10 Month Update

This little boy is full of personality - as can be clearly seen from the pictures he took! It seems that time is starting to fly faster and faster - maybe because he keeps us busier and busier! Breck loves to fly through the air like he's superman (that's what he's doing in the picture on the left). He also dances all the time and even tries to sing - he has the cutest little voice. In this past month, he has definitely gotten the crawling thing down and NEVER STOPS! He's been wearing his daddy out as he takes lap after lap around the living room. In the past month, he has become more of a daddy's boy - partly because they are spending so much time together while I work summer school. Those two are so much alike. It's funny to see Breck's personality start to come out and notice how much it reminds me of my husband. As a side note - it is super cute to see us out and about and have so many people constantly comment how much he looks like his daddy. I know that warms his heart!

Breck is up in the air with his naps. He has days where he naps just like he always has, for two hours in the morning and afternoon. Then there are some days that he barely lays down for 30 minutes and he's up and into stuff again. For a couple of days last week, he skipped that afternoon nap altogether and just kept playing hard. Of course, he crashed hard earlier than usual as well.

Breck has discovered a whole new world of wonderfulness in food. On vacation, we really started branching out in what we were letting Breck try. Now, he eats any and everything - nutritious that is! He loves to gobble up mini eggo pancakes, potatoes - cubed or mashed, wheat bread (loves Grams' homemade bread), pizza, ravioli and sauce, fish sticks, hot dog, hamburger, Mexican food - just about anything but the chips and salsa from that menu!, sugar-free jello, baby goldfish crackers, and chicken nuggets. I think Mexican food and chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes are amongst his favorites. For a couple of days, he enjoyed chicken nuggets for lunch or dinner and then when he didn't get them the next day, Brian said he just cried and cried. When Breck went to get his 10-month pictures with Daddy, they went to the food court at the mall afterward. This is where Breck experienced the tastiness of Chick-fil-a for the first time. I think those nuggets just don't compare to McDonald's or the ones in the freezer section. For fruits and vegetables we have tried giving him pieces of the real deal but so far, he still likes the Gerber vegetable and fruit purees instead. He still gets mixed grain cereal or oatmeal as well so he is sure to get some good nutrients and minerals. We have been working on sippy cups in the past month too since the time is coming to a close very soon on breastfeeding. I'm thinking in the upcoming weeks, Breck will know only breastmilk from a bottle so that he can get past needing me. Our next step will then be to get him to not be so picky about his milk temperature. He likes his bottles really warm and that is going to be a difficult transition from warm Momma milk to cold cow's milk. In his sippy cup, he loves cold ice water. He gets such a big grin on his face when you give it to him like he realizes what a big boy he is. Now if only we can make the move from milk and snacks to milk with meals only and water with snacks...but that is this month's goal!

As far as playtime goes, Breck has continued to play hard every day. We will be in the living room and he will just take off down the hall to his playroom. He gets in there and will play for hours. Brian has cable added to his playroom and now we have whole-home DVR so we can record several of his favorite shows and watch them at any time. Breck's idea of a good day is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on in the background and toys at his disposal. We continue to swim quite often and I think that will remain one of Breck's favorite things about summer. We were going to go to Schlitterbahn and Sea World in July but Las Vegas taught us a valuable lesson - we have a small window of being outside in the sun at the pool. With that in mind, we have decided to scale back our San Antonio weekend and just go to Sea World this year. We look forward to this being one of those fun things we do every summer where Breck doesn't know it's coming but he just wakes up one morning and the car is packed and we hit the road. (Brian had a similar surprise day growing up where they would wake up and his parents would have their swimsuits on and the cooler packed. They knew it meant going to the water park - a once-a-summer treat.) The cool thing about going to Sea World is that they have a water park as well. This way we can see animals - which Breck loves to do - watch shows, go indoors at times to escape the sun and still get to swim! I think it will be a good compromise these first few years until we can really enjoy Schlitterbahn with him (one of my favorite childhood memories!).

As far as progress goes, in this past month, Breck has not only become a little speedster with his crawling, he has gained more confidence in standing up and "cruising." Cruising is the term they give to toddlers who will hold onto something as they take steps. Breck is definitely pulling up on everything and using it to get him from one thing to another. I think being around friends who are walking has motivated him to get a move on it. I am happy just to enjoy the stage we're in though. I'm pretty sure we'll never sit down again when he is able to just get up and run!

I have loved seeing how much he has changed and grown just in the past month happening during the summer. It definitely spoils you! And to know that by the time we go back to school he will almost be a year old is awesome!