Happy 10 Months!

Wow! I can't believe it's already been ten months since Corbin joined our family! With all the changes going on in our lives (moving in and out of our house as we renovate, adjusting to balancing work and home, as well as all the normal parenting life changes), I feel like my journaling and blogging have fallen to the wayside. I am a little sad tonight to think of all the experiences, memories, milestones, and lessons learned that haven't been recorded and may be lost somewhere in my mind until maybe the Resurrection when I can have a perfect remembrance restored to me.

So I decided I better get some things in writing to celebrate Corbin's 10 month birthday tomorrow...

New Tricks

In the last month or two, Corbin has learned to clap. He loves to clap and he'll even yell a sort of "Yay" while he claps. Sometimes while he plays I'll turn on "So You Think You Can Dance" to entertain me while I keep him from pulling too many books off the shelves, or yanking appliances down onto him by their cords, etc. etc. Whenever he hears the studio audience applause, he stops what he's doing and claps and yells "yay" with them.

We started to teach him sign language. Whenever I say "more" and show him the sign, he responds by clapping. I decided that is close enough so I always give him more after he claps. The sign he actually seems to understand though is "please." I was so impressed with this. One night he was playing with a little bottle and Dustin took it from him, which made him start to fuss. Dustin said, "No, we don't throw tantrums to get what we want." I thought, He's a little young to be trying to reason with him, hon. But sure enough, Dustin showed him the "please" sign and then Corbin stopped fussing and did it back to him. I was amazed! We are still working on "Thank you".

Corbin continues to pull himself up on anything he can get his hands on, and he loves doing the finger walk. Fortunately for me, he's the perfect height to where I don't really have to bend over to help him walk that way. In just the last month, he started to push from a squat to a stand all by himself, so we figure it won't be long till he's walking. In the meantime, his crawl has gotten faster and faster. Today, he crawled upstream in the splash pad. He doesn't put his knees down anymore which I think helps him go faster. For a while, he had a tripod crawl with only the left knee down, but now he usually keeps both up and does sort of a bear crawl.

Best trick is of course the one that has been all-consuming for me the last week or so--SLEEPING! Definitely want to remember some of the things I've learned so I can hopefully have a smoother time with baby #2 (Not making any announcements with that).

Favorites

Corbin doesn't really have a lovey or a stuffed animal or anything he seems to cling to--something I tried to introduce for sleep training, but he seems to prefer to do things by himself. He was a binky baby for a while but even that has lost its luster over the last couple months. I don't mind because I figure it saves me the battle of weaning him from it when he's older. Although, I wonder if it will be useful when I start weaning him from nursing. We shall see...

He has always loved to have blankets or sheets or clothes, or any material really, flowing over his face. It's always been a way to make him laugh. But just this weekend, on our drive home from Salt Lake, he started to play peek-a-boo himself. He pulled the blanket up over his face and then pulled it down to smile at me, and I'd say "peek-a-boo" so he did it over and over.

Another game he started playing on the trip was a little echo game. He'd make a sound like a squeak or a moan or a squawk or a honk and when I would repeat it, he'd laugh and laugh. Dustin taught him months ago how to make the "ba ba ba" sound by hitting your mouth while you "ah"--he loves it so now he does it to calm himself down when he's bored or fussy in the car, and also he tries to do it to me when I hold him.

Here's a couple cute videos and photos I don't think I've shared yet...

Here's an old video of a funny discovery we made about Corbin's enthusiasm for sounds. He still loves to drum on any hard surface he can reach. We also turn on music in the mornings and he starts bouncing as soon as he hears any kind of rhythm.

First Red Vine. Dad had been waiting what he thought was FOREVER to let him try a Red Vine. I think I gave in at 6 months, and yes, Corbin loved it.

 Wagon ride at Grandma Bonnie's with cousin Eben.

 Love the toys at Grandma's house

 Strawberry yogurt is definitely a favorite food

Love Grandpa Tom and love the camera 

Eating big kid food with mom.

First camping trip with mom and dad. Loved the tent.

Looking back at some old photos and videos makes me realize how truly amazing children are. Every once in a while I look at Corbin and wonder at how each day he grows and learns and becomes this little person that was not in the world and now suddenly is and will be. My world is forever changed because of him, and who knows what else in the world might be different for his being in it. What an amazing gift Heavenly Father has given me to be Corbin's mommy. 

Love you baby boy! Happy 10 months!