10 Months Old!!

Our baby is 10 months old today!


Sadly, the monkey is packed away somewhere in storage in Florida, so no more monkey pictures. We won't see him again until September! :(

Here's what we are up to at 10 months:

Crawling like a champ...

The BIGGEST news of this month - Barrett is officially a hands-and-knees crawler!! All of a sudden, one morning at playgroup, Barrett just decided to start crawling. And there was no turning back! He was a little wobbly the first few days and would switch back and forth between army crawl and regular crawling. But now it's been a few weeks, and he doesn't army crawl anymore. He is a FAST crawler, and he loves to get into everything!

Getting ridiculously good at standing and pulling himself up...

He is starting to cruise on the furniture and is always very eager to stand up. He loves digging through his toy box and taking out the toys he wants. He is great at making huge messes. He can open all the cabinets under the sink, and he can reach the tops of the tables next to the sofa. He tries to reach doorknobs, but, thankfully, he is still too short to get those. He really enjoys his newfound crawling freedom, but I'm sure he will figure out how to walk soon!

Growing more teeth...

Barrett cut FOUR new teeth this month, all at the same time and all on top (check out the gap between the two front ones). Poor baby was cranky for about a week, but now the teeth are in and he has a mouth full of SIX teeth (four on top, two on bottom)! And, when I checked this morning, it looks like two more teeth are coming in on the bottom now! His sleeping was messed up for about a week with the new teeth coming in, but he is back on track now; he goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up between 6 and 7am. He takes a 2-3 hour nap after a snack around 11:30am. 

Feeding himself like a pro...

He loves the Gerber grabbers (he's holding one in the picture), which is just fruit and veggies that he can drink. He gets really excited when he gets to have one, and he can suck down the four ounces in about thirty seconds! (We stick to just one a day for snack time.) With his new teeth, he is chomping on Cheerios, blueberries (his new favorite!), carrots, broccoli, lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, chicken and cherries. He is also starting to beg for food off of our plates, so he has had some noodles, cheese ravioli, wheat bread, tomato sauce, and some rice. He still loves to eat his pureed baby food, and his favorites include butternut and acorn squash, zucchini, apples, pears, strawberries, mango, kiwi, asparagus, eggplant, and carrots. He eats 4-5 ounces at each meal, as well as several handfuls of finger foods. For snacks, we have beans or fruit and some milk. He's still having four bottles a day, all six ounces, except now he is only drinking about three ounces after breakfast. He's pretty good at drinking out of a cup with a straw, and he is getting better at drinking out of cups with lids and spouts.

Laughing...

He has the CUTEST laugh ever - a deep belly laugh that makes me smile every time. He is extremely ticklish around his armpits, so it is easy to get him going!!

Exploring...

Exploring...

And more exploring!!

He is ALL OVER THE PLACE at all times. I can barely get him to sit still these days! He is enjoying the playroom on the second floor of the hotel, which offers lots of fun toys and a huge open space to crawl and play. He will crawl around for an hour or two, exploring everything he can find, including the AC vents in the wall and the rolling luggage racks. We have ridden the luggage carts up and down the hallways more than once - he loves it! He loves playing peek-a-boo behind the couches. He has also started waving and pointing his hand at things (like lights, people, fans...).

The only time he is still is when he is tired. He will crawl over to me and lay his head down on my leg. Then he will crawl into my lap, snuggle, and suck his thumb. This is usually his indication that he is done playing and it's time to go back to the room for a nap! Yesterday, he was so tired that we didn't even make it back to the room for his nap. He crawled into my lap, snuggled up, and slept hard for 45 minutes in the playroom. When he woke up, he crawled out of lap and continued playing like nothing had even happened!! :)

Putting everything into his mouth...

Everything on the floor has been in Barrett's mouth at least once! We have a good routine that keeps all the dangerous things picked up off the floor in our room, but occasionally he gets a piece of dog food or a dirty shoe. (Note to grandmas: while he has put dog food in his mouth and chewed on it, he has never successfully swallowed a piece, so you can't say that he has eaten dog food. He has merely sampled it...). He is teething and drooling like crazy 100% of the time, and he just loves to munch on all of his toys or anything else he can get his hands on!

Intrigued by everything around him...

Barrett loves going on walks with the puppies, and he has really started paying attention to everything going on around him! He snaps his head around at the sound of any kind of truck or generator noises. There are plenty of moving trucks, tractors, motorcycles, and dump trucks driving around on base, and he gets really excited to see them! One morning, we had to stop walking to watch a huge tractor mow the field next to the track where we walk. He was absolutely fascinated. And, any time we go by one of the HUGE air conditioners outside the buildings, he sits up and tries to figure out what is making the noise. He laughs at the puppies as they walk next to him, and he smiles at the joggers that run by. It's really fun to watch him on the walks - he really has a good time!

Playing more actively with the puppies...
In our tight quarters, there isn't any room for the puppies to get away from Barrett. We don't allow him to crawl into their crates, so that is the only small safety space they have away from him. The puppies, however, are surprisingly wonderful about dealing with Barrett. They will actually come out of their crates, lay on the floor, and then allow Barrett to come up and play with them. He is not gentle as he pulls on fur, ears, paws, and tails, but we monitor him closely and continue to praise the dogs for being so good. They lick him and will push him away when they are done. Barrett has been stepped on a few times as they try to escape, and it does make Barrett cry, but he gets over it quickly and chases them as they run away. Rio has been the one more willing to play with Barrett, and she has even started bringing him her squeaky. We are teaching Barrett how to throw it for her, and he has done it successfully a few times!!

And happily spending lots of time with Daddy!

What a blessing it is to have Travis around so often! His work days aren't as long as the ones in Del Rio, so he is always home before Barrett's bedtime and on the weekends. Travis and Barrett have been enjoying some fun times together when Daddy isn't studying!

Looking good in Daddy's hat...

Checking out Daddy's headphones...

C-130 pilots in training!! :)

Some other pictures from the last month:

Out in front of the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock

 
Cutest picture ever, although I was bummed that I couldn't get him to smile for the camera!

 
Eating blueberries


He loves feeding himself!

Whatcha doin' mom? What's this?

Happy baby in his carseat

I love his ears and his smiles!

Eating lunch at the zoo

He absolutely LOVES riding in these carts at the commissary. He sits on the edge of the seat and drives the steering wheel the entire time! Grocery shopping may never be the same...

Helping mommy clean

He looks so big and mature sometimes!

Happy 10 months, sweet boy!