October Randoms

At the end of each month, I like to write a few things about Maddox that he has learned this month and some of his favorites. One recent favorite is opening and closing doors. He loves to play with the kitchen cabinet doors and will sit and open and close them, not showing any interest at all as to what may be inside the cabinets. He has yet to discover those treasures. His favorite door to open and close is the door in his room, when he is trying to escape from nap time. He will do this for quite some time...until he usually shuts the door on smashes his finger in the door. Then he will let out a short whimper and look around for Jeff or me. Once he sees us and sees that we have acknowledged his "owie" he will go right back to playing. Silly boy! Cool spider jacket from Aunt Valissa! We have gotten so many compliments on it!
Another favorite is Daddy's markers, or any marker or pen. He crawls around the house with one in each hand. He throws one, then crawls after it. Then he throws the other and crawls after it.
Apparently Jeff used to sleep just like this growing up. We have found him in this position several times. Seeing a picture of his crib reminds me of his most recent addition to his diet: wood. I noticed the other day that there are quite a few chips taken out of the end rails of his crib. I figured it was just because we had moved twice in one week, but then realized there were chips taken out of every railing and they all looked the same. Two very close together, one on top of the other. Click. Maddox has been eating the crib! Good thing there are teething bars on the two side rails, but the two end rails are really in for it! We have a beaver on our hands!
As for any other quirks, Maddox still won't feed himself. He has his pincer grasp down great, but hasn't connected that he can used that to feed himself. So I sit there for nearly 30-45 minutes three times a day and spoon feed him. He is also done with baby food. He usually only wants "real" food, which means whatever Jeff and I are having or little pieces of food that he can chew or suck to death. He had his first french fry over the weekend and just ended up sucking the ketchup off each time and leaving the fry hanging out of his mouth. Also, whenever I give him something big to grasp in his fist and eat, like a slice of a peach, instead of eating it, he will squeeze it as hard as he can and smash it. He does this with everything-bananas, green beans, pears, peaches. He is still nursing, but really picking up on the whole sippy cup business. Only he doesn't like anything in it except water, not even juice!
We love our little boy and are loving this stage of his life. He says, "Dadadadada" and "Mamamamama." We don't know if he does on purpose, but we love it! He also thinks he is so cool now that he can stand by himself. He will pull himself up and then let go and just stand there balancing and giggling really loud to make sure you can hear him and see him. He LOVES to do this and is getting very good. Still not taking any steps, but he is making headway!
His favorite book is "Where is Baby's Bellybutton?" He really just likes the flaps. We read it several times a day and he opens and closes the flaps on cue all by himself. He is such a smart little boy and it is fun to see him make connections.

Maddox's greatest fear at this time in his life is the vacuum cleaner. If he sees it, he leaves the room or crawls to Jeff or me. If it turns on, he crawls as fast as he can to the opposite end of the house and cries. If you try to get him to touch it, he clings to you. The first time I discovered he was afraid of the vacuum, I was vacuuming in our bedroom and I came out and he had crawled all the way down the hall and was huddled up in the corner by the entryway door. So now I have to vacuum holding Maddox...I have to admit I vacuum less now. Oh, and yesterday I discovered he also cowers of the broom and mop!?!? Funny.

And that's all folks! Ten and a half months old! One more just for grins...