The Docken Life: Max at 10 months

Notice the glossy eyes, which is the 'tired' look he gets while eating.

You can definitely feel autumn in the air and it reminds me of the season in which Max was born last year. Last year at this time, I was so looking forward to the fall, first for some relief from the heat, secondly because I just love the fall, and thirdly because it meant my baby boy was arriving. Now it's a year later, fall is once again making itself known, and my baby boy is just two months shy of a year old!

At 10 months old, Max:

continues to be a terrific sleeper, and I don't take the beauty of it for granted for a minute! He goes to bed between 7-7:30 PM and generally wakes up around 6:30AM. He takes three naps a day and goes down easily. He usually fusses for a minute or less and that's it. He wakes up around 5:00AM and Josh gives him a diaper change. I can't go in his room because it would be all over at that point. ("Mommy! FEED MEEEEEE!!!"). Though I love nursing him and will be very sad when it comes to an end, one positive thing to look forward to is being able to "sleep" in until, say, 7:30AM once a week. Before Max was here, Josh and I took turns on the weekend getting up with the kids and letting the other one lay in bed awhile longer (although I was ALWAYS up by 8AM, or, more often, 7:30AM, or else it felt like I was wasting the day away!) Because I cannot feed Max in the morning and put him back down (one of the cardinal sins according to our sleep doctor), I am up with him for the day once he awakes. Josh is a lucky duck that he gets to 'sleep' in every weekend day- but it won't last forever! :)
crawls! He started crawling at 9 months and one week old- on August 8th. He can move along at a quick clip. I always put him in pants or else his little knees get red and painful from crawling on the laminate floor and carpet.
Can put himself into a sitting position from laying or crawling on the floor. He's working on pulling himself to standing but he's not there quite yet. When I stand him up and lean him against something, he has a very wide stance and doesn't know how to sit down by himself so he shrieks (with a high pitch!) until we rescue him. :)
wears size 9 month and 12 month clothing and size 4 diapers.
is finally eating well again after a strong attempt for several weeks to only eat yogurt. For awhile there he'd eat yogurt like it was his last meal but refused to eat anything else! We said he would "kung fu" when we tried feeding him because he would wave his arms in front of his mouth like he was doing martial arts. During dinner Claire would excitedly say, "Max is doing kung fu! Max kung fu, Mommy!". We had to 'trick' him into eating by taking a bottle of water in one hand and squirting it into his mouth so he would open it. Then, with the spoon full of food in the other hand, we'd sneak it right in. Bwahahaha- winning! Thankfully he realized he's no match for Daddy and me and he gave up his strike against veggies and fruits. I am still making all of his baby food. Lately he's had a lot of spaghetti squash (it really does look like spaghetti before you blend it), pears, apples, peas, and carrots (fresh from my garden!). He still has his gag reflex so I haven't tried giving him any table foods other than his baby puffs and yogurt melts.
not surprisingly, is still a very happy, laid back, easy going (I know that's redundant but it goes to show just how chill he is :)), joyful Mama's boy. If he even hears my voice he starts frantically searching around for me.
babbles and has a very sweet voice. He says, "yah, yah, yah" the most. Claire responds, "Yah, yah, yah MAX!!!". He also says "mamamamamamama" but without reference to me.
likes to play games. When we're upstairs he makes a quick beeline for the top of the stairs. When I chase after him and say, "no, no, no, Max!" he squeals and laughs and picks up his speed. Josh says I shouldn't encourage that behavior but it's too fun to "play" with him.
is sensitive in some regards, just like his sister was. (Or is it just a 'baby' thing? Regardless, I think Claire was more sensitive than average). He has caused me some pain while nursing lately and when I react, he gets big eyes, his lip pouts, and then he breaks into a sad cry. Today I said, "No, Claire!" while I was nursing Max and he started crying. Poor little guy.
has just his bottom two teeth, although his top two should be in soon.
loves to be outside. Claire now insists on pulling the wagon instead of riding in it. This makes for a loooooong walk around the neighborhood. During the long walks, Max just sits contentedly (even without a toy) and looks around.