Adventures with Zilla: 10 Months

How old?: 10 months! Double digits y'all!

Weight/Height:  
At our 9 month appointment he was about 20 lbs and 29 inches. 

Baby clothes:  

For onesies and shirts he can wear 9 or 12 month.  For pants he is wearing 9 or 12 months, but 12 months fit better. He is in size 4 diapers.

Milestones:

Zilla has graduated from the worm to an army crawl.  Still doesn't seem too interested in full on crawling.  He loves loves loves to stand up and walk while he holds our fingers.  He can also pull himself up onto his play table and into laps.  This also means, when available he can climb up stairs. Although he prefers not to use his arms much, so a lot of the time he will pull up with his head and neck.  

He is able to place shapes into matching holes.  He's not great at matching up with the correct hole but once we show it to him he has the fine motor control to put it in there.

Zilla has also started waiving and it is the very cutest!

Zilla has said "Ma ma ma ma!"  It's super cute.  I don't think he's connected it to a person but I still love to hear him say it.  He is all around quite the little chatter box. 

Special outings

We went to Houston for Zilla's first Thanksgiving!  We got to see his Nina and the Garcia's as well as his great aunt and great Memaw. We also saw his aunt and uncles and Paw Paw and Mimsie Kathie.  It was all around a great weekend and beautiful weather.

Zilla experienced his first snow (ice) storm this month and got to briefly sit in it while mommy got a picture.  He was so cute in his over-sized snowsuit. 

We also started our rounds of Christmases this month!  Zilla's first Christmas and first Christmas gift was at my dad's with all his cousins around.  It was a lot of fun!

Highlights of the month: 

This was a really great month!  First, I changed jobs and am now working for DARS.  I love the people I'm working with.  The best part is that I am both closer to home and getting to leave work earlier than before.  This means at least an extra hour of time spent with my baby boy!

The second highlight was the ice storm we had in Dallas.  It resulted in two days off for me where I got to hang out with my kiddo!  It was so much fun :) 

Daddy also got to spend some extra time at home with little man.  Unfortunately, it was because he got RSV from daycare.  But he handled the sickness like a champ.

Baby's routine:
Routine has stayed the exact same except sometimes he sleeps in which is awesome on the weekends.
Wake up: 7:15am

Play and eat (sometimes we'll do solids here but other times we just do milk)Nap: 9:00 am-11:00 am
    Eat solids: 11:30

Play

Eat milk: 12 or 12:30

Nap: 1:00pm - 3:00 pm

Eat Play: 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm 

Eat solids: 6:00

Play

Eat milk: 7:00

Play

8:00 - Prayer time and bed

Baby's favorite food: 

Zilla has really started to appreciate more table foods.  He'll get frustrated with us putting a spoon in his mouth and prefers to feed himself.  Although he still loves squash.  This month he started to like bananas and apples after despising them the first time he tried them.  

Baby's favorite activity: 
Zilla loves bath time with daddy! Daddy does a great job teaching him to be very comfortable in the water. I can't wait for summer to come around so we can spend some time in the pool! 

He also love knocking down blocks.  Whenever he is about to get into something I don't want him to touch I will stack some of his blocks and he will laugh and then army crawl over so he can knock them down. 

Baby's favorite toy:

Anything he's not supposed to play with.  He wants so bad to play with electric cords and our entertainment center...so he's also having to learn "no no". Although he usually just laughs whenever I say it.

Big changes:

His mobility is ever increasing and he is gaining more and more confidence navigating and transferring between surfaces when standing.  As usual I just love to see him grow and learn.

Mommy Journal

I've been thinking a lot this month about how much things have changed from just a few short months ago.  The more I reflect the more I realize how grateful I am for all of the support I received from my family and friends.  I had a really hard time those first few months.  It got to the point where I started looking into going to see a counselor, but right as I got serious about going I also started to lift out of my fog.  I want to write this because if anyone who is reading this is going through a rough patch after having your baby I want you to know there's no shame and I'm happy to share my experience with you if you want to write or need someone to talk to because you feel like no one else is having the same feelings.  Babies are hard and colicky babies are draining, but know that you are a wonderful mother even on those days you don't feel like it.  

Having a baby has been the biggest blessing in my life.  I also read a story this month about people who have sued doctors for not catching that their child has a disability and said they would have aborted had they known.  It truly breaks my heart that people cannot see the joy that comes from this new life.  I know that I have not experienced having a child with a disability, but I also know that the child has so much dignity and worth.  I work with people with disabilities everyday and it's a shame there are people who cannot see how valuable this person's life is.

  

Yes, children are an inconvenience.  I can't just leave the house whenever I want and I've missed friends' birthdays because he was fussy and left parties because it was past his bedtime.  But I wouldn't trade this blessed inconvenience for all the free time in the world.   He and his cousins are my world.  Yes, I might become frustrated standing in a long line at Toys R Us trying to find the perfect gift, but then I look on facebook and see the cutest picture of my niece and realize it is so worth it.  Because if I was at a bar having a glass of wine instead, it would mean she wasn't there to do her sweet little grunt and squeaky laugh.  And no wine is finer than that laugh.  What I'm trying to say is, don't be afraid of the "inconvenience" a child might bring to your life.  Zilla arrived in ours a few months earlier than we had originally planned, but thank God He is in control and not I, because how boring would life be without our little Zilla, Reesearoo, and Mini B (with more cousins on the way!)?