10 Months Old (a week late)

Dear Davin,

I've been writing this post in my head for over a week, but it's been a rough one, so I'm just now getting it typed up.  You don't leave much time for journaling, since you like constant attention during your waking hours - and don't have a lot of leftover sleeping hours for me to play around with.  But man, you're adorable!

We went for your well-check a couple of weeks ago and you weighed in at 18 pounds, 3 ounces and were 28 inches tall.  You're weight gain has really slowed down, but the doctor attributed it to all the crawling you do and wasn't bothered by it at all.  You've upped your intake of baby food to 4 containers (3.5 ounces each) plus a yogurt each day.  We are still trying to get you to handle texture and table food, but you're not having much of it.  You will at least tolerate Puffs and the occasional yogurt melt, but that's about it.  You gag and/or turn your head to most everything else you're offered.  We're going to keep trying and working on it daily though.  You took your first (very watered down) juice in a sippy cup and actually did pretty well.  You still just play with it mostly, but you do get some liquid out sometimes.  You still nurse 4 times a day for not very long at all.  We'll start working on weaning within the next few months, and I'm not optimistic it's going to be a smooth transition, but we'll see.  Oh, and still no teeth!

Your sleeping has hit another low.  You go for a little stretch sleeping well and then it gets all messed up.  We just can't figure it out.  We have still been swaddling you and letting you sleep in our room (so your sister will stay asleep during your outbursts!).  You had a few nights where you were awake ALL night long.  You were doing okay with letting me lay you down for naps, but even that is pretty terrible right now.  You will sleep for hours if we hold you, but you just don't do well laying on your own.  I don't have any words of wisdom here - we're just trying to survive, little man.

We were away from home for a week this month.  We spent Friday-Monday morning around Easter at Neena and Pa Bill's house.  Uncle Brandan and Rachel were there and you got lots and lots of attention!  You enjoyed your first Easter at Pine Mountain Church with Daddy's family.  You and I spent all of Sunday School in some utility closet room and then you spent all of the service in a Sunday School room with Daddy - sleeping the whole time!  You were awake for time at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paws getting lots of love from your aunts, uncles, and cousins!  And might I add that you looked so handsome in your very first bowtie.

Then you, Brenna, and I went to Nanie's until the next Friday.  You slept TERRIBLY there at night, which was stressful for me.  But other than that we had a good time hanging out with Nanie, Mal, Josh, Brady, and Grandma.  You also tagged along while we visited my friend Christy and her family.  You are a pretty go-with-the-flow baby as long as you're not hungry.  And as long as you're getting attention, you're pretty happy.

It was nice to get home and see Daddy again.  You are super, super attached to me, so it's nice when he's here to share some of your attention.  We've spent some time outside since it's getting warmer - and I look forward to you getting to play outside more with your big sis.  You've been a good sport tagging along to your sister's soccer games this month - and you'll be playing too before we know it!

You like to crawl with one (and sometimes two!) foot on the ground, which cracks me up.  You still love to wave, but don't always do it on cue.  You love to bang on your high chair and laugh about it.  You are a little ham!  You have recently been saying "mamamama" toward me, with the occasional "dadada" too.  You also say "hi" when you wave sometimes.  You make tons and tons of sounds and babbles, though.  While we were at Nanie's, you were constantly saying "nananananana" and we couldn't figure out if you were saying "no" or "Nanie", but you haven't said it since we got home, so maybe you were saying Nanie after all.  I'm sure she wouldn't mind!  I've tried to teach you a few signs also, but you haven't caught on to any just yet.

You love to play with anything with wheels - already ALL boy!  You also like your xylophone and balls.  You love climbing the stairs, which keeps me on my toes!  You are obsessed with standing at open doors and looking out.  You just like to be in the action at all times.  You're going to be a handful, little guy, but I can see lots and lots of adventure in our future together!

I love you Spud!
Love, Mommy