10 months old - the double digit months

There are six teeth in that mouth now. Four on the top and two on the bottom.

This past month has really been a month of discovery. I swear you barely stopped to rest, despite being SO sick for a good two and a half weeks of it.

Napping has been a struggle all month, mostly because of all the sickness. For the last few days, though, we've pushed your nap to 12:30 p.m. for one good three hour nap. And so far, you're still ready to sleep by 7:30 p.m...which is good, though Lily always falls asleep first.

You sleep with your bum in the air.

Your crawling is fast and furious. You won't even be out of the kitchen (where I am) for ten seconds when I see you crawling up the stairs, already on the third step. You don't crawl like you're a soldier anymore, but like a real baby on your knees. More than half the time, you're on a mission. A musical mission and it's more than adorable.

You have to stand on your tippy toes to reach. Could anything be more sweet?

The kennel door and the baby gates are your fave things to play with. Open, close, open, close, hit yourself in the face as the door swings by, open, close... You get the idea.

You get into everything. I think we've finally stopped you from opening the warming drawer on the stove, but you can't get enough of the pantry, tea towel drawer and cutting board/kitchen scale cupboard. Sometimes you get careless and those chubby fingers get slammed inside. Ouch. I've also caught you climbing up the step stools in the bathrooms and peeking over the counter at the wondrous place of water, the sink.

All of those things – the crawling, the climbing, the stairs, the opening and closing – they all equal injuries, mostly to the head. You started crying one day in the living room and I rushed in to find your head tightly wedged between the couch leg and the end table leg. Another day you lost your footing and feel on your head on the hardwood floor; it even left a big bump for about six hours. I suppose it's just what happens as you learn.

Speaking of things you learn, your Dad and Lily used to think it was cute when you hit them in the face any time they were in reaching distance. They'd laugh at how sweet you were. Didn't stay funny for long, though. (Well, I still think it's cute but only because you rarely hit me and I'm the only one you'll "kiss" when I ask. A good ol' open-mouthed sloppy baby kiss.) You still automatically hit Lily in the face when she nears and honestly, she probably deserves it because she's always in your face or picking on you.

Though she loves to help you, too. And she is an excellent teacher when she puts her mind to it.

You point. The other day, I pulled out our family picture and said "Where's mama?" and you pointed right at me. Then your little finger went to Dad when I asked where he was, then to Lily! We were SO proud. Before you were born, I wasn't sure I'd be as amazed at every little thing you were going to do seeing as you are the second child, oft regarded as less photographed and less coddled than the first. And with Lily unwilling to be photographed these days, you are my muse.

The best thing about this month, though? You say mama and mom and mmmmmmmmm, mmmm – and you specifically say it to me or to Dad when you want me or hear my voice. Lily didn't say it until she was about 14 months old, so this is a treat. You say da da and once you said hi Daddy, but not with as much purpose and yearning as you say mama. Perhaps I'm biased...