The Grubers: Charlie's Tenth Month

(written previously)

What a month! Charlie is really starting to grow and change.

At his nine month appointment, the doctor could feel that his first tooth was starting to come in! Jason and I were both late teethers, so I figured nothing would show until twelve months or so. After the doctor mentioned the tooth I was able to start noticing some teething symptoms: he was getting more moody, he was drooling more, chewing on more things, he would have random runny noses, and his gums started looking a little transparent and swollen. His first tooth, however, didn’t break through until ten months.

Charlie’s nine month measurements were:

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz - 36%

Height: 28.3 in - 49%

Head: 46.1 cm - 71%

We are raising a pretty average sized boy!

One thing the doctor mentioned was that I should avoid feeding him eggs (among other things) until he is one year old....oops! I knew about cows milk, honey, peanut butter, and shellfish...but not about eggs. Oh well, he loves them and has not had a reaction to them so I think we are good. (I was too embarrassed to mention that I may or may not have fed him eggs).

The day of his nine month birthday he took a terrible fall! I had him sitting in the Bumbo on our kitchen table. I was doing the dishes at the sink. A usual occurrence. All of a sudden I hear a loud bang and then giant tears! I look over, confused at what I was actually seeing. How did Charlie get on the floor? How is he still in the Bumbo? How is he sitting with his back to the floor? Charlie truly had an angel watching over him, because falling onto the hard tile could have been disastrous! I never heard a hard smack of his head hitting the floor...more of a dull thud. He had no wound to show for it except for a tiny red mark on his chin. He must have leaned forward over the edge of the table with his head, started falling, and then the Bumbo must have hit the edge of a chair that was slightly turned and pulled out from the table causing the Bumbo to rotate, resulting in Charlie landing in the Bumbo on his back rather than face planting on the hard floor! I was so scared running to him to pick him up. He only cried for about a minute and he was fine...but I was still pretty shaken up. Our lives seem to be filled with moments like this, causing us to question our ability and decision to be parents! Time to get a high chair!

Still in the Bumbo during General Conference

Finally borrowed high chair from Grubers a couple weeks later

He is making progress on his crawling. He is starting to push up onto his knees, but can’t quite figure out how to crawl forward with them. He is thinking hard about it, but is still content scooting around on his stomach. He has started carrying things with him from room to room. Most of the time he is scooting, he has something in his hands. He has been able to pull himself up to his feet a couple times if he really wants something in our laps or on the couch...like a phone or iPad. He also likes to crawl in and over things from his knees...like into his carseat, over a pillow, or over Mom and Dad’s legs. Time to bring out the gate for the stairs! I feel so much better now knowing his path to the stairs is blocked! A lot of stress relieved right there!

Gate secured!

We had to improvise with the body pillow since the wall does not come all the way to the top step.

Trying to get the knee action down

The things he has really loved in his short little life so far are: TV, cell phones, remotes, books (especially ones with paper pages he can crinkle or tear), balls, chain-link toys, spoons, mirrors (he can entertain himself for quite awhile after a nap by looking at himself in the mirror in the crib), tupperware, and sucking on washcloths. He loves to be outside and going for walks. He just takes it all in! He goes all quiet and gets in “the zone”. He loves twisting his tongue around and sticking it out repeatedly while making noises. His tongue is quite flexible! He can twist it from side to side just like me...definitely did not get that from Daddy!

Some tongue action for you

Can I just say that I am really enjoying being a mother?!? I am loving our happy little boy! He is sleeping through the night like a champ! So nice! He has started to shake his head back and forth, but I’m not sure if he knows what it means yet.

Loves to be all wrapped up and cross his feet

Sometimes we catch him fast asleep up on his knees

Loves to kick his heels down

By the end of his tenth month, on April 13th, Charlie showed Daddy that he could legitimately crawl. He showed Daddy his skills while I was off skiing with Amy. He crawled on and off that weekend, but the following week he started to crawl on his hands and knees exclusively and hasn’t looked back since!