Ten Months Old

"Brushing your teeth" all by yourself. [January 2011]

Dear Oliver,

At the end of your tenth month, you are gaining independence at a rapid speed.

• Having mastered crawling, you are now experimenting with walking. You took your first steps (five in a row) on January 6th. I was at class and Dad was at work so we missed your big debut...I almost cried when your babysitter, Christine, told me about it. Then you decided one or two steps every so often was all you were up for and you preferred crawling. But these past few days you have been taking steps when you don't seem to be thinking about it. You are busy looking a toy you're holding or jabbering away and off you go - several steps in a row. But if we try to get you to walk to us, you get really nervous (pulling your bottom lip in and blowing it out really fast is what you do when you're nervous so that's how we know) and squat to a crawling position. You are so close to walking with confidence. I'm a little nervous, to be honest, because of everything that comes with it, but it's also very exciting. 
• You still love "brushing" your teeth (as evidenced above). You like to hold the toothbrush yourself. 
• You like veggies a lot, especially when you can feed them to yourself. I cut up cooked broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and you seem to really like all three. You also enjoy wheat bread,brown rice, quinoa, bananas, pears, chicken, mozzarella cheese, and bites of what we're eating here and there. You're not a huge fan of baby food anymore. You're all about being able to pick up your food and inspect it before eating it. 
• Your fourth tooth just came in this week (top left). You have been very fussy and sensitive lately and I'm guessing this is why.
• You seem to be expressing your emotions more. You let us know when you are frustrated, which seems to happen more often lately.  
• You love the stairs and hate it when I deter you from them.
• You love pulling Tupperware and pots and pans out of the cupboards and playing with them.
• We took another trip this month. We went to Arizona again. It was a very hard trip for you because you got sick (a really bad cough and a cold) and you got off of your sleeping schedule. There were a lot of long nights. That cough is still lingering but thankfully you're back on your schedule. You did pretty good on the airplane and got lots of attention, especially from all of the stewardesses. You got to spend time with your Grandma Linda on this trip. She loved getting to know you better. You also got to meet your Great Grandma Rose on this trip, and you got to see your Great Grandpa Jack again.

Grandma Linda and Oliver [January 2011]

Great Grandma Rose Burnham and Oliver [January 2011]

• You make noises with your mouth all the time. I can't even replicate some of them. 
• You don't like sitting on my lap in church. You want to wander around on your own and get very frustrated if you can't. 
• Your new favorite toy is a ball. You love pushing it in front of you and chasing it around on your hands and knees. 
• When you wake up in the mornings, you quietly look at your books until we come in to get you. We have a video monitor so we can see you doing this. You are so content to hang out with your books. 
• I think you've said the word "up" a handful of times and I think you might know what it means, but I'm not positive. Also, sometimes when we say words, it sounds like you're repeating them but I can't be sure about that either. 
• We're trying to teach you a few signs. We're working on the sign for milk right now. 
• You wave bye-bye when you hear the word. It's really cute.
• You weigh 18 pounds. You are still small for your age.

Our lives are really busy. Dad works long hours and I work part time and go to school at night. You have lots of people caring for you, and they all love you a lot. You are very social, so it works out well. I am almost done with my MSW (classes will be done in June!) I also turned in my resignation letter at work and will be done with my job in June. I am really looking forward to spending more time with you. I cherish the time that I do get with you. I'm so thankful for you Little Friend!

Love, Mom