10 months old

Dear Leo,

Why, you ask, is your 10-month post two and a half days late? Well, mainly because you keep your mama and your papa on the go-go-go! You are crawling everywhere and into everything. You are very independent and like to play with everyday things. Good thing we haven't invested in a lot of toys for you yet, since for the most part you find them to be less interesting than your empty snack container or papa's glasses case.







We've taken to calling you a professional wiggler--you do not sit still for much. Changing your diaper is a major chore (ie battle of the wills) since you refuse to lie still. "No Leo" is a constant refrain heard in this house. Whether it's because you are trying to stick your hand in the VCR, climb up the highchair, or pull something off a table, you like to test the boundaries (and retest them 30 seconds later and 30 seconds after that, and...).

You love to pull up and will even use a prone parent as a step stool. You cruise a little, but you'd rather crawl from place to place, even if it means pulling up, sitting down and crawling to the new location, and pulling up again.

You often crawl while holding something, a toy, the remote, anything, in your hand. This can make for more treacherous travel, but you persist in keeping your treasures near you.







You hardly spit up much any more (although you have christened your new rug several times already.) And we no longer include a bib as a regular part of your outfit, and we may go days without using a burp cloth. Instead you are mastering solid food and have the sippy cup figured out. You are getting more independent about eating and I think we're about to the end of the mashed foods we've been making--you want to be able to pick it up and feed it to yourself. Needless to say, we cannot skip baths anymore!








You take your baths in the big tub. It's a challlenge to keep you from playing with the stopper chain and from trying to stand up. You must think it's like a big pool. You've been swimming twice and the first time you love it and the second you weren't quite sure what to think.

The pictures in this post pretty well capture how inquisitive you are and how intently you study whatever is before you.








You've been using R, G, and maybe D sounds, and sometimes it sounds like you are saying "roar" or "rah" (a NE lion?) You still love books and Would love to pull them all off the shelf at every possible opportunity.

We love you very much and wish that you weren't growing up quite so fast.

Love,
Mama and Papa