10 Months Old

I cannot believe that we have a 10 month old!I am still amazed at how much you continue to change.You are still as independent as ever, however you have started to snuggle a bit more (which melts my heart!)
You truly are the happiest baby 99.9% of the time, and only ever get fussy when you are tired.Your personality is really coming through.You LOVE to laugh and will laugh at just about anything (especially when Bella whines).
Last month was a trying time for temper tantrums, and I am VERY pleased to say that they are subsiding quite a bit.  You have also stopped screaming for our attention (for the most part).
Funny observation: you sneeze EVERY morning during breakfast - and it normally happens within the first 3 bites of oatmeal.  Daddy FINALLY started paying attention and the amount of oatmeal you get all over him has decreased quite a bit :)
You took 2 unassisted steps this past month...I think you would've taken more however you saw me watching and immediately sat down.
I am busy planning your first birthday party.Here's a hint on the theme...M I C...K E YM O U S E
Because, let's face it... as much as you are our little monkey - you LOVE LOVE LOVE Mickey!It seems so weird to be planning - it's like we JUST brought you home!
Lots more birthday updates on future posts!

Baby Stats
Sleep:  11-12 hours at night2-3 hours of naps per day
Daily Routine:  Hasn't changed all that much - eat, play, sleep, repeat!

Feeding:  Breakfast - cereal and formulaLunch - fruit and veggies (sometimes meat) with formulaDinner - whatever we eat and juice or water
Late evening bottle
# of Teeth:6You finally got your 4th on the bottom, and not too long ago your top 2 broke through. Weight:birth - 7 lbs 6 oz2 weeks - 8 lbs 10 oz4 weeks - 10 lbs 4 oz6 weeks - 11 lbs 1.5 oz2 months - 12 lbs 8 oz3 months - 14 lbs 12 oz (at home estimate)4 months - 15 lbs 10 oz5 months - 16 lbs 10 oz (at home estimate)6 months - 18 lbs 5 oz7 months - 19 lbs (at home estimate)8 months - 20 lbs 6 oz (at home estimate)9 months - 21 lbs 3 oz10 months - 21 lbs 8 oz (at home estimate)

Length:birth - 21 inches2 weeks - 22 inches4 weeks - unknown6 weeks - 23 inches2 months - 23.75 inches3 months - 25.5 inches (at home estimate)4 months - 25.75 inches5 months - 27 inches (at home estimate)6 months - 28.5 inches
7 months - 29 inches (at home estimate)8 months - 29.5 inches (at home estimate)9 months - 30 inches10 months - 30.75 inches (at home estimate) Head Circumference:birth - 15 inches2 weeks - 15 inches4 weeks - unknown6 weeks - unknown2 months - 16.25 inches3 months - 16.75 inches (at home estimate)4 months - 17 inches5 months - 17.25 inches (at home estimate)6 months - 17.75 inches

7 months - 18 inches (at home estimate)8 months - 18.25 inches (at home estimate)9 months - 18.25 inches10 months - 18.5 inches (at home estimate)

Diaper Size:All cloth diapers now! 

Clothing Size:9 and 12 month t-shirts and shorts12 month pants12-18 month onesies18 month pajamas
Hair Color:birth - brown and quite a bit more than we were expecting1 month - brown - you are almost completely bald on top!2 months - brown and it's finally growing back3 months - brown with a nice bald spot in the back4 months - Still brown but lightening a lot - I think it may end up being a dirty blond.5 months - lightening a lot.... brown to dirty blond6 months - dirty blond - it has lightened a TON7 months - dirty blond8 months - dirty blond9 months - auburn10 months - auburn and really starting to thicken up
Eye Color:birth - dark blue-grey1 month - starting to lighten but still blue-grey 2 months - dark blue3 months - Still dark blue-grey4 months - "sunburst" - you have a brown inner ring (most days) with blue-grey outer ring5 months - bluish grey6 months - blue grey (YAY - it looks like we got our blue eyed boy!)7 months - hazel? blue? definitely not entirely brown!8 months - blue grey some days, hazel others9 months - hazel? blue grey? brown? Who knows-  they change daily!10 month - still ever changing, but still NOT brown! Favorite toy/entertainment:Cars/trucksMickey Mouse Airplane
Nicknames:Monkey doodle, Bubba, Stinko
Funniest Moment:

See picture:

You were babbling and laughing after your bottle, and all of a sudden you slowly stuck your lip out.We could help but laugh - and you made sure to ham it up for the camera!
You definitely got that from your mama!
Favorite Moment:I think Daddy and I will agree this month!
Our favorite moment has definitely been when we pick you up.You will rest your head on our shoulder, and then wrap your arms around our neck.You give the best hugs!

Words:gog - I'm guessing dog? Nana Milestones:Giving hugs and kissesTaking a few unassisted steps
Firsts:WaveSign - all done

Your official 10 month photos:

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

Well, that looks comfy?

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

Where in the world did he get these eyelashes?
He just melts my heart!

