Baby E: Ten Months

Elliott is starting to look more and more like a little boy, not the tiny little baby we brought home in chilly March 2013.  His personality is really developing and he's quite the ham. His antics crack all of us up and his little idiosyncrasies basically turn Lane and I into babbling idiots.

Eating is getting much, much easier and Lane is really enjoying giving him new things to try. While on vacation in Santa Fe, Elliott tried (and loved) pickled daikon, grilled chicken livers, fried Brussels sprouts, spicy pickles and Boursin cheese.  We tried to introduce smoked salmon, but he was having none of it. Elliott's food is ending up in his mouth more often than on the floor or on his person, which is a relief. His discovery of gravity, however, is not such a relief. He knows that he can drop things and that they'll land on the floor. He'll pick up a Cheerio, extend his arm out away from his high chair and drop the Cheerio, all while maintaining eye contact with the nearest parent. He may smirk or giggle, according to our reaction, which is usually to say "uh oh" and pick it up and throw it in the trash. These little glimmers of manipulations and testing of limits are exciting but also incredibly frightening.

Elliott is picking up a lot of adorable phrases and habits from the big kids at daycare. A couple of weeks ago, as I was getting him out of the Ergo carrier, he shook his head side to side and said "nooooo." It was the first real word I had heard him say and even though he didn't know it's meaning, it was still made my week. He's getting the hang of using it in context now and has also expanded into saying "mao" and "bao."  He started saying what I think is "down" a few days ago, especially when he drops a toy off a precipice and peeks over to see where it landed. Aside from these few experiments with actual English words, he's still incredibly vocal and babbles and sings to us constantly. He's also screeching again, which is, fingers crossed, just another phase.

While in Santa Fe, Elliott was totally spoiled and we came home with two scooters for him to terrorize the neighborhood upon. He's not quite big enough for the fancy, design-y model yet, but he's learning to get the hang of this Hape model. We mostly pushed him around while trying to demonstrate proper scoot-push form, but he managed to propel himself forward and backward a couple times. He'll be racing through the Panhandle with the hipsters on their fixies in no time.

I know I end each monthly update with a reflection on how awesome I find parenthood and how amazing I think my kid is, but I really, truly mean it. I had no idea that I would love being a parent this much and I am totally bewitched by this little human.