10 months

Here we are, already almost a week into month eleven and I'm just now sitting down to post the month 10 pics. That's the way it is lately, it seems. I feel like it's getting to be more of a challenge to update the ol' baby blog more than about once a week, partly because Elias is an inconsistent and unpredictable napper, and partly because I feel pulled in a lot of different directions right now, but I'll spare you all the whiny details.

Month 10 was more of the same, I guess. We're going on two months now of a renewed challenge in the nap department. Fortunately, night sleep has been mostly unaffected (knock on wood) by illness, teething, and developmental stuff, all of which is, I'm sure, to blame for Elias fighting the daytime naps. I'd say he naps well once or twice a week; otherwise I struggle to get him to take two 30-45 minute naps. If he woke up from those short naps well rested I'd let him be but he usually wakes up crying, rubbing his eyes, and cranky. So on top of a nap that gives me barely enough time to take care of the basics (bathroom, dishes, lunch, etc.) I then have to deal with an unusually cranky boy until I try again with the sleep a few hours later. I asked Neal the other day, when will this phase end, and he responded with, "maybe it's not a phase." Um, thanks, but that was a rhetorical question...

So I've concluded (yes, after just 10 months) that there is no magical age when things get easier. As soon as you've figured out a solution to one challenge, something else pops up. But things do get better. And on that note, Elias, while perhaps a bit crankier than usual at times, is usually loads of fun to be around. He's always on the move and quite the babbler lately. While he enjoys pulling himself up and cruising along things, the futon in his room in particular, he's not fond of the "finger walking." I think this is partly because he doesn't want anyone's help with anything and partly because crawling is such an efficient way for him to get from point a to point b right now. It's an awkward time to be out and about, because he doesn't want to stay in his stroller for too long, he's too heavy for the carrier we have, but I don't exactly want him crawling around on the floor of the store, museum, mall, etc. Our best outings are ultimately to our two Gymboree classes each week because the drive is relatively short and the destination is all about letting him loose to play with musical instruments or crawl around and climb on things. Which is essentially what we do at home, but somehow doing it somewhere different, not to mention with much more room to move around, and in a setting where I can talk to other adults, makes a world of difference in breaking up the occasional tedium of our weeks together.

The other thing he seems to enjoy, now that the weather is finally improving, are walks outside. There are a couple of parks and waterfront trails we drive to from time to time and we've been exploring the neighborhood on foot a bit more lately. He seems to enjoy watching the birds, planes (especially since we seem to be right on the flight path to Logan), and the flowers and other garden art in full swing these days. Which is a very good thing since squeezing in even two or three half-hour workouts a week is a bit of a challenge. And when we drive somewhere, I have a bad habit of wanting to get an iced coffee on the go.

Anyway, speaking of, Elias is up from his half-hour nap. Better give Neal some back-up...