Our 10 month old is the size of a 2 year old. You may think I am exaggerating; however, I most certainly am not. At his 9 month appointment my child weighed in at 26 pounds and measured 31 inches long. Obviously off the percentile charts in all categories. At 9 months old, he is the same size as Avery was when she turned a year old, and she was big for her age then! We completely skipped over buying him 18 month clothing and went straight to 24 month clothes. I mean, seriously. We have a 10 month old toddler sized baby! He is tall, he is solid, and he will mow you down. Sometimes I have to seriously man handle the child and he puts up a very good fight. He crawls super fast and is out of sight if you turn your head for a second. There are 1,000 toys around him and he wants the dog dish or the wall outlet or Avery's boot. He is pulling himself up to stand using furniture but wants so badly to just stand right up in the middle of the room and run. He keeps trying and trying and I think very soon he will surprise us all and do it. He is also starting to walk while holding onto his walker. Or a small table. Or a chair. Whatever he can push around and walk with. Oliver loves to follow Avery around everywhere she goes. He loves any toy that she is playing with. And with the amount of times he gets into things he shouldn't or pulls on Avery's hair his first word is going to be no. "No no" or "No thank you" comes out of my mouth so often he is now imitating me and saying "na na". He's got determination like no other. One day he had his eye on the dog's bone and went over to it and tried to put it in his mouth. I said no and picked him up and brought him back over to his toys. Instantly he made his way back over to the bone. I must have picked him up and took him away from the bone 10 times in 2 minutes. Until finally I said screw it, bone goes up on the counter. Sorry dog, but now no one gets the bone. And boy does he get mad. This little man may have a temper on him. Oliver is keeping us on his toes and it has been so fun watching him learn. He had back to back colds recently (cold number 4 and 5 of the season) and a stomach bug right afterwards, but he always keeps a smile on his face. I have to say, this winter has not been kind to my kids and I am soooo ready for winter to be over.
I feel like I always talk about how fun Avery is but I can't help it. She is SO fun. Her imagination is just going wild. She is either an astronaut, or a teacher, or a dog, or Elsa or Darth Vader. She has the sweetest soul. Still navigating being an older sister, especially now that he is wanting to play with all of her toys. This can be tricky at times, but overall, she is so sweet and so loving to her brother. She is totally blossoming into a wonderful young girl. Every day I notice her independence and confidence just growing and it's amazing to watch. Sometimes I watch her sleep and I am in awe that I made her. That she is half of me. She is feisty, sensitive, strong-willed, smart, witty and so loving. I love everything about her (even the stubborn, strong-willed side) and I am so excited to see how similar and different she and Oliver are. He already appears to be opinionated and determined like his older sister (Lord help me!) but also overall he is pretty chill and laid back. Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: I got myself some beautiful chaos.
PS: That 10 month photo took like 20 tries before I was able to get a picture of him. All hands were on deck for this one. The minute he was on his back he rolled onto his belly and took off!
