10 Months

This has been a big month for Eli. He is learning so much so quickly. It’s really fun to watch him develop. Here is what he has been up to:

He learned to clap! It’s so cute. I love when babies clap with their chubby little hands and short arms. I have been waiting for him to learn this trick and now he has. It’s adorable.

He now takes a bath in the bath tub. He has graduated from the basin and loves it. He has a blast splashing and sliding around. We only put about two inches of water in it, but it’s enough. We wash him first in his little bath chair and then let him play in the tub. The biggest challenge is keeping him from standing up in there. He tries to do it all the time and it scares me to death. It’s way too slippery.

Eli doesn’t have stranger anxiety at all. He is very friendly and will go to anyone. He is constantly waving at people when we are out.

He moved into his own bedroom! He had been sleeping in his crib in our room. When we began sleep training, we slept in the other room (that is now his room) and wanted to wait to move him. Now we moved the crib and he had no problems with the change.

He still loves to drive the little cars at the grocery store and our taxi driver/friend Said lets him drive his car too!

Eli has lots of new hair. It’s still short and thin in the front, but longer in the back (Can you say mullet?) and appears to be wavy. Maybe I will get my fro after all!

He is not walking on his own yet, but it’s not for lack of trying. He takes tentative steps and thinks he is more advanced than he is. He walks around holding onto furniture very well. He has a new push walker that was lent to us. He’ll use it with our help, but prefers to drag it around while sitting in his other walker!

Eli has learned the art of a tantrum. When we take something away from him that he isn’t supposed to have, he screams, arches his back and flails around. Hopefully he’ll soon learn that won’t get him the desired object back. It’s hard to be consistent with that here because people give babies whatever they want. Letting a baby cry is a crime! But, we know it’s best for him so we stay firm on that.

He has become a great sleeper. He sleeps through the night, usually from 7:00pm-6:40am. Then he also takes two 1-1/2 hour naps, usually around 10:00am and 2:00pm. He thrives in his routine. It’s not one that we were strict about establishing, he just formed it on his own. Whenever we aren’t home for his nap or are delayed, he gets fussy and is out of sorts the rest of the day.

Reading is a favorite activity for him. He loves it. Right now we have to stick with books that have hard pages because he loves to rip paper.

We took him for a vaccination and this was the first time he didn’t get sick from it. Praise the Lord. We also weighed him and he is 11.5 kg which is about 25 pounds. He’s still big for his age (in height and weight), but he hasn’t gained weight in two months. He is more active and his stretching out, I think. Plus, he is not waking to feed during the night.

He slowly is becoming a better eater. It just depends on his mood if he is interested in it or not. I don’t think we have found something he refused to eat or doesn’t like. He likes crackers, yogurt, beans, cheese, eggs, fish and pretty much anything we are eating.

Although he can’t talk, he is making a lot of word connections in his head. He for sure knows the words Nala, Doggie, Papa, Cheese, Water (for drinking) and Walker. Whenever we say any of these words, he will turn and look at the object.

Eli has learned to throw a ball. It ends up behind him more than in front of him, but that's ok!

Oh yeah… and the big one… he is crawling! He can now crawl on his knees instead of just dragging himself around. He can go far, but many times gives in and goes back to the belly drag.

What a fun month! Each one is better than the last.