Taylor Joy- Ten Months Old

 Well friends, before she turns 11 months old, I best post pictures of our Tay Tay girl and show you how she's grown this month. Poor girl has been cutting two teeth this week, dealing with another cold, and then developed a heck of a tummy bug as the grand finale today... all with a great big smile on her face. Such a trooper, this one. 

Our silly girl has become more and more independent this month. She has an opinion about most things. This includes deciding what she will and will not eat at each meal. Taylor started to refuse baby food right at 10 months and was only excited about eating real people food. So now she is eating cheeses, meats, toast, scrambled eggs, diced up fruits and veggies among other things. She has also tried yogurt but she just doesn't seem too keen on being "fed" any more. She wants to do everything herself... (read-MESSY here). 

Taylor is also not a fan of headwear accessories as she will proudly display in these next few pictures. Headbands only last seconds on her head and her hair isn't quite long enough to try a little pony tail or clip. In fact, when can you try clips? I feel like she would pull it off and try to eat it! Also, much to my dismay, her baby curls are disappearing. And like every Hein baby before her, she is growing the finest, flimsiest, stick strait mommy hair underneath it. Waaaa! She still has her tiny baby hairs to either side of her ears that have grown way out compared to all the new, straight hair that has sprouted this month. 

Just about everything goes into this girl's mouth these days so I have to be on guard as much as I can. It's quite the ordeal when big brother or sister like all things tiny... Calico Critter nick nacks and Legos galore around here! We've had to set new boundaries with them often about what and where they can play. We try to keep Taylor in a large hand-me-down play pen with lots of her own toys in it. But she's in that phase where she's not content unless she's on the go. She'll let you know how she feels about her playpen as she throws her favorite toys out of it and then cries until you put them back in over and over and over again. 

She does love to crawl around the house on her own. She is also pulling herself up on everything, getting more confident walking herself around the coffee table. She has also gotten a little too confident at times which has resulted in her first few big spills with bonks on the forehead. Fortunately, she is so easy going that she only fusses for a quick second before she happily crawls on to the next obstacle. She loves to chase after poor Molly, too! 

Taylor is making more and more sounds that resemble words this month. She is always saying "Da da da da" and in the last few weeks says in a loud, clear voice, "Hi Dat!" Which sounds like she is greeting her Daddy whenever he walks in to the room. She makes lots of the same squeally sounds that I am certain are her very own language that she has created. She repeats them all the time. 

Sadly, my milk supply took a huge downward shift as I welcomed Aunt Flo back to town last month. So far that has been the same with each kiddo at about 10 months. I am now just pumping morning and night and making just under two full bottles a day. We are supplementing with formula in between. Thankfully, Taylor has switched over pretty effortlessly. 

And that, in a nutshell, has been our girl's month. I can't believe she will be one so soon! Love, love, love this Joy girl of ours. 

I am so in love...

with how cute this little boy looks in his jammies. Donovan got these jams from my friend Sarah for Christmas. I just love how cute he looks in them! 

On the lookout for Santa...

I know a little boy that has been extra good lately. Despite the difficulties of having his first ear infection this week and a few new teeth making a mid week appearance. 

 Donovan is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his Grammie and Uncle Devin today. (And Santa too, of course!)

 And in the spirit of celebration he drank the first bottle he's taken in nearly four days which brought a huge sigh of relief to his worried Momma. 

 We have so much to be thankful for this year and can't wait for the official celebration to begin. 

Merry Christmas Eve to you and your loved ones!

10 months!

Technically Donovan is almost 10 1/2 months now... but better late than never I suppose. Despite the current cold that is causing his nose to drip like a faucet and the dry winter air that has given him a little pacifier rash around his mouth, here is our little love at 10 months old. 

 I think this is the only picture I captured of him sitting on his quilt but at least he kept his tie sticker on for the whole 5 minute long photo shoot. :) 

Our monkey man is keeping us on our toes now more than ever. As witnessed in the picture below. This is Donovan's naughty face. The face when I specifically tell him... "NO, thank you." It is his sneaky way of letting me know that he hears me loud and clear but is going to keep right on doing whatever it is that he wants. 

 Thankfully there are many welcome distractions and things that he loves playing with this month. In Sacramento, his Grammie spoiled him with all sorts of toys that we have adopted into the Hein household. His current love is this Fisher Price walker. Dustin and I crack up as we watch him move past us from one side of the room to the other with this thing. He resembles a little old man using a walker. It is too funny to watch. I especially love the view of his chunky little buns from behind. 

 Donovan loves his solids now and seems to prefer them to his milk now a days. He's eating chicken, cheese, yogurt... pretty much little bites of whatever I'm snacking on. Which is probably good because I seem to be slowing down in the milk production department. I introduced formula for the first time last weekend to supplement my decreasing supply. I really wanted to make it to a year of exclusive BF, but now that I've tried out the whole formula thing, I think it's no big deal at all. Donovan didn't seem to notice what-so-ever. And I am doing a happy dance at the thought of getting my lunch break back (pump free) in the next few months. 

 Among Donovan's other favorite snacks, any little thing he finds on the floor. It's terrifying. Any time he is sitting quietly and contentedly playing by himself I am sure to find him chewing away on something. Christmas ornaments, pieces of paper, or this morning, it was dog food. Nice, huh? Please don't tell me I'm a bad Mom... I swear I watch him like a hawk. He's just soooo darn fast!

 Donovan looooves his Daddy this month. He is now heard saying Da-da all of the time. When Daddy gives him a bath each night, Donovans laughs and squeals light up the entire house. They just seem to be the best of buddies. And Dustin has tod me on more than one occasion, "this is such a fun age!" It is! I have loved everything about this month. 

 Hmmmm, what else? Little man loves to dance. Dancing for him is basically standing up and bouncing by bending his knees to the beat. I constantly have A Charlie Brown Christmas cd playing around the house. He never seems to notice that there's music on until a faster paced song comes on, and just like clock work, he's up and bouncing with his knees. 

 He LOVES playing hide and seek with me. I will quickly crawl and hide behind the couch or a chair or his crib and he crawls even faster to try and catch up to me. When I shout, "boo!" he laughs hysterically!

 Donovan is a very comfortable crawler, stander, and assisted walker, and for the first time, this week has begun standing and balancing on his own. He's not walking yet but I think it won't be too long until he tries to take a step or two. 

Oh, I love this boy soooo much! He just fills our days with happiness. 

Santa came a bit early this year

Between Black Friday shopping with Grammie and frequent visits from his Oma, Donovan has already been showered with so many gifts this holiday season. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of our little boy while he was trying on some of his new duds. 

Snowman jammies courtesy of his Grammie & winter hat from his Oma.

I think it's a good thing that the hat has velcro under the chin because this boy is not a fan of head wear... yet. 

I also did some super speedy Christmas shopping today and couldn't resist purchasing some goodies at H&M for my little guy. Do you shop there for kiddos? They have the cutest stuff!