Ten Months!

Another month flew by!  Lyla and Archer are 10 months old!  That's right, we've hit the double digits.  Just as each month before, I feel like their growth and development has increased exponentially!  They both have picked up so many new skills over this past month.  They can both wave, which is adorable.  They each also know what the word "wave" means, so all I have to do is say the word and they know what to do.  They can both crawl like pros now and are fast!  I find myself running after them if they escape through an open baby gate towards the stairs.  Luckily, they are both quite noisy and enjoy smacking down their hands and knees with great gusto so I always know when they are on the move.  They haven't quite mastered stealth crawling...yet.

(Archer and Lyla didn't want me to get a picture of both of them together on this particular day.  Luckily Nana was able to get a few.  Thanks, Nana!)

  

In addition to crawling, they are both cruising around furniture.  They can walk around the ottoman and the length of the couch, as well as go from the couch to the ottoman.  Their little push walker toy is a breeze for them.  They also both enjoy pulling up and standing on everything- the windowsills, the baby gates, the front door, my legs, in the bathtub, in the swimming pool and on and on.  They are getting trickier for one person to contain!  Walking is on the very near horizon for both of them, which both excites me and terrifies me.  Since Lyla was the first to crawl by a good month, we figured she'd be the first to walk.  But now our money is on Archer.  He seems to have a very strong desire to walk, while Lyla is content to crawl around.

Both are pros at giving very wet kisses, which is adorable and a little bit gross.  I am basically covered in baby slobber by the end of the day.   They will also give each other kisses.  They give each other slobbery goodnight kisses before they go to their respective rooms for bedtime.  I've even seen them lean over and plant a kiss on each other's head or arm when they're playing.  It's so stinking sweet. 

Archer got his first (and hopefully last) black eye this month.  He fell on the edge of the windowsill.  He's pulled himself up and cruised around the windowsill hundreds of times now, but just lost his balance this once.  Oh, well.  It won't be the last bruise we'll deal with!

He's particularly fond of high fives.  He will hold his little hand up with such a hopeful look in his eye.  And when you hit his hand with yours, he smiles and lets out a little laugh.  It's just plain adorable!  Archer is racking up his tooth count- he's up to 8!  He can goble up his meals rather quickly with all those teeth now.  Speaking of mealtimes, he's getting a bit pickier about some foods.  I think it's more of a texture thing.  As soon as he puts hard-boiled eggs or pasta in his mouth, he quickly spits them back out with such a look of disgust.  It kind of makes me want to give him more of these foods.  He also likes to shake his head no and smile like crazy when I ask him to give me a kiss these days.  He thinks it's hysterical.  But then he usually gives me a kiss anyways.  I think he enjoyed my initial shocked face the first time he did it, so he keeps on doing it just to get a reaction out of me.  Or he's just ornery.

Archer still hates to be left alone.  He's okay if Lyla's in the room with him if I leave to go to the bathroom or switch over the laundry.  But if he's alone, he'll immediately start bawling and the tears start flowing.  If he wakes up before Lyla does, I can pretty much plan on him being attached to my hip.  I know some day he'll want me to disappear so I'm trying to just enjoy his company while I can.

Lyla has been waking up in the morning and from her naps as happy as can be.  She chatters to herself and gives me the biggest smile when I go get her from her crib.  She loves to explore and crawl all over the place.  She enjoys crawling up the stairs and darting out of the baby gates when I leave them open.  She enjoys putting all sorts of things in her mouth.  So far I've retrieved the following items out of her mouth while trying to dodge her 5 very sharp teeth: a rollie pollie, flowers, magazine pages, baby wipes, grass, and random pieces of who knows what she's found on the floor.

Lyla's new favorite thing to do is shake her head.  She's not one hundred percent sure what it means, so she's often shaking her head no when I ask if she wants a toy and then grabs for it.  It cracks me up.  I can already tell she's going to give us a run for our money.  As my mom pointed out to me the other day, "You'll be really glad Lyla's such a strong, independent girl when she's 18.  Until then, you're in trouble!" 

Lyla is one of the loudest babies I have ever come across.  She's generally happy, she just likes to make sure everyone knows she's around.  That's why we only go to restaurants that are noisy.  Speaking of restaurants, Lyla has taken the lead for least picky baby.  She has eaten everything we've ever put in front of her.  She didn't even bat an eye when we gave her pickles or peppers.  We'll have to give lemons a go and see what happens.  

I am loving this age!  Lyla and Archer are so much fun!  I love to watch them discover new things and learn new skills.  It's nice that they are becoming more independent and can stay occupied for longer amounts of time.  Things seem like they are getting a bit easier and I am gaining a little more confidence as a mom.  Bring on the next month!