Parker’s 10 Month Update

This little dude is 10 months old and changing by the day so I thought I needed to write down some milestones so I have it saved in a place forever.. what better place than here? He’s growing like a weed and I can’t believe he’ll be one in a couple of short months.. it’s breaking my heart little by little even thinking about it.

I’m not ready for him to grow out of this phase because it’s truly the best. And to be honest, age 1-2 has never been my favorite. In fact, I find it to be the most difficult age I’ve experienced. They are tiny little wrecking balls who can’t communicate and get easily frustrated. The whining, screaming, tantrums start and it’s enough to crack even the calmest of people. I thought I would never see the light with Cameron and then bam, he hit 2.5 and is the coolest. But woof it was grim for awhile. I’m hoping Parker takes it easy on me but I’m mentally preparing myself for the next year to be one of growth that tests my patience. And don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for the world and there are so many fun things to look forward to during this next year but I do know I’m going to need some champagne to get me through it 😉

Here’s what has been going on in this guy’s world:

Sleeping: Parker takes two naps a day, typically from 8:30-10:30 and then again from 1-3:30 pm. He goes down for the night between 6-6:30 pm and sleeps until 6:30 am. Once he turns 1, I will transition him to one nap with a cat nap here and there as needed and as he adjusts to the new schedule. He has been a dream sleeper since I sleep trained him around the 6 week mark (no, I didn’t starve him all night at 6 weeks.. I just made him learn how to self-soothe himself to sleep). Luckily, teething hasn’t been an issue and we haven’t had any regressions so I’m just hoping we stay the course!

Eating: No problems here.. yet! He will eat anything you put in front of him and when he’s done, you’ll know because it will be thrown all over the floor. He makes that sour face when he bites into a raspberry and a look of concern with something like salmon (unsure, mom. Unsure.).. but he’s willing to try it. I’ll screw him up, though. Both of my other boys were the same. Veggies would go down by the handful. Until one day it was “yucky.” Eye roll. I’m probably a bad mom for this but I just don’t care to force foods on my kids. Sure, I’ll try things over and over and over like you’re supposed to and play “badass” and say, “This is what’s for dinner.. you get nothing else!” But who am I kidding? I am not starving my kids if they ask for a yogurt right before bed. Fine. Just go to sleep and don’t wake up in the middle of the night because you’re hungry. So long story short, I will try and make things interesting for Parker and offer him everything I am eating because I just really, really, really want one of my kids to go to sushi with me 😉 I’m 0 for 2 right now. So you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance…

Playing: Parker is ready to really start playing as opposed to that eat, awake for 30 minutes, sleep cycle we’ve been on for the past 10 months. And unfortunately for him, I purged all of the baby toys after Cam turned 1 because there was no way in hell I was having another kid. Jokes on me. So we went to Target last week and loaded up on some old favorites. He loves his music table, this drop and go dump truck, this pop up surprise toy, and this dinosaur toy. Everything has terrible music but the kid eats it up so I think I can stomach it if it keeps him happy and entertained and learning. We also read lots of touch and feel books and are working on balance and walking with a walker. And lastly, there’s nothing he loves more than stealing his brother’s cars right from their hands and shoving them in his mouth. Savage.

Development: He is tracking at the exact same pace as Jackson and Cameron because I went back to their monthly posts and confirmed. Cameron was just starting to army crawl at 10 months and Parker is showing interest but not quite there. He gets around by scooting one leg underneath him and turning from side and side then rolls to where he wants to go. He doesn’t want to be on all fours and prefers to be sitting, standing or on his tummy. He stands at his music table unassisted but with me close by in case of a tumble. He shifts weight and takes one hand off at a time so he is gaining strength each day. He mumbles words and imitates me as much as he can but it’s mostly squeals and screams to get his point across 😉 The doctor said he is doing all the things he should be at this point and that my boys just take their time with their mobility. I’m ok with it.. the second he’s mobile, my life gets that much more complicated ha!

Personality: Sweet P!! He’s calm, cool, sweet, patient (with his bros) and loving. He smiles at everyone, lets anyone hold him and just loves the attention. He has to share my affection with his brothers so when he gets that 1:1 time, he soaks it up. When he’s fussy, he just wants to be held (or fed) and carried around.. don’t we all? I get it. He is so much like his brothers in temperament but Jackson and Cam turned out differently personality wise so I am so interested to see what this little guy is like. If he keeps up what he’s got going on now, we’re in for a real treat 🙂

Here are the things Parker and I can’t live without right now:

xx, Heather & Parker