saw all the people on the VERY silent subway looking at him and decided he needed to make some noise and entertain the people! Well, that love of being in the spotlight has continued and is getting worse! Caden loves to get people's attention with smiles and squeals. When we go out to eat he wants to command the attention of the entire room with his squeals and yells. So, we have pretty much banned ourselves from eating out with Caden from now on, or at least until we outgrow this phase. We've found no amount of food, attention, toys, discipline, etc can get him to stop screaming and that most of those things actually make it worse because we respond to him. Once he gets tired of hearing his voice we'll hopefully be able to dine in public (as a family) again!

Caden is always on the move. There are very few toys that can keep his attention these days, but one sure-fire way to get him to sit still is to give him something round. He loves balls, wheels, and anything else that is round. He still loves his Moo Toy (the little truck with a cow that goes 'mooo' when you press the cow) and spends a lot of time playing with the wheels on it. Just recently he has learned to roll it around on the floor! Boys are just born knowing how to do this stuff aren't they!?!

I've been reading books to Caden since he was in my belly, but only recently has he (finally) taken an interest in them. He is still not so interested in the story/words, but is fascinated with turning the pages. It's a start and I'll take it! I want so much for Caden to love to read! He will gladly turn the pages to any book, but his favorite one right now is "That's Not My Puppy!" (Thanks Mel!!) That particular book has really neat things to feel on all the pages.. not your typical "touchy feely" book!

His daily routine hasn't changed much since the 7.5 month point. He still eats breakfast at 7, lunch at 11, a snack at 3, and dinner at 6. Bedtime is 7pm and he still sleeps through the night. The big difference is that he is now sleeping in his crib, unswaddled! He has been waking up closer to 6am ever day instead of his usual 7am, but who can complain about 11 hours of sleep! I think it has more to do with it becoming light outside around 5:30am than anything else. I still try to maintain a normal wake time of around 7am though and leave him in his crib to talk and play until 6:45 or 7:00.

Just in the last month (started around 9 months) Caden's naps have been inconsistent. He used to take two, two hour naps ever day (9-11 and 1-3), but lately they have been shorter than two full hours. I'm trying to figure out what to do next still because I think this may be his gradual transition to just one nap a day. I hope it doesn't happen to soon, though!

Caden still doesn't have his first tooth! The doctor thinks it will poke through sometime before his first birthday though. I'm anxious to increase the solids he can eat, but right now I've just about introduced everything I can (or feel comfortable with) that he can eat without teeth! He loves his finger foods! He gets really excited when he knows he is about to get something to eat! He has been introduced to all the Stage 3 meals now and his favorite is probably the Lasagna with Meat Sauce.

Caden isn't saying any words yet, but soon enough. He babbles all kinds of different sounds and my favorite is his new "whisper" sound when he will go "Gee, gee, gee" really loudly, and then a softer version of the same word like he is whispering it! I love it! He is making several consonant and vowel sounds (the "gee" above is a soft G like a 'j'- wasn't sure if I should spell it gee or gi). He says dee dee, baa baa, bye bye (though he doesn't know this is an actual word yet), mmm, duh duh (almost dada, but more of a uh sound), buh, buh, and a "thuh" sound. He really likes to do the "th" sound which I find very unusual... He says several others I can't think of right now! Caden has never liked to mimic our sounds like some babies do, but he sure lights up in a smile when we try to babble with him!

I've noticed a surge in energy with Caden lately. It seems that as he gets older the more energy he surprises me with every day! He will literally crawl around the house in circles just to be moving. He will be panting and out of breath, but still going. He is so much fun at this age and we enjoy every moment we have with him! He's our little "Caden Boy."