10 Months Old Today

... and with it comes a new milestone:

Yes... he is starting to walk!

Rowan took his first steps a week or so ago and since then he's been gaining confidence in letting go of objects/people and trying to walk... although 1-2 steps is all he can manage at this point (usually into someone's arms or onto another object). I can see the wheels turning in his brain as he sizes up whether or not to let go of something, it's quite endearing. ;)

He still much prefers to crawl, stand and/or cruise around (he's very quick with cruising!), I wonder when he'll have the balance to walk more regularly? Another skill he's gained recently - again, in the past week - is climbing. I didn't believe him when Matt told me he climbed up our couch on the weekend, then I got to see it for myself... seriously, this baby is keeping me on my toes!

Last month I mentioned about Rowan's nap times and whether he was attempting to drop from two naps to one. It looks as though my hunch was correct - about 75% of the time, Rowan is having one sleep during the day (which has taken some getting used to on my part). It makes it a bit trickier to do things over lunchtime - ie, being out and about - but it does free up our mornings and mid-afternoons... so it's a pretty good trade-off. Mornings have been progressively getting earlier too, which means by late afternoon he's in need of a short nap (just an hour or so), I've been having a bit of success with that.

Other interesting discoveries from the last month have been:

* Tapping objects together regularly (this has almost replaced gumming objects as #1 pasttime)

* Beginning to understand a few words we say - book, sippy (cup), Weetbix, milks

* Rowan will bring you a book when he wants to be read to (which is very sweet!)

* More outwardly signs of affection - cuddles, crawling into your lap, kisses on the cheek (with and without teeth! :P)

Pictures to mark reaching double-digits for the first time. ;)







Waiting patiently for breaskfast (Weetbix) this morning

Looking way too much like a toddler for my liking!

Very typical Rowan at the moment, always having a Bunny or two in his mouth.

Walking with Daddy at the park

Family picture from the weekend (plus children's-sized hat)

Rowan's first artwork

Yes... there was plenty of mess to be had! (I took paper prints of his highchair tray painting too, since he decided early on that paper belonged on the floor, not the tray)

Painting with Rowan. ;)