FAQ: 10 Months Old

C&D turned 10 months the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. To celebrate, we played with our new push wagon and prepared for a plane trip to Nana's house. David likes the wagon the best, and when he isn't trying to push it he wants to ride in it, back and forth, back and forth in the living room.

Between C&D's usual mischief, the Thanksgiving holiday, and some mischief of my own I have had much time to post. Here instead are some answers to questions people have been asking us lately.

Everything you wanted to know about C&D at 10 months old, and even stuff you didn't.

Are they talking yet?
Not really. David will most often express himself in smiles, wheezes, sighs, and pouts. Carmen can say or imitate a few words and apparently speaks !Kung. Ever since that one visit from Nana, she loves to engage in a conversation of tongue clicks. Yesterday I found out that she will try to imitate the words in a SigningTime DVD that I picked up at the library. For example, when she heard "cookie" she imitated the lilt of the word and and the "oo" sound. She says things like "dada" and "mama" but, like so many of her other sounds--she really seems to say them purely for the pleasure of hearing her own voice.

Can they sign?
A little. "Milk" is understood, but they don't always sign "milk" to us. Carmen is beginning to sign "all done" more frequently, and if you tease her with O's will sign a rudimentary "more" by putting her right hand on top of her left. David doesn't really sign, but is often much more patient than Carmen and may not feel as much of a need to do so.

What do they like to do?
David likes to chase the cat, touch the cat, talk to the cat, watch the cat, grab big fistfuls of cat. With great concentration he will smear his food--especially the mushy stuff--all over the table or his booster seat tray. His fingers will make hills and valleys of mush, and he will watch the water dripping from his sippy cup fill the valleys and form rivers and lakes. He will also drop his food, spoons, and cups unceremoniously, always to his right, and then peer over and stare at them on the floor, his fingers wiggling and reaching toward them. Sweet potatoes, oatmeal, chicken with herbes de provence (their favorite way to eat it)--it all goes overboard. He likes to knock down towers of blocks, while Carmen tries to figure out how to put them back. They both like to pull themselves up on anything--laundry baskets, toy baskets, nearby adults and each other. They go up, down, up, down, up down. The Baby Bungee Bouncers of several months ago were brought back out of the closet recently, and C&D very much enjoy hopping, hopping, hopping. David will jump and scissor open his legs in mid-air. Books are more popular than ever, especially those with sound effects like Mr. Brown Can Moo and The Big Red Barn. The games I like best are playing "nosey nosey" and "kissy kissy." Nothing is better than a big, slobbery, baby kiss.

Are they walking?
Only if we help them balance. God help us when they figure it out.

How are your nights?
Heh, heh.

What did you do for Thanksgiving?
Took a short plane ride to Nana's house. David wailed the whole way over. Fortunately we were only in the air about 35 minutes. The flight home was much more pleasant, perhaps because David seemed to figure out that has long as he nursed, his ears didn't bother as much as when he didn't. At Nana's we saw our first Christmas tree, with a Thomas the Tank Engine train going around underneath it. We rode in the new truck, which was outfitted with C&D's old Britax car seats. The way to Nana's house in the new truck wasn't so fun because C&D were tired and still upset from the plane ride, but on the way back to the airport my dad played their favorite Los Lonely Boys CD and the babies fell asleep before we even entered the freeway.

At Nana's house C&D played with Uncle John, who made sure that they received an introduction to the various cuts of beef. After a hearty Thanksgiving lunch we enjoyed Aunt Zelda's music on the piano while we rolled all over the parquet floors on a walker borrowed from the Shepherd of the Hills nursery. We only had one walker, so the babies took turns, one pushing the walker and the other riding along.





Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, C&D went to church to be baptized. C&D thought church was a great place to be loud and silly, so we spent most of the service outside waiting for everyone to come out. Pastor Moore did the baptizing. My parents came and we went out for lunch afterward. The babies dropped penne pasta all over the floor of the restaurant, but thankfully nobody seemed to mind.

Have the babies visited Santa?
Not yet. They might meet Santa on Saturday. December 1st Bellaire had a Christmas festival that we attended, though. C&D saw the petting zoo. David laughed when the llama snorted on his head, but, like Carmen, was really more interested in the other children and the lights and all the other goings-on. They were not even amused by the chickens roosting on the llama. David did like the white twinkly lights on the trees, and Carmen liked Rudolph's nose. We stayed long enough to watch Santa ride in on his fire truck, and then came back home in time for bed.

Well, I had more to say, but have run out of time to say it. Looking forward to starting some new traditions with C&D's first Christmas (they already had their first St. Nicholas Day!) and watching them figure out some of their new Montessori- and Waldorf-style toys (you're going to get us some, Santa, right?).