Months 9 & 10

October and November slipped by so quickly I forgot to post about Wesley's last few months! Please forgive me little baby. I've been to busy running interference since Wesley's moving all over the place. In the last month he's figured out how to crawl (not just creep/army crawl, and he's fast!), pull to standing, cruise along furniture, and climb stairs. Yes, my baby is now a stair-climber. This means our house is again in the putting-gates-up-and-closing-doors-behind-you stage. It's so crazy to think that soon Wesley will be walking. Bill thinks it'll be before Christmas. I'm holding out until Wes is closer to his birthday. We'll see. I'm sure the next month will keep me on my toes with having a mobile baby and a Christmas tree with gifts underneath. Wesley loves to grab things and especially loves to rip and eat paper. So that should be fun. He also puts anything and everything in his mouth. A few weeks ago I found a googly-eye in his poopy diaper. Thankfully there was only one and it was a small one that passed through easily.
Also this kid loves to eat, eat, eat, and he's getting more picky about wanting to feed himself. He likes to feed himself Cheerios, raisins, crackers, beans, and other little things he can pick up. He also will eat whatever we put in front of him. Last week he had some chili, including some meat! He is also a fan of mama's homemade turkey soup. Yummy!

Wesley loves his big sisters and loves watching them jump around, dance, and be silly. He grooves to music (lately we've been listening to Veggie Tales Boyz in the Sink and "Pirate's Music" Emphatical Piratical), claps his hands and bobs his head to the beat. He's also quite a chatterbox and says, "mamama," "dadada," and other various noises. He seems to understand "no" but doesn't always mind mother's direction. When I say "no" (usually responding to his diving for plastic, knives in the dishwasher, or the stairs) he looks at me and shakes his head. And oh, the dishwasher. What is with my kids and the dishwasher?! At least it teaches me to work quickly and not dawdle whilst emptying or filling the dishwasher.

Wesley is sleeping a bit better. About a month ago I stopped swaddling him, which I was really worried would make his sleep suffer. For the first few days he did take a while to fall asleep, but he then figured out how to soothe himself better and do it on his own. I started putting a lovey in his crib, his special monkey, and that seemed to help. He still wakes up to nurse once or twice, but it's manageable. This morning I was feeding him and could feel his little heart beating. It occurred to me (and it may seem silly to you but I hadn't considered it), that this little heart is the same one I saw on ultrasound when I was 10 weeks into my pregnancy with Wesley. He was just a tiny little bean, and now he's this huge kid laying in my arms. I feel so blessed to have these children in my life and I'm grateful to be their mother. (Of course God is continually working with me on that and sometimes in my selfishness I don't feel grateful, but then the crazy fog lifts and I can actually see my little blessings, instead of my selfish ambition.)

Soon we will be celebrating Wesley's birthday! Seriously where does the time go?