10 months: big boy!

To think four fifths of the best year of my life have gone by is insane. Weston is becoming more and more a little boy. Like Pinocchio. A grinny, cuddly, playful lil' wooden puppet, but only instead of wood, he's made of pure cuteness--squishy, warm and soft cuteness.



I really do run the risk of being repetitive with this blog. So much mushiness wants to channel out of my fingers through the keyboard to TRY to explain all the wonders he has brought to our life.

DEVELOPMENT

So a month ago, we went to the pediatrician check up. We learned he is in the 55% for weight (20.5 lbs) and then 85% for height. His head is now ONLY a 95% in size. hahaha

Parents As Teachers came at the end of October and evaluated him. He passed all skills with flying colors other than the one where he picked up something small, like a CHeerio, and had to use the flesh between his pointer finger and thumb to hold it. (They eventually learn to just PINCH it.) No biggie. He can do it now. I think. ha

He still doesn't wave. And maybe I explained this before, but this is ironic because from day 2, Neil was bound determined to have the earliest waver in history. And then we succeeded. He started waving all the time around 4-5 months. And then we got worried as it looked like a nervous tick. A soothing mechanism or something. So we stopped egging it on and now, he doesn't wave and just looks at us like we're fools when we wave to him. hahaha

BUT, he still claps like a fool himself...especially when we say "good job."
And he gives high fives, though sometimes it's more like, "High 'touchmyhandsoftlyandsmile'" games.

His fake coughs continue, but now he's added faux laughing to his repertoire. This mostly occurs when we laugh first,...he then mimics us. Ahhh, the highest form of flattery, right? ;) And just this morning, I burped while I was feeding him yogurt. (I'm not to the point where it's natural to hide those things knowing he's actually human and can pick up on them. ha) and he made a guttural sound right back and then laughed. He's got jokes.

I find it fascinating how kids learn language after starting from nothing. Although I hear it's easier to do it that way than learn a 2nd one later, it still is miraculous in many ways. I am always shocked when i realize Weston knows what we are saying... phrases and words he knows (and there are more but this is off the top of my head): drum, kitty, duck, bath, look, his name, "where's," ready?, yay!, hi, puppy (though he might think this is just his big dog stuffed animal and not a real animal, haha), milk (that is what we call his bottle), book, etc.

--he says: mama, dada, mo (for more), and I swear he said up (two times one day when wanted out of crib). But I'm not going to count these as his first words just yet.

I don't know why I got excited about this, but just this past week, he's started offering me his food when i ask for it. I've been waiting for it. He even finds it fun to hand me every piece of crumb on his high chair tray...one by one. So excited when he puts it in my hand.

I think one of my fave things to see him do is start far away from me and then crawl to me. His mouth stays open the entire time and he makes an almost laugh sound until h e dives into my lap. And then he crawls up my torso and sometimes stays long enough for a hug. (If he's in the mood and I ask for a hug, he'll wrap his arms around my neck and lay his head on my shoulder. BE STILL MY HEART.)

Just a few pics of him in action.



He's been able to crawl up stairs, since early October. When he did it the first time at a friend's house, it astounded me because he had never done it before and did it like it was nothing. Now he'll take off in a bee line across the living room and I know where he's going based on the gait. If he's going fast and quietly, he's headed to the stairs. He is full of such purpose, knowing the physical exertion that lies ahead. and he likes to stop and look up at me for approval before he continues on....

Until these last few weeks, h e was also kissing us if I asked for a kiss. He'd do this with mouth open and then saying "ahhhhh" on my cheek. this used to gross me out when I'd see other parents receive such sloppy affection, but now I get it. hahaha Sadly, he's moved on to other things though I am guessing he'll do it again once he masters other skills.

At last, we have teeth. It was the week of his 9 month birthday that one on the bottom started breakingn through. Now he's got a buddy creeping up. They are taking their time. It was rough for a week as he had a cold at the same time so between the two ailments, he was a beast and I desperately missed the old happy Weston. But now that they are through, he's back to normal. Until the next one...

Here he is walking with his walker (*here he is with his baby...he treated it like a stroller. CRACKED ME UP!!!) He did this same thing the next week with a whisk...he wanted to take it with him so he put it on the top and pushed away. He also likes to use our kitchen chairs as walkers. Neil comes home to them in different places and I just smile with pride.




Here he is... Standing in his crib. But I swear, these were on the last blog..but I missed them when I scrolled through. so have them here just in case...


He eats real food...doesn't seem to be a fan of noodles, though he didn't mind spaghetti last weekend when he ate it at Grandma/pa's house in Omaha. But check out this video... it's worth watching because he did something we truly weren't expecting as he's never done it before or since.



My lil' talker. He always has things to say. I love just talking to him...and envisioning the days when what he says is intelligible. :)

Proof that he's not bald...though he photographs like he is. 

PERSONALITY, LIKES & DISLIKES

Again, he's still a very happy baby though he HATES getting his diaper changed. Even if we hand him a new and exciting item like a bottle of lotion, his attention is only distracted briefly and sometimes not at all. He just wants to GO GO GO and if we stop him, he's an angry lil' dastardly dude. 

