Motherhood at 10 Months

Okay, so I didn’t do a 9-month update because I kept saying oh next week, oh next week and then before I knew it NEXT WEEK was 10 months. Seriously I was just saying the other day to B, doesn’t it feel like she skipped months 7 and 8? I feel like she just went from 6 months to 9 months. Also, I can’t really remember months 7 and 8. Does this happen to other moms? Full blackout months? Let me know.

So motherhood at 10 months is just amazing. I am at once sad that she will never be teeny tiny again and I’m also very glad that she’s not teeny tiny anymore and that she is growing every single day. B and I saw a less than month old the other night at dinner and we BOTH got teary eyed. (We do not have baby fever, just Gemma fever.) I would take 100 Gemma’s. But for now, one is just perfect.

Gemma amazes me in every single way. I do not even care if I sound cliche or cheesy. She is amazing. She is very talkative, most of which we do not understand obviously but I pretend to. We carry on many conversations where neither one of us are making sense and it is just fine. Words she knows and uses are dada/daddy, mama, baba (bottle or bye-bye), uh huh, wow/whoa, oh, no and hi. She straight up says ‘no’ you guys. At first, we thought it was a fluke, but she keeps doing it and so I think it’s a thing. Especially if I say do you want to nap? Nah comes out of that sweet little mouth. These words come out randomly, except mama which comes out 90% of the time. It’s my absolute favorite and I’m fine if this is the only word she ever knows. (I kid, I kid.) She has started to point to things she wants and it’s just about the cutest thing.

She is a crawling maniac, loves to crawl and is fierce at it. She discovered the stairs a few weeks ago and made it up to stair number 7 with me right behind her. She was so very proud of herself after that. So that’s going to have to be guarded very, very soon. She is trying to stand but can’t quite get there just yet. She pulls up on anything and everything. So I think walking is right around the corner. The walking stage scares me a little but here we go.

Gemma is not a fussy eater at all. The only things that she doesn’t like are rice cereal (random I know) and orange foods like carrots or sweet potatoes. She’s coming around to mashed sweet potatoes that aren’t pureed and I’ll try carrots soon enough but get right out of here with that orange puree stuff. She loves anything green though. Will straight up eat mushy asparagus, green beans, broccoli, avocado, you name it and if it’s green, she’ll eat it. She has been loving using her hands too with scrambled eggs, pasta, turkey, cheese. She loves peaches like obsessed with them. I take the initial bite then let her gnaw on it until we are both covered in sticky peach juice. I’m not kidding when I say she isn’t a fussy eater. Just keep that mushy rice cereal away from her, k?

She has come such a long way with sleep! We are no longer zombies parents! She still wakes around 3 am, but not so much for a bottle but a little reassurance. It takes no time at all to get her soothed and we are thrilled. (Gemma has never been a deep sleeper, there were times when she would wake in the middle of the night AND STAY AWAKE FOR HOURS. So 5-15 minutes of soothing is the best news ever!) She is starting to take longer naps as well, where we were taking 30-minute max naps she is now going for an hour and a half! If you can’t tell, I am jumping up and down with joy …and energy….while writing this. I also feel like now we actually know whats going on when we have a restless night. Before it’s like what is happening?? And now we can better understand her restlessness if it’s teething or growing or tummy issues.

*If your baby isn’t the best sleeper, give it time. Babies all develop at different times. Once we figured out that Gemma just needs touch and reassurance for her to sleep better, we all started to sleep better. Do what is right for you and your baby and family! I felt like everyone’s baby was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and once I opened up about Gemma not being the best sleeper, I had SO many moms say the same thing. So if you’re in the same boat, I feel you mama!

I bought Gemma some new toys for around 9 months and she has loved them! I could tell that she was mentally developing enough to be able to play with some other toys than her baby baby toys. I’ll say this — it’s tough to know what to buy a baby! So I’ll link all the ones that have been a huge success for us so far! The others get tucked into a dark corner, ha! I bought this farm puzzle from a neighbor who was clearing out some toys and honestly I would have paid full price for it as well. She LOVES this toy and its the right size for little hands. Plus it talks and makes animal sounds. Jackpot. She also loves this tea set and really likes it when her 5-year-old cousin plays with her and this set. And I know she will have interest in it as she gets older, as well. We bought this lion walker and so far she just plays with the small balls it came with — ha! But I think eventually she will use it to walk around with — or at least I hope! The other toys she’s been loving are these stacking cups (SO cheap and SO loved!), this stacking toy that turns into balls, cheap rubber balls from Target dollar spot and bath toys that we use outside of the bath as well. (These ballerina ones and these zoo ones!) She doesn’t go for chewing toys for teething but loves to chew on these guys! The ball pit is still giving us life. She now climbs in there all by herself and will just throw the balls on her and giggle. Yesterday she turned it over like a tent on herself and thought that was hilarious.

Things I’ve learned? The uglier the toy, the more fun it is. I’ve let go of having everything look coordinated in my house. It’s a full rainbow of color in our sunroom where she plays and I’m more okay with it than I ever thought I’d be! (I hide all of her toys when they aren’t in use in these baskets from West Elm. The Lion and the ball pit are just there. Ain’t no hiding those guys.)

Gemma’s Toy Box

Gemma officially has 7 teeth! Four uppers and three lowers. We are a little lopsided on the bottom 😉 Her top, front two teeth have to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. They are still growing in length but ya’ll, there is a space between them and when she belly laughs you can see them and I melt. I hate teething but I love baby teeth.

She’s been loving books and this one, Quiet & Loud, is her absolute favorite. It was an old one my mom had around from the other grandkids and it’s a favorite. She also loves anything Dr. Suess and this Dear Zoo book. We don’t read at bedtime because our routine is best quick and simple, but we read to her in the afternoon after a nap or when we just need to fill up the time. She loves books and when we pull one out she goes ‘ooooohhhh’. So you know it’s a good one. We also have a few favorite songs — Itsy Bitsy Spider is still number one, but we love Wheels on the Bus (thanks to this book), ABC song and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes! Oddly enough she hates Twinkle Twinkle so we don’t even go there. Between B and I, we also make up a lot of stupid songs, so God bless her. She’s going to have to explain her weird parents to a lot of people in the future.

Gemma’s Book Collection

Other things Gemma loves: riding in the Ergo baby on me when we go for walks (it’s actually my favorite too!), loves ‘folding’ laundry meaning she unfolds everything B and I just folded, she loves water and playing in any type of water — especially in the pool, a puddle on the ground, in a cup, you name it and she loves it. She also loves to drink out of my glass which gets us both wet but she loves it! She is obsessed with our dogs and they are the opposite of obsessed with her. But they’re realizing she throws food their way and so they said we can keep her. (The photo below is her watching them outside!) She loves people and if you don’t pay attention to her, she will find a way to get your attention. We leave restaurants with more friends than we came in with. She waves, she coos, she will find a way to make you love her. She also loves floor trash as we call it. Our house can be the cleanest of clean and she will find a hairball or a tiny piece of trash and directly in her mouth it goes. She loves her grandparents and cousins the most and loves making friends. She’s the most social baby.

Things Gemma does not prefer: clothes, putting clothes on, shoes, putting shoes on, getting any type of medicine, car seats, high chairs sometimes, basically anything that keeps her strapped in somewhere that’s off the floor where she can roam and play. Me pulling floor trash out of her mouth. And me doing anything that doesn’t involve me holding her while doing it. 😉

Happy 10 months, Gemma Rose! It’s happening too fast and I’m trying to remember every single second. Not one of them is bad with you.