Mom Enough?

I wasn't going to post anything on this topic, but I decided I HAD to.
I'm sure MOST of you have seen or at least heard of the Time magazine cover and article.  
In case you're living under a rock, THIS cover:

Now, I'm not UPSET about the visual of this child, who is very clearly a toddler, attached to his mother.  What bothers me is the title Are you Mom Enough?

MOM ENOUGH for what?

The article focuses on the idea of attachment parenting.. basically, breastfeeding on demand, sharing a bed, tending to their EVERY whim IMMEDIATELY, wearing them constantly, etc etc etc for well into toddler-hood.  And if you don't subscribe to this crazy lifestyle, then you are not providing the best for your children and they will grow up with psychological issues.  
I'm sorry, but that is completely CRAZY!
While reading up on some of the reactions to this article, I stumbled upon this:
Am I Mom Enough? A Mother's Wishlist by Kara Baskin

It’s so tempting to get riled up by the Mommy Wars, isn’t it? The Time magazine cover story about extreme parenting, Are You Mom Enough?, featuring a beautiful mother in skinny jeans nursing her preschool-aged son, is infamous by now. It made me, along with the rest of the Internet, explode with righteous indignation. Mom enough? How dare they! This isn't a contest! But, wait ... what if it is? And I don't even own skinny jeans!

The story also made me think about what I wanted to teach Andrew—I mean really teach him. I’m not talking about the trendy must-dos that crop up each year about feeding and sleeping and discipline, insecurity porn concocted just in time to fill a fresh generation of parents with self-doubt. No, I’m talking about the things that I want to impart in average, totally inextreme moments, when my breasts are covered and my skinny jeans are in the wash.

Here’s my wish list.

·         I hope I raise a child who says “thank you” to the bus driver when he gets off the bus, “please” to the waiter taking his order at the restaurant, and holds the elevator doors when someone’s rushing to get in.

·         I hope I raise a child who loses graciously and wins without bragging. I hope he learns that disappointments are fleeting and so are triumphs, and if he comes home at night to people who love him, neither one matter. Nobody is keeping score, except sometimes on Facebook.

·         I hope I raise a child who is kind to old people.

·         I hope I raise a child who realizes that life is unfair: Some people are born rich or gorgeous. Some people really are handed things that they don’t deserve. Some people luck into jobs or wealth that they don’t earn. Tough.

·         I hope I raise a child who gets what he wants just often enough to keep him optimistic but not enough to make him spoiled.

·         I hope I raise a child who knows that he’s loved and special but that he’s not the center of the universe and never, ever will be.

·         I hope I raise a child who will stick up for a kid who’s being bullied on the playground. I also hope I raise a child who, if he’s the one being bullied, fights back. Hard. Oh, and if he’s the bully? I hope he realizes that his mother, who once wore brown plastic glasses and read the phonebook on the school bus, will cause him more pain than a bully ever could.

·         I hope I raise a child who relishes life’s tiny pleasures—whether it’s a piece of music, or the color of a gorgeous flower, or Chinese takeout on a rainy Sunday night.

·         I hope I raise a child who is open-minded and curious about the world without being reckless.

·         I hope I raise a child who doesn’t need to affirm his self-worth through bigotry, snobbery, materialism, or violence.

·         I hope I raise a child who likes to read.

·         I hope I raise a child who is courageous when sick and grateful when healthy.

·         I hope I raise a child who begins and ends all relationships straightforwardly and honorably.

·         I hope I raise a child who can spot superficiality and artifice from a mile away and spends his time with people and things that feel authentic to him.

·         I hope I raise a child who makes quality friends and keeps them.

·         I hope I raise a child who realizes that his parents are flawed but loves them anyway.

·         And I hope that if my child turns out to be a colossal screw-up, I take it in stride. I hope I remember that he’s his own person, and there’s only so much I can do. He is not an appendage to be dangled from my breasts on the cover of a magazine, his success is not my ego’s accessory, and I am not Super Mom.

I hope for all of these things, but I know this: None of these wishes has a thing to do with how I feed him or sleep-train him or god-knows-what-else him. Which is how I know that these fabricated “wars” are phony every step of the way. I do not need the expensive stroller. I do not need to go into mourning if my "sleep-training method" is actually a "prayer ritual" that involves tiptoeing around the house in the dark. This is not a test. It’s a game called Extreme Parenting, and you can’t lose if you don’t play. And, really, why would you play? You have children to raise.

I don't know about you, but I couldn't have said it ANY better if I tried.
There are always going to be critics of how you are raising your children.
If my son sleeping in his crib at 3 weeks old in his own room, being formula fed, playing by himself, and occasionally crying it out makes me a bad mom, then so be it!
But I know at the end of the day, we are raising him to be an independent, free thinker who can do ANYTHING he sets his mind to.  And all the smiles, hugs, and kisses, must mean we're doing SOMETHING right!

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

Yum, Birthday Cake!(From my nephew's 7th birthday party)