Ant diary: Ten months

Growth check: 19lb 10 oz today. So putting on about 1/2 lb a month at the moment. Not much movement height-wise, I don't think.

Talking: We're starting to get combinations of consonants - la da la da is a favorite, as something like 'gocily gocily gocily' although I can't even make the sounds myself so writing them down is pretty tough! Twice yesterday Ant seemed to say "dada" in context, but it may have just been coincidence. The first was when I brought him in to see Mark in the bedroom after nursing - he shrieked "dada" with happiness when he saw Mark in the bed. The second was later in the afternoon when Mark was holding him, and I asked if he wanted to come to me - he clearly held on to Mark and said "dada" again. He's also making smacking noises with his lips, clicking his tongue, and blowing raspberries "bbbbbb".

Movement: Ant is now a proficient cruiser. He can pull himself up on anything from the coffee table to our legs to the side of the island with nothing to hold onto, just pressure! He also sits back down with ease (started 6/12), usually bending his legs nicely but occasionally going the "fall back onto my bum" route. He very easily goes around corner, and can step over or around things with no problem. He doesn't actually look to us to help him walk quite as much now that he can get back down and crawl around, but when he does want us he'll hold out his hand and then look around for us. Especially when he already has the first hand held. I found him standing in the crib for the first time on 6/10 which I was quite impressed by given that he's still sleeping in a sleepsack. He also seems to like pushing something around with his right hand while crawling, mostly books, although I've seen him do it with other objects. ; On a totally different front, he started waving 'bye-bye', clapping his hands, and shaking his head "no" all within the space of about three days.

Mental: It seems as if he's made a lot of new connections this month. He understands his physical limitations - when he was crusing a little while ago he wanted to go from the end table to the music table, but couldn't quite reach. So he immediately went via the big plastic container we have all his toys in. He opens and closes our mailbox, as well as cupboards and drawers, and with the cupboards he will look around the door to see what's inside. (And is very good at keeping his fingers out of the way when he closes them.) We spent quite a long time the other day opening and closing the curtains. We also played peekaboo with the curtain next to his high chair - he grabbed it of his own accord, and was hiding and unhiding himself. That was really fun, we were both laughing. I feel like he also understands a few signs (up and milk) although he doesn't make them himself yet. He also gets "no", and just in the last c ouple of days has started using it himself, actually meaning "no" when he shakes his head . Particularly when eating! He seems to understand the light switch, as he will look from the switch to the light when we're turning it on or off. He also really gets that buttons are supposed to do things now - he can go right over to the ball popper and turn it on, he's very good at pressing buttons on other toys too. Finally, just yesterday on his ten month birthday, he started pointing at things he wanted. While he was eating dinner over at the maguire's he was pointing and pointing at something, we finally figured out that it was Mike's red sox hat. This morning he was pointing up at the valence above the sliding glass door to the deck.

Toys and games: As I said, lots of button pressing going on. And he really loves playing peekaboo, both when we cover his face or when he covers it himself. He is *very* interested in what's inside all the cupboards, which isn't really a good thing because there are lots of things he just can't have. We've gotten a few new toys, but nothing seems to be a particular favorite, except perhaps the driving wheel. He really likes "I'm a little teapot", the tipping part in particular.

Teeth: Still nothing new.

Feeding: Afternoon nursing was switched to formula becuase it was just too iffy with me getting home from work. Plus he had been biting AND I was having trouble with pumping, so I was actually going to stop nursing completely. As soon as I made that decision the biting stopped and pumping got better, so I'm still nursing three times/day (wake up, 10-11 and bedtime). New additions to the repertoire this month include crumpets (made with white whole wheat flour), grown up oatmeal, lasagna, pasta bolognese, half banana slices, zucchini with rice, pieces of strawberries, apricot and pear. Did not like grapes.

Sleeping: We're still on a fairly regular schedule of bedtime at around 7, naps at 9am and 2pm. The wake up time severly regressed for most of this month to between 4:30 and 5am. Fortunately in the last few days it's moved back to the more reasonable hour of 5:45 or later. Whew.