Ten Months

Daniel Thomas is ten months old (plus a few weeks by the time I'm actually writing this). His precious little face is a light in our home. We love this baby boy and are so thankful the Lord chose to give him to our family.

Daniel is learning so many new things. He can now say "Choo-Choo" "Ma-ma" "Bye Bye" and "Ball". It is the sweetest thing ever to see him waving and saying, "by-by-by-by-by" And of course, we're constantly trying to get him to say Choo-Choo, which he pronounces "Too-Too" Unfortunately for us he does not preform on command.

On July 25th, just a few days after turning ten months old, Daniel started pulling up! John Hudson went in to see him after a nap and came running out saying, "Da-Da stand up!!." We all ran in to find this:

He is pulling up on everything now. And please note the precious pointer finger. He still points at everything--all the time. He especially loves to touch someone else's pointer finger and then pretend to blow up.  Thank you, Daddy and JH for teaching him that fun trick!

For about a week now, Daniel has been sleeping an 8 hour stretch at night. Its been pretty consistent and I am just praising the Lord! Sleep is such a sweet gift--one that I took for granted during my pre-mommy days. So, for the last week Daniel has been sleeping from 9pm-5am and then after nursing, sleeping until around 8.  Our daily schedule has been going something like this:

8:30- Daniel wake up for the day
9:00- John Hudson wake up
9:15- Eat breakfast (Jh loves oatmeal and a banana, and Daniel eats a mashed banana with coconut oil and kefir...which he actually loves!)
10-12- Daniel takes morning nap
10-10:30- Mommy and JH do Blanket Time where JH plays quietly on the floor and Mommy reads her Bible and journals. I'm so thankful for this time!
10:-30-12- Playtime and morning chores for Mommy and JH
12:15- Lunch
1- After lunch tidying and preparing for naps
2-5- JH naps
2:30-4:30- Daniel naps
5- Prepare Dinner
6-7- Eat and clean kitchen
7-8- Evening walk or play outside (since its too hot during the day)
8- Bath time
8:30- Family Bible time
9-Boys to bed!
10- Mommy and Daddy's goal to be in bed reading (rarely happens...)
11- Good night world!

I'm enjoying this routine, but also know that with little ones it is subject to change daily. All we have is today, and for today, this routine is working well.

Daniel is also eating a lot better! Like mentioned above, Daniel eats half a banana with coconut oil and kefir each morning. Sometimes he has lunch (other than breast milk) and sometimes not. Today he had a little chicken broth and some sweet potato with coconut oil.  He also likes butternut squash, summer squash and zucchini. He does not like pureed chicken, avocado, chicken liver...or really anything else other than what I mentioned above.  I'm glad he likes broth because I know he's getting good nutrients from that, and I try to smother his food in coconut oil to get those good fats in. He certainly doesn't seem malnourished!

Daniel Thomas loves to play! He spends a lot of time daily just crawling around and playing with toys. He entertains himself very well to be such a little guy.  Right now he loves balls and chases them all over the house. He always crawls right to the bin of balls in John Hudson's room and dumps them all over the floor. He can throw and catch really well! Clapping. He's also clapping all the time! He picks up on excitement in voices and then claps accordingly.  Daniel is also enjoying the tupperware cabinet, which I've just allowed him to discover. It makes a huge mess, but is great entertainment while supper is being prepared!

Daniel got another hair cut this month (August 8). It is a little shorter than I maybe hoped for...but its the best I could do with a squirming little one at bedtime. He's a handsome fellow!

In July, we were able to visit with my family at our annual reunion on the Tallapoosa river.  It was a wonderful time of relaxation and fun. The boys did amazingly well considering that it was over ninety degrees with no respite from the heat and they didn't get to take naps for three days in a row. Both of them thoroughly enjoyed the dirt and getting to play with their cousins. It will only get better as they get older and can know what to look forward to!

We praise the Lord for giving us another month with Daniel. He is a joy and a blessing in more ways than we can count!