Maverick: Ten Month Update

Soooooo many things to update about Maverick this month. He claps, just popped his first little sharptooth, and he's starting to SCOOT! But more on all that in a little bit...

Mav is 10 months old and is headed straight for that big one-year birthday. We can't even believe that's possible. Summer just started. I need to reference his bucket list to make sure we're checking things off regularly to accomplish everything before fall is here!

Bae is wearing 6-9, 6-12, and some 9-12 month clothes. Totally depends on the brand and the style, but he finally started to move up a size this month. It's like Christmas when I go through his drawers to see what's up next! I'm almost ready to fill and pack another tote away, which is a big deal with as looooong as he wears his clothes for. ;) He's in size 2 diapers (though I can squeeze his butt into a size one if that's all I have in the diaper bag...oops), and he's in size 3 overnight diapers for nighttime.

At his 9 month check-up (which was actually closer to 10 months) he weighed 16 pounds, 3 ounces, handled his shots like a CHAMPION, and scored nice and high on communication and 'problem solving' skills. Gross and fine motor were low, but the doctor wasn't concerned about that in the slightest after being around Mav during the appointment...and his opinion is the only one that really matters. Despite being mostly stationary, he is a busy guy. Into his diaper bag, wanting to snack on puffs, grabbing at the papers in my hand, playing with my watch/earrings/ring/painted nails, tearing the paper he was sitting on. Doc is sure he'll be on the move in no time...and reminded me to enjoy it AND I SO AM. I spent AN HOUR getting ready for church on Sunday and Mav sat in the living room by himself playing with his little box of toys (the takeaway there should not be how long it takes me to get ready...but how good he was at playing). He's so good at independent play *praise hands*. My goal is to start having him to play with some toys in his crib so when I need him to be contained, he's A-OK with being stuck in there for a little bit while I shower, etc. until he's trained/disciplined on what he can and cannot touch.

Like I said...Mav popped a little lone tooth this month! I've been calling him Maverick Sharptooth and singing the Baby Sharptooth do-dodododo song nonstop. My mom said she thought she saw something while we were in the van the other day...but she's like the boy who cried wolf when it comes to Maverick getting teeth so I shrugged it off. When he started chewing on his hands and drooling a little bit at two months (TWO MONTHS) she thought he was getting teeth. Then Josh's mom was sure he was getting teeth a couple months later...then when he had a few bad weeks sleeping through the night everyone was sure it was teeth...a month ago when we were at the farm G'pa and Rick commented on how they thought it was time for teeth...WELL EVERYONE THE ELUSIVE FIRST TOOTH HAS FINALLY ARRIVED. We can all rest easy because the kid does, in fact, have teeth in that head of his. :) I'm pretty thrilled he took it like a man because I had no idea it was even coming. No crying/fever/crabbiness/drooling/runny nose...I'm praying that's how he handles the rest of them. Eeek.

Our schedule changed a bit this month. After Maverick was TERRIBLE for my mom on the night of the Switchfoot Concert, I made a proclamation that we were D-O-N-E with 1/2/3am feedings. DONE. I was going to buy Josh earplugs. I was going to ask questions on the Babywise Facebook Group until I had. this. figured. out. I was going to stick out hours of crying until 5am because it was becoming very clear the middle of the night thing was just a nasty habit that had snuck back up on us and it needed to GO. It was recommended I cut his morning nap to an hour, try increasing his wake-times, and limit his day-time sleep to 3/3.5 hours...I did all those things, gave him two days to get his #$%* together and BOOM. Mav has been sleeping 8:30-4/5/6 more consistently than he has his whole life. Two days of slip-ups in there (possibly due to naps being off) and we've had three weeks of pretty blissful nights. I'm hopeful he will keep at it...so our schedule right now is:

8/8:30: Wake/eat
9/9:30: Food
10:30/11: Nap
12:00: Wake/eat
1:00: Food
2/2:30: Nap
4:00: Wake/eat
5:00: Food
8:00: Bedtime routine/eat
8:30: Bedtime

Things move around 15-30 minutes either way if necessary, but I've really tried to remember those three rules...limit morning nap...make sure he's getting enough awake time...and no more than 3.5 total hours of day-time sleep per day. Though it seems like he does better if his total napping time is right at 3 hours...sometimes it seems like he's exhausted from the pool and needs more so I'll let him have 3.5 or our our day together can get a little hairy-scary. There was a day when I tried a 2-3-4 schedule (because it's pretty close to what we do anyway?) and that was the night of the slip-up so we went right back to how we had been doing things, nbd.

Bedtime is a bit earlier, our mornings are consistently starting earlier (minus a few days where he slept until 9 AND IT WAS GLORIOUS), and his wake-times are a lot happier than they used to be...specifically that looong evening one. After handling skipping his morning nap yesterday really well, I'm really hoping that means our transition to one nap will be easy. I've heard that one can be tough, but I'd like to see it gone around his birthday. Sunday's have gotten easier each week it seems...he naps or he doesn't; the service we're at is totally random by the week; and since I'm helping with D6 for the summer occasionally he's in the nursery from 8:30-12:30 (bless. those. helpers). As he's gotten older he seems to handle the craziness of the day a lot better.

