10

Today, our sweet, amazingly strong little Callum John is 10 months old. And boy, has he come a long, long way!

I am so not ready to sing Happy Birthday to our little boy. It just does not seem feasible he could be only two months shy of his very first birthday. And honestly, I am not ready to relive all those sad moments we had, and how I still wish I could have those first few hours of his birth back again without all those scary moments. I still yearn for those 'newborn moments' I was able to have with our girls. Holding them, nursing them and staring at them well into the night when I should be sleeping but can't. I don't want to relive all those scary feelings all over again, and I will try not to think about the bad things, but the good things, the amazing things, like how he is growing and developing into a normal little boy. He continues to remind us how strong he is in every way of the word.

I am not going to dwell into the past and think about the negative. I need to look at our boy today and think of how very lucky we are to have him with us as healthy and feisty as he possibly could be. I want to act so very thankful to each and every person who prayed for our family, helped our family in one of the most difficult moments emotionally for our family, and it is because of Callum that we were shown the true meaning of family and friendship.

Today, Callum continues to be the easiest going baby. He is happy and smiling every day (even after a little stomach bug we all had, he'd puke, look at me, and go back to sleep). He loves to snuggle, loves his mamma and loves to explore all the new surroundings independently. He is crawling, sometimes on all fours, but with all the wood floors, it is difficult for him because he slides. He can pull himself up pretty much anywhere. He is not really into his exersaucer anymore, as he does not want to be confined. He.Is.Everywhere. I am having to vacuum and scour the floor for small pieces of whatever may be found every second of the day - have I mentioned how much I hate crawling???  He can get into a sitting position from a crawl, and can sit on his knees like a big boy. He seeks out his big sisters more and more, trying to find where they are, and starting to spend more time in the room they are in. After all, they are much more exciting than I am!

And if this trait doesn't scream BOY, I am not sure what does - He cannot be held by me without him sticking his hand down my shirt. I am not sure if this is a boy thing or what, but his big sisters never did this. He loves them. And he will even squeeze them multiple times when he is really wanting to nurse and he can squeeze HARD. He loves to nurse, but has also taken a lovin' to table food, too. He is eating two full meals per day, and starting with a small snack at lunch time in the last few days. He loves fruits of all kinds, eggs, waffles and yogurt for breakfast, and will eat pretty much anything for dinner - steak, chicken, fish, pasta, you name it - he loves it. He loves to drink out of a cup, too. Will scream and smack his lips if he sees me or anyone near him drinking from a cup. Orange juice? He loves it.

His sleeping waxes and wanes - and I am getting ready for him to nurse less and sleep more at night! He takes one really good nap in
the afternoon, about 2.5-3hrs, sometimes a cat nap in the morning, but those are becoming less and less. He is asleep before 8pm at night, and will wake up anywhere from 12am-2am - I am a much happier mamma when it is 2am, and not 12am. He will usually be up around 4-6am, and then for the day around 730-8am. I can't complain. He can put himself to sleep, he loves his cribby and he is a very happy, easy baby....so for now, I will be patient. After all, he won't be a baby forever...I am trying to enjoy all of these baby moments with him...

He has no teeth and no signs of any, but, I know it could be anytime. The girls were between 10-13months when they got their first teeth. He loves to play outside and be wheeled around in his little tykes car. He loves to swing at the playground. And he loves to dance! I joke around with Kevin that Callum will be our "tiny dancer" ;)!  He isn't saying mamma yet, but he is really close - he can say baba and babbles a lot, just no mamma or dadda yet. The girls said mamma first. He loves to clap at himself and at his sisters when they're swimming, and has just started signing 'more', too! He is changing so fast. He is starting to look more and more like a little toddler than an infant. I am not ready to not have a baby in the house...So not ready...