10, 10 Months... Awk, Awk, Awk

Checking off another month of life, Linus continues to thrill us with his growth and development. Here for the record are the developmental milestones of one Linus Elliott.

• Movement: Commando crawling is the way to get somewhere quick. However, if he's not in a hurry or happens upon carpet or rugs, he will pop up on his knees in the traditional style. He is also big on pulling up on furniture and has even tried to climb a shelf or two. Once standing, he clears the shelf of all its contents. I think he likes the sound of objects hitting the ground. He doesn't really cruise the furniture (walking sideways while clinging to furniture) as his preferred method of walking is forward. He will "cruise" around the crib and will definitely walk if he has an object to both sides. He also loves to hang on to any willing adults fingers (usually mommy) and lead the way around the house although his movement still bears a strong resemblance to Elvis.
  

• Sleep: Although the emergence of teeth can deter it, Linus still tends to sleep through the night fairly well. By "through the night", I mean he goes down at 7 and wakes up at 5-ish to nurse. After nursing, he returns quickly to sleep until around 7:30. This is a routine that everyone is happy with and therefore not likely to change for awhile. Sometimes we even let him stay in bed with us after nursing. It's so sweet to snuggle him while he is sleeping.

• Eating: He is really enjoying the new freedom of eating off of my plate. With less fear of allergic reactions, we are able to introduce new tastes more frequently. His favorite is still bananas but spaghetti is a close second. He eats three meals of solid foods as well as nursing 5 times a day. It's no wonder he's the chunkiest he's ever been (which is still not above the 25th percentile). A few other favorites include tomatoes, grilled cheese, quesadillas, and grapes.
  

• Language: Although he understands a few ASL signs (milk, eat, water), he doesn't actually form them himself very often. The one exception is milk which he will use only after having exhausted his arsenal of other tactics (i.e. climbing up mommy, fussing, tugging at mommy's shirt, etc). He does however use verbal language to name a few things. Most consistent and easiest to understand is 'duck'. He will chase his rubber duck around the tub while repeating it over and over. Of course, he has also seen a cardinal which he called a duck, but he's getting there. He also seemed to have a pretty consistent use of 'dog' while we were visiting family with dogs. He doesn't get much opportunity to use it around this cat house. Speaking of cats, he occasionally will vocalize something sounding vaguely like 'kitty' when one of our three enters the room. The final word in his limited vocabulary is 'milk'. It may have been a fluke as he only started using it yesterday but with the frequency that we say it (while fervently making the sign), I wouldn't be surprised if he does continue to use it. He also says 'dada' but I'm not really sure he associates it with his daddy. The one word we've never heard, not once, is 'mama'. Oh well, I'm sure I'll hear enough of some variation of it for the rest of my life, so I'll be patient.
  

• Personality: Linus has become very opinionated lately. If he dislikes something, he will let you know by making a raspberry. He has made it after Tess, the golden retriever, has just licked his face for the third time. He has made it in response to his least favorite part of his airplane-only Baby Einstein video. And, he has made it when I've interrupted his play to ask if he wants some milk. It is definitely his no. He has also recently begun to throw mini tantrums when something is taken away from him. He gets over them pretty quickly but they are very forceful when happening. Of course, let the record show that Linus is a very happy kid and doesn't razz or fuss very often. We are lucky for that especially after the early months of King Colic.
  

• Playing: One of the biggest developments that I see as the nearing end of babyhood involves Linus's ability to play independently. As long as I'm in the room, he will contentedly play for around 10 minutes. He will then look to me for comment or crawl over for a little snuggle before returning to his activity. It is really amazing. Of course, he does love to play with mommy and daddy. One of his favorites is destroying towers as fast as we can build them. He also enjoys rolling a ball back and forth. Also, he has started dancing when he hears music and loves toys that he can trigger to play music himself.

• The other item that his daddy insists that I note is Linus's supreme role as daddy's lil' wingman. Linus can and will flirt with any older woman. He doesn't dislike male strangers but they definitely don't get the smiles, giggles, and eyelash batting that women do. I think he's already a better flirt than his daddy ever was.

So, there you have it. Our little boy is growing up and the difference is as noticeable in his development as in his pictures.