As for tricks...these are the things we're 'Annoyed-First-Time-Parent-Proud-Of':

• When it's time for nap or bed, as soon as I turn off the light and turn on the sound machine, he immediately lays his head down on my shoulder and cuddles up for bed
• Clapping! He's clapping! And once I caught him clapping when the babies on Einstein were instructing him to!
• Butt-scooting...he's shifting directions, scooting all over, really good at backin' up that booty
• Throwing balls and 'playing catch'...he started showing that trick off at the 4th of July parade and now I'm convinced he knows he's playing a game
• Putting toys in and out of his box, putting shape toys where they're supposed to go
• Looooooves swinging...I'm told I reached an age where my parents avoided driving by parks so I wouldn't see swings and then whine about swinging the rest of the day...please don't like that THAT much, Maverick
• Pulls to stand with help and is standing mostly unassisted, though we still need to be close to catch (I'm looking at you NANA lol)
• The pincher grasp is coming! I mentioned in an Instagram last week Jamie and I lovingly refer to this as 'Lobstering', or 'Maverick Lobster-Hands' and he's starting to pick up bits of food on his own and put them in his mouth...sometimes that fist still gets in the way

For a look at the rest of his adorable nine month pics taken by Libby Asay...there in this Facebook album.

We're still in water as much and as often as we can be. Pool on the deck, watching the sprinkler in the yard (when it was cool last week), and hitting the pool when it's hot. Maverick loves drinking water, slapping water, watching the washing machine fill up with water, watching intently while I wash my hands, watching fountain/hoses/hot tub jets, and obsessed with our water bottles and trying to take a drink...are all babies like this with water or is mine a freak? It's so funny.

Maverick likes watching me vacuum, gets a tiny bit scared of car washes, will still go to anyone (depending on where he's at in his nap/eat schedule), and doesn't cry as much when I leave the room (yay!), though he will still hold his arms out to come to me or Josh over anyone else, if offered. He met a baby kitty last night and LOVED it. He still loves watching puppies, bunnies, birds...and isn't even scared of big dogs visiting him at the Farmers Market. He's doesn't try and touch animals ever, but he will sit and watch them for as long as I let him. The petting zoo across the street was a real BIG hit last weekend.

Last month I talked about how Mav had been on a strike with eating. Distracted eating when with me...distracted eating real food in his chair...I felt like I couldn't get anything down his throat. I'd heard from a few mom's that it's all normal so I just fought through it and one day it was like he was ready to buckle down and get to work. He eats 5-10 ounces of baby food 2-3 times a day; bits and pieces of whatever is on my plate for meals; and we've finally reached the stage where I can feed him puffs and yogurt swirls in the Gap dressing room to keep him happy and quiet. Hallelujah. He's still nursing at 4/5/6am and then four times during the day. You better believe I'm counting down the days 'til we hit the one year mark and he can have that blessed cow's milk instead of me, only me, all. the. time. After a pump debacle on the crazy wedding/Switchfoot concert weekend (when I didn't have the time or the sanity to deal with it and Andrea had to come to my rescue) I was just so ready to be done with the whole nursing thing. Most of the time it's the easiest option...but as he gets older...and it's summertime...and nursing bras dictate what I can wear...I'll be honest, it is getting annoying. I know I'm lucky to have had such an easy time breastfeeding Maverick for a year, so that will be the extent of my complaining and I already feel like even that was too much. However, next time I'll be introducing formula EARLY and then giving that off and on throughout the first year so there's a little more flexibility without that annoying satanic breast pump.

Last month Maverick helped his daddy celebrate Father's Day; took another big trip to Twin Lakes to stay at our favorite cabin (this time that included getting IN the lake); participated in Manson Grater Crater Days; celebrated his parents' being married for SIX years; and helped decorate for yet another wedding ceremony and reception. 

If this past week has taught me anything, it's that every. single. second we get to be Maverick's parents is a gift and a blessing I won't be taking for granted. Josh's cousin Stephen was in a serious car accident last week with brain and spine injuries and is still in a coma...which is just another reminder that these sweet boys don't belong to us, they have always belonged to God. Stephen is 18 years old, celebrated his graduation last weekend, and has his whole life ahead of him...falling in love...getting married...having babies...I just sit here thinking about those things and I want that SO BAD for him and his sweet family. At this point it's almost impossible for me to imagine Maverick as an eighteen-year-old but I know it will be here tomorrow. Stephen's family is from Ohio, so that obviously makes it hard to help in tangible ways other than praying. But I've been SO intentional to slow down this week, cuddle my baby longer, kiss his cheeks even more than usual, and spend time praying that God would completely heal Stephen...giving him an amazing testimony at what a miracle he is, all for God's glory. Would you pray that with me too, just real quick?

I think that just about sums up everything about our big little buddy this month. Only two more of these updates to go and we will have conquered our first year of parenthood...a little older, wiser, and tired-er. ;)

MmB