My brother one day commented on one of Weston's many smiley pics that it isn't possible for him to always be happy and please post one saying otherwise. So I did. I posted this...which was the result of him being very hungry when i couldn't make his cereal fast enough. If this doesn't make you choke up, you just might have a stainless steel heart. 

but fear not, this was post-breakfast....back to normal. :)

He loves to laugh. He laughs thinking about laughing. And we laugh, which makes him laugh now. But here is one video from a month ago. My heart was laughing so hard that I thought it would shoot from my chest like skipping stone. Seriously. The joy we felt with this was indescribable. 

And who doesn't love a good laundry basket ride?

He had "official photos" taken at daycare...and when I showed up, his teachers told me that he was by far the best student! They said he was perfect and did what they wanted him to do. Can you say that this mama was overly proud. I know this phase won't last as soon as he can walk, but for now, I am LOVING IT. And I just have to keep growing with him and learning what gets his attention.  ;)

Most mornings, he wakes up a bit earlier than his official 6;15 a.m. call to post, but usually he just chatters to himself and his stuffed animals. When I go in to get him, he sometimes is even still lying down "resting" and then smiles as I stand over him. Then he'll pull himself up along the rails and smile at me as I pick out his clothes. I love himmmmm!

I am also thankful that he has taken to books as well as he has. He actually will sit in our lap when we read to him. Sometimes he flips back or forward through the pages outside of the pace that our reading sets, but he rarely doesn't let us finish the book. We've gotten quite a few favorites. I'll have to blog about them sometime. YEAH RIGHt. ;) 

play time

I haven't gotten a video of it yet, but he's a fan of doing dragon rides on daddy. His face lights up and he stares so excitedly at the back of Neil's head (I hold him on!) and giggles when Neil goes up and down and shakes. I love watching this. 

Favorite toys right now are:  cat toys, metal snack bowls, door stops (seen below in stripes),  the globe in our bookcase along with the wooden head of Mozart, the Zany Zoo, Sit to Stand play cart, stuffed animals and anything he can drum on

Stuffed animals --this is one of his favorite things to play with. And look at how he plays with is biggest stuffed toy (Bardolph) :)

And he LOVES his cousin Cailin... 

drumming

When he's a drummer someday...we can look back and see where this all began!!! Cute video. :)

My brother wants me to submit this to AFV...so i will if I ever get the time... but this is what I mean by saying he likes when we clean his ears... :) I totally think he's right. 

 

Bath time!

kitty friendship continues...though... just last weekend, Kramer was eating his treats when Weston bombarded him with his clumsy loud baby-ness and Kramer actually swatted at him with his claws out. This resulted in a small scratch under Weston's eye that actually bled. He cried hard for 30 seconds and then chased Kramer again. I immediately did too (both cried and chased Kramer)...and when i caught the feline, I clipped his nails super short. (He actually lets me do this! I just failed and hadn't done so in a few weeks.) The scratch is on the right. 

fave foods

fave foods: buttered toast, broccoli, banana, Trader Joe's Chili Lime Chicken Burgers & mandarin oranges

EVENTS

Halloween!

We've gone to the park a few times...Neil has taken him alone as well. He loves the swing!

First balloon

First bruise. Hit the corner of the coffee table. REALLY hard. For the third time in a week.





We spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Gibson's. He loved turkey, wasn't a huge fan of the cheesy potatoes like everyone else is and of course, devoured the broccoli.

He is obsessed with an old Buddy doll and a scarecrow broom at Grandma's. And he also loves to  play with whatever Grandma is trying to use to clean. Such as this mop. :)

First trip to the zoo..happened to be the coldest day of the fall....

 He conked out, but then he awoke with a start when pretty girls (dressed as princesses for the zoo's theme that day) came around. haha

We went to the pumpkin patch....

Fall photo shoot! I almost didn't do this because I had to take him alone. But I am SO glad I did. Here are just three keepers I came away with...and I got about 50 more!

Some other fall faves...

Not sure which Grandpa he is taking after here... maybe both? ;)

He was dedicated at our church .

And I'm forgetting stuff but quite frankly...I am so sick of blogging. hahah I am going to try even harder this next month to blog mini posts as things happen. I already have one to do !

But here are some final pics:

he loved grandma g's chicken noodle soup!

His new computer. 

He knows how to pick 'em!

Grandma H will be so proud...we gave Weston three choices to pick from for his stuffed animal of Kohl's Cares campaign. He picked Toto. ;)

Steelers lost. And it tuckered him out so much i didn't have the heart to put him through a changing. 

The one time he actually laid still for 2 minutes to watch PBS.

He had a cold. And you can tell:

Loves cat toys. I'm telling ya!

His aim is off...

At gma & pa's... a lil' doll buggy doubled as a ride!

Walking!

I kept telling him no. I don't think he was taking me seriously.

And lastly... :)