Guzowski Family Blog: 10 months and maple goodness

Last week's blog post had a lot of Evie updates, so this week, Noah will get lots of press. He turned 10 months old on Friday, and that milestone caught me off guard. Suddenly it feels like we have an almost-1-year-old and an almost-4-year-old. One and four. This past year has been a blur!

Here's the run-down of what Noah is up to at 10 months old:

Sleep: I call him "inconsistent baby," because he's mostly sleeping through the night, but a couple times a week, he'll wake up and want to nurse. There's no predictability to what time or which nights he'll wake (12:30am, 5am, you name it!). He has always been a good napper, and these days he takes two good naps, usually about 2 hours apiece. Even if I have to wake him up early from a nap, he still manages to be in a good mood!

Mobility: One of the most common questions we get is, "Is he walking yet?" Well, no. In fact, he isn't even crawling. He can log-roll and get to any corner of the room that he desires, and I'm pretty sure that's why he has no need for crawling. He's also very interested in pulling himself up to his knees, and practicing standing while holding on to us. Will we have another baby that skips crawling altogether?

Teeth: None! Lots of drooling and gnawing on things, but nothing to show for it yet.

Nursing: Still going strong. He nurses when he wakes up in the morning, before/after his naps, and before bed.

Favorite Foods: Everything, but especially carbs! He loves yogurt, bananas, toast, pancakes, banana bread/pumpkin bread, cheerios, and he likes most of the baby food purees, too.

Nicknames: Noey (like Joey), Noey-Doughy (we'll have to get rid of this one before he gets much older!), Pancake (thanks to Evie for this contribution; she thought his name sounded too much like "no")

Words, gestures, signs: We think he has a few words, like Mama, Dada, up, book. He waves and says "hi," which is super cute, and he loves when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus." He'll do the hand gestures for "the horn on the bus goes beep, beep beep", and also for "the wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish" as we're singing to him. We've been trying to teach him a few sign language signs to help him communicate, and he will sign for more, all done and milk. Oh, and a good game of peek-a-boo is sure to get some belly laughs!

Favorite toys: Anything that involves emptying out a bunch of toys. Shape sorters, and especially the wooden Noah's Ark shape sorter that we have, are among the favorites. He also loves to drum on anything he can find!

Personality: He is a very social and smiley baby. It's so much fun to go out shopping with him, because he looks at everyone and smiles, and people can't help but smile back! So many times, I hear "Is he always this happy?"

Biggest Challenges: Noah is big, strong and wiggly, which makes him hard to hold and carry around. I either have to put him in a carrier or a stroller if I'm going into a store, because he is too much to just carry on my hip. He is also LOUD. When he gets upset, we know it, and so do the neighbors! His unpredictable schedule can make it tricky to schedule outings, but I think that's true of most babies.

Speaking of babies, we had a fun play date with buddy Wesley, who is just a week younger than Noah! It was impossible to get them both to look for a photo, so these are the "outtakes!"

We had a really fun family day on Saturday venturing out for the Maple Open House weekend. My faithful blog readers may remember that this is an annual tradition that I adore. We visited two new sugar houses this year, and we were lucky enough that both were boiling. Something about that sweet, steamy, maple-y air makes me giddy. We ate enough maple goodies to feel a little sick to our stomachs, but that didn't stop me from bringing home two gallons of syrup and a few more treats for later.