Ten Months!

Ten months goes by fast when you're having fun! Maleah turned ten months old this past Friday, and... obviously I'm a little behind getting her monthly update completed!

Stats

I think she's at least 19 pounds and is still about 28 inches tall.

 

 

Schedule

6:45/7 ~ wake up, 6 oz bottle, get ready for the day

8:15/8:30 ~ breakfast (yogurt) and sippy cup of water

10:15 ~ 6 oz bottle

10/10:30 ~ nap

12:15/12:30 ~ lunch (fruit/vegetable) and sippy cup of water

1:30/2 ~ 6 oz bottle

2:30 ~ nap

5:30/6 ~ dinner (table food) with sippy cup of water

7 ~ bath, 6 oz bottle, bed time

...or something like that!

 

 

Eating/Solids

We are transitioning into table food this month. For the past couple of weeks, we've tried to give her mostly table foods as we eat dinner. Some nights, I give her pick-up foods and other nights I spoon-feed her, just depending on what we're having. Lately she's had rice & broccoli, spaghetti, roasted zucchini, chicken tenders & cheese, tacos, and poppy seed chicken, and a Thanksgiving dinner! I have tried to let her eat table foods here and there for the past few months, so it seems to come rather easily to her to chew the food. She's also great about refusing food when her mouth is full, so I don't worry too much about her stuffing her face!!! We are going slow, though, since table food is yet another "unknown" (how much, what she likes/doesn't like, change of schedule, etc.) so we're doing it in stages - stage 1 is table food at dinner, stage 2 is table food at lunch, stage 3 is table food at breakfast. The hardest part for us is learning how to have things that are either easy to make or things that freeze well, since I really don't like to buy a lot of the packaged foods. If you have some great easy go-to toddler meals, PLEASE SHARE!

Activity & Development
The biggest change that has happened recently is the addition of a third tooth (front left)! I finally felt it pop through her gums Sunday evening after what seemed like YEARS of teething symptoms (okay, weeks is more accurate). Maleah is not a fussy teether, thank goodness! I wouldn't have known she was even teething if it hadn't been for the massive amounts of drool she has been collecting on her shirts. A fourth tooth (front right) is also right at the skin and should pop through any day now.

I think Maleah will start standing on her own this month, but I am not sure about seeing the first steps too terribly soon. Over the weekend, she stood independently a few times for 5-10 seconds. She REALLY likes to crawl. That is A-O-K with me!


Maleah has said and UNDERSTOOD her first word. "Bye!" She finally gets why/when we say it and, of course, she waves like crazy.


Other
Now that she's ten months, we are going to start weaning her from the pacifier. Or at least we're going to try! Now that she is cutting more teeth, I really don't think she needs to sleep with it at night much longer. At six months, we started to limit the paci to only nap/bed times (with the occassional use when she's really fussy, teething, or bored and we've run out of other options...). That worked beautifully - she didn't really "need" it aside from those times. So, now I have to figure out how to take it from her at night. I think my first approach will be to let her fall alseep with it, but to go in and remove it from her mouth after she's out. But, I'll leave it in the crib so she can grab it if she wakes up and wants it. If I see that she leaves it out most of the night, that'll make things a lot easier. But, if she continues to wake up with it in her mouth, well... then I'll need to think of what to do next.


Sleeping
For honesty's sake, I think I should reiterate that Maleah DOES NOT sleep 12 hours EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. She is not a baby robot. She mostly sleeps 11-12 hours without any issues, but usually once a week (sometimes more), she will cry out in the night and Blake and I may go in there to give her a hidden paci (crammed between the mattress and bumper, usually) or pat her back... and some nights, like this past Tuesday night (at 2:30 a.m.), she requires some rocking back to sleep. :) That night, in fact, we had to let her "cry it out" to get back to sleep. I rocked her, fed her, patted her, checked her diaper - even brought her to our bed! NOTHING worked - she kept wanting to play or look around rather than go back to sleep. She cried for about five minutes when we put her back in the crib and then she passed out! So, I just wanted to put that out there - she mostly gets good, sound, lengthy sleep. But, she's still a baby and still causes some sleepless nights from time to time. Usually those instances coincide with teething, sickness, or a runaway paci. And sometimes it's just because she's a baby. And some mornings, she also wakes up REALLY early and that's another story entirely!!! Anyway.... I just wanted to clear that up!