Duke Anthony Felecos: 10 MONTHS OLD!

Duke turned 10 months old yesterday Wednesday and I feel like a lot has changed this month for my sweet baby!  Duke is growing up so fast and his personality is really starting to blossom. He loves to smile and flirt with people {he literally reached as far as he could out of his stroller one day to try to touch a little girl walking by with her mom. Luckily the little girl noticed, and came back to give him a high five. So sweet!}.  He is SO BIG and I'm convinced I'm either going to get super ripped from carrying him all the time, or my arms are going to fall off.

Duke is feisty and so comically dramatic, I know we will have our hands full for...ever.  He makes the funniest faces in reaction to us 'reprimanding' him...and/or trying to prevent him from electrocuting himself or pulling all of my hair out/slapping me in the face.  He scrunches up his whole face, shows his teeth, and whines, or cries if he really feels like he did something wrong. 

I am probably most thankful for the fact that he is such a snuggle bear! I remember being so sad when I thought the days of him sleeping in my arms were long gone, but that phase was short lived, and he will sometimes snuggle up and take naps on us again.  The best is when we all play in bed on Saturday or Sunday mornings and then Duke decides he's ready for his morning nap and we all get to snuggle back in and sleep in. My favorite. 

My biggest personal struggle this month has probably been supplementing with formula.  We didn't really have to right away but I will be out of town for a few nights next week for work and we don't have enough of a freezer stash to last the whole time, so we started introducing a bottle a day and he's taking it just fine.  I'm not sure why I struggled with it quite so much, but I think it's just the fact that no matter how many times I said I would just see how it goes with breastfeeding, I always hoped I would make it to 1 year and loved the idea of never having to supplement.  There's nothing wrong with it obviously, but this was my own personal goal and it didn't quite work out.  That's okay, I just have to learn to manage expectation sometimes.  Duke is taking the formula so well that we will likely start to wean more feedings to help with the milk transition after his first birthday. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't totally sick of pumping!  The important thing, he's a healthy baby boy, and any breastmilk is better than none!

Now for a few highlights!

• Started eating real solid foods in addition to level 3 purees.  Now is super interested in what we are eating and loves to try new things!
• Started crawling for real on his hands and knees
• PULLS UP ON EVERYTHING
• First sickness- ear infection/cold combo
• Loves daycare, hates drop-off
• Has slept through the night without feedings for 12 hours- still wakes up and cries a little throughout the night, but we've been weaning off of any feedings!
• SO CLOSE to "mama" and "dada" but continues to love speaking gibberish
• Separation anxiety is in full force right now, especially when this mama walks anywhere that isn't directly towards Duke ;)

Each month gets a little bit better than the one before, which is saying something considering how wonderful our lives have been since this sweet boy entered the world!  Happy 10 Months Baby Duke!

-T-