January with Steven Edward

This month our son has changed a lot! He will be 10 months in 2 days and his personality is seeping into every possible part of his being. He is an adventurer and an explorer and likes to get into any and everything!

• He is pulling up on everything imaginable. This included his crib. The first time he did it he was so proud of himself he just stood there and talked for about 30 minutes. It was the second time and each time afterward that he realized he was now trapped in.
• He really started pulling up for the first time in the beginning of January and is now attempting to walk around a bit while holding furniture (a very little bit).
  
• His watching at the window that happened in December is now standing, and banging the window, while he watches cars and people.
  

He has gotten his fourth tooth (although they are not evenly distributed, thus making him look like a pirate) and we can see several more attempting to surface.

• He has tons of new "words." He says mama, dada, baba, gaga, wawa, makes a clicking sound with his tongue and the roof of his mouth (we think that it is Khoisan), and makes a "motor boat" sound. He has even starting squealing like a stuffed pig occasionally. We tell ourselves that this is probably a masculine sound in other countries that we don't know here in the US.
• His favorite new game is to play with things while standing. This entails him standing on an object (most likely a kitchen chair), then bending down and picking up a toy (usually a stackable bucket or a block) and bringing it up to the chair with him. He usually at this point just bangs. In fact there are little dints in our dorm room chairs where the corner of blocks have hit them repeatedly.

• He also really loves to talk loudly and is generally just louder overall. He only really does this at our apartment. If we go other places he is too busy observing his surroundings to actually make noise.
• He does understand the word no, but definitely does not always obey.
  
• He has learned to throw things....nice. This was learned in an attempt to teach him to roll a ball back and forth. He didn't quite pick up on the rolling, but learned to throw it back to us. Unfortunately for us his aim isn't quite the best. In fact every time he throws he instinctively closes his eyes at the off chance the ball comes back and hits him in the head - which sometimes it does.
• He has also learned to put a ball or an object in a bucket on command.
• He can give his father a "five." Granted it's not a high five and he doesn't actually understand to only do it once...but we're working.
  
• He loves peek-a-boo. I will pop out from behind a corner and he will laugh so hard he starts to jump up and down slightly. He will eventually be filled with enough anticipation that he comes to chase me around the corner because he can't wait any longer.
• He also loves to be chased. He will cackle as you chase after him crawling on the floor.
• His hair is growing like crazy! It is getting long enough to flip out in certain places. I'm quite afraid that one morning he will wake up and look like a frat boy with shaggy flippy hair - or worse yet...he'll wake up and look like Thomas!

The cutest thing about him right now is his desire for affirmation. Every time he does something new he looks to me with a huge smile on his face waiting for me to praise him. He is so aware of our love and presence and always desires to please us. It is enough to keep me happy even on the loneliest days. It is amazing how much he loves having me around all the time and even when I doubt staying at home, I know that it is an amazing gift to him that I could never take away.