Dear Eisley...Ten Months

Dear Eisley,

Another month has past, and now you are in the double digits just a couple months shy of the big ONE. This month has been so very fun. Luckily we haven't been very sick, and you have handled teething pretty well. Your top two teeth popped trough this month, making that a total of 4! Now your ready for some corn on the cob.

You still show an avid interest in animals, and especially the kitties. You love to hear them meow and you make a "meow" like sound back at them. We have been trying to teach you gentle pets, but you get so excited and grab big fist fulls of hair and then try your hardest to chew on their ear. For the most part they steer clear of you when they can. I hope one day you can come to a mutual agreement to love each other.

One thing that has changed for the better is how much more cuddly you are these days. Often when I pick you up you will snuggle your little head into my neck. When you are tired you will rest your head on my shoulder. You will lightly pat my arms, or run your hands through my hair. It's so great to cuddle you, even if it took 10 months for you to cuddle me. I have noticed that you cuddle in extra tight when people come up to talk to you, they could be strangers or family. You have started the "stranger danger" phase and you only feel safe with Mama and Papa. We let you take it slow when getting to know new people, and eventually all your worries fade away and your having fun with all those around you.

 You have been playing more on your own lately, you love "reading" books. You will open them up, flip through the pages, and make sounds like you are reading. This little game will occupy you for a very long time, and I like that because that means I can fix dinner....well, I use the term "fix" lightly. Some other toys you are enjoying these days are your stacking blocks, little wooden shapes, your sensory table (when it is filled with water) and your links.  It is amazing to watch you play, you love to figure out how things work, manipulate them, turn them over in your hands, see how they sound when banged on something. It is almost like I can see you brain working as you play!

You are so busy these days. You are crawling like a champ, super fast and all over the place. When you are trying to go fast, you do this funny thing were you SLAM you hands down hard on the floor. You have also started "cruising" or walking around while holding onto furniture. Sometimes you will even push our dining room chairs around to walk from one end of the room to the other, I feel like I am constantly moving a chair out of my way. Your new funny skill is putting a toy in mouth and then crawling or cruising around with it, you look like a little puppy dog.

You're still pretty much co-sleeping with us. And for now that is working, but as you get more mobile and floppy when your sleeping I can see us getting tired of this arrangement. We did a lot of fun things this month too, all the Bowman's came to visit for the 4th of July, and you were a champ going to the coast, out to dinner, playing with your cousins, it was so much fun. One of the more memorable things that happened was going to the band Eisley's concert and we got to meet some of them and their babies!  I got you some sound canceling headphones so you could be with us during the concert, but it was way to hot, sweaty and loud, so you hung out with your MoMo and Gandaddy while we rocked out!

We are still calling you Nugs, and Bug--I think they have officially stuck as your nicknames. These pictures were so hard to get, like last month, because you just wanted to move around so much. However, it is amazing to see you learn and accomplish new things, I am always amazed.