Ten Months

Ford turned TEN MONTHS old on August 17!  The past few weeks have been some of the most action-packed in terms of Ford's development.  We went through what seemed like a long slow patch, where Ford just sat on the cusp of doing all kinds of things -- rocking on all fours, trying to pull up, sitting on his own but wanting to move, babbling without it being any recognizable words and so on -- and I began to think we'd never progress to crawling and beyond.  At about 9 1/2 months, Ford suddenly took off.  In a matter of a couple of days, he started crawling, pulling up to standing, cruising, standing alone, and even took a couple of steps on his ten month birthday!  He wanted to debut his new tricks when he was sure they were perfect.  As Coach Saban would say, "it's a process."

At TEN MONTHS, Ford:

WEIGHS around 24 pounds.  I'm not sure what his height is.  His weight gain seems to be slowing down, which makes me nervous, but the pediatrician assures me that this is supposed to happen.  Maybe he'll be a tight end instead of D-lineman.  He nurses 3-4 times a day, and eats three solid meals a day.  While he has always been a great eater, food has been a bit of an issue lately.  His acid reflux seems to be getting worse rather than better, and he has begun to gag while eating...which upsets both Ford and his mama very much.  We are going to see a pediatric GI doctor tomorrow, and I'm hoping he has some answers for us.  I'm not super-worried, as Ford is growing well, but he does seem uncomfortable, and I'd like to find out for certain if acid reflux is our problem.  While we haven't had quite as much fun with food as we usually do, we've still added some new foods to our list, including cheerios, chicken, cheese (lots of "c's" apparently), and yogurt.

WEARS size 24 month.  I think we'll be here for a little while.  Ford's main wardobing trouble is footie pajamas.  It is so hard to find them in his size, but a must for our little blanket-tossing buddy.  If you see cotton 24-month footie jammies, please buy them.  I will pay you back.

CRAWLS everywhere!  He is so cute when he does it.  He especially loves to crawl to me if I am in another room (not that I leave him unattended, but if I run into the kitchen to get a water, for example).  He laughs out loud and is so pleased with himself when I catch him coming toward me.  He followed me around tonight while I vacuumed (Oscar was watching him), and I really think he was trying to protect me from that scary beast I was pushing around! 

PULLS to STANDING, STANDS on his own, and even took a couple of STEPS on his ten-month birthday.  Ford loves to stand.  One of his favorite activity these days is to crawl over to me, pull up to standing and just hold onto my shoulder.  I love it too.  It's funny, just last month I had no expectation that he would be walking by his first birthday, and now I will be surprised if he's not.  He takes a step most days (although he immediately falls forward), and he practically runs across the room behind his walking toys...which brings me to a milestone I could have lived without:  our first goose egg.  Of course, it happened while I was totally by myself -- Oscar was in Montgomery taking a deposition and both our mothers were out of town.  I was right behind him, but Ford still managed to crash over his walking toy face first into the tile fireplace.  He didn't cry long, but there was a wicked goose egg on his temple (it took me a couple of minutes to find it under all that hair), and since I didn't have cool-headed reinforcements to reassure me that he was fine, off to the pediatrician's we went.  He was fine, of course, but I did not enjoy that particular afternoon.

HAS two teeth still, but surely, surely, surely we have more coming soon.  He woke up absolutely freaking out last night, and I think it was his teeth.

HAD his first "haircut" today -- I put that in quotations because as we just trimmed his bangs and the whole process took about 30 seconds, I'm not sure it really counts.  He is glad to have his hair out of his eyes, though, and I'm glad that he still has his curls/mullet.

CLAPS his hands all the time.  It's precious.  He claps his hands when Dada walks in the door, and I do believe it's the best part of Dada's day.

SAYS words every once in a while, although he refuses to do it on command.  He's stubborn...wonder where he gets that?  So far, I've discerned "mama," "dada," "bye-bye," and "bird."

POINTS to Mama and Dada in photographs, points to the bunny in his book "I Am A Bunny," and points to Pete in "Pete the Cat."  After he points, he looks up at me, waiting for my cheers and praise for his skill.  Again, I do not know where he gets this. 

GIVES wet and wonderful KISSES and HUGS.  They are juicy, but most wonderful indeed.  In fact, everything about our little buddy is most wonderful indeed.  We love him more every day.

P.S.  I purposely did not mention sleep.  The less said, the better.  I figure I won't be rocking him when he's 15, so I'll live until we figure out how to sleep.  Seriously, I'm crossing my fingers and praying that acid reflux and teething are causing his wakings.  These theories are not without merit, as some nights the moon and stars align and Ford sleeps through the night without incident, but some nights he just seems miserable.  I hope, hope, hope that when these two issues are resolved (please, come on teeth), we'll all sleep better.  In the meantime, this too shall pass. 

P.P.S.  Pictures to come, don't worry, grandmothers.