Blake Louis: 10 Months

Blake Louis, you are ten months old today!  I can hardly believe it.  

Here’s what you’ve been up to:

My love, you are finally mobile!  More and more so every single day.  You started belly crawling shortly after you turned 9 months old, and while you still haven’t quite figured out the art of crawling on all fours…you are a fast belly crawler!  Gone are the days of plopping you down in one spot and having you stay there.  As soon as I sit you down, you’re looking for where you can take off to next.  You go seamlessly from sitting onto your belly, and then you take off in a hybrid army crawl/scoot/arm drag.  You use both your arms and legs and it’s so funny to watch!  You can almost go from your belly back to a seated position, but you get a little stuck about halfway up and will fall back over without a little help.  I usually just have to touch your elbow to remind you how to right yourself, so I know you’ll be doing it on your own in no time! 

You are an expert at pulling up!  You love to stand, and will pull up on anything and everything.  This morning you tried to pull up on the dishwasher while I was loading it, but that didn’t work out so well for you.  You were not very happy with the dishwasher after that little mishap.  

You wave ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ now!  Your wave is very exuberant, not just an opening and closing of your palm.  You use your whole arm and wave very, very excitedly! 

You give kisses and hugs!  Not all the time, but you know what they are and will give ‘em out when you’re in the mood J

Baby purees are no more.  You are officially eating whatever we eat.  Your favorite foods are avocados and bananas.  You easily eat two whole bananas a day, and a whole avocado (more if I gave it to you!).  

You’ve also developed quite an opinion on what you’re eating.  You’ll filter through what I put on your plate and very unceremoniously throw what you don’t want onto the floor.  You think it’s hilarious to do that, and then quickly hang over the side of your high chair to watch Emma devour whatever you dropped over the side.

You know the meaning of the word ‘no’ and love to play the cause and effect game with it.  You’ll do something that’s not allowed, I’ll say “uh oh, no thank you buddy” and then you’ll look at me….smile….and do it again.  I have to remind myself constantly to just be consistent with you so you’ll eventually catch on!

You drink 3 7 ounce bottles of formula a day, and lately, you’ve been doing it all on your own.  You love to hold that bottle.  Sometimes, if we’re out and about, I’ll give you your bottle in your car seat and let you take it from there.  Or, if we’re at home and I’m in the middle of something, I’ll lie you down on your back and you’ll feed yourself the bottle.  

You are an expert at sippy cups! We use the Take’N Toss brand, and we love it.  You first learned on those, but now that you’ve got it, we can use pretty much anything.   You drink water at mealtimes and usually have a sippy cup with you on the floor when you’re playing.  

You now eat three meals a day and have a snacktime.  You have learned to use those toddler snack cups where you have to stick your hand inside and pull out the treats!  You love doing this!

Cheerios are like baby crack to you.  We have all different kinds and you love them all.  We have banana nut, apple cinnamon, peanut butter (yes, I gave you peanut butter before your first birthday and, guess what! You’re not allergic) and whole grain.  

You are very, very talkative and lately your conversations sound more like real words.  You say ‘mom’ when you’re eating (not associating it with me though) and say ‘ish’ a lot.  You also have some letter sounds down, and say ‘shhh’ and ‘t’ really well.  And, well, you put those two sounds together the other day into what sounded suspiciously like ‘oh shit’.  You said it over and over and over.  Daddy and I were so surprised to hear that come out of your little mouth!!

You sleep through the night again!  We had to have a little bit of baby sleep boot camp last month, because you had gotten into a very bad habit of waking up every couple of hours wanting to be held.  Daddy and I love rocking you, but that sleep pattern just wasn’t sustainable for any of us!  It only took two nights of crying for twenty minutes (...while mommy sat anxiously outside your door praying for God to comfort that little baby heart) for you to figure out how to soothe yourself back to sleep.  Since then, you’ve slept straight through the night without a peep!  

Your naps have also been great!  You take one good nap in the morning that usually lasts about two hours, and then another one late in the day that ranges from 20-40 minutes.  We always read books together before naptime, and then I rock you to sleep.  I sing you ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and a song that your grandpa used to sing to me as a baby girl.

You still love Toby and Emma.  You squeal when they walk by and love to grab their fur and ‘talk’ to them.  They are pretty good sports!

You are so good at walking when we hold your hands!  You can also stand on own for long periods of time, although you’d much rather have our hands to hold.  I think you’ll walk before your first birthday! 

You love your daddy so much, and often will have roaring contests with him.  You’ll ball up your firsts and ROAR, and then daddy will do it back.  You giggle…and the cycle starts again!

You also love to growl at us when you want our full attention.  It is a very guttural sound, and your face gets all red like you’re pooping.  So funny. 

Little man, life with you has never been so sweet.  You give the best hugs, and will cuddle your face into the crook of my neck while letting out the most contented sigh.  Those moments are so precious to me.  You’ll just let me hold you tight in that hug for the longest time, and you don’t know it, but in my heart I am memorizing every last detail of how you fit so perfectly into my arms.  I never want to forget.

Earlier this month, I read the story of a little boy named Tucker who was just a bit older than you when Jesus called him home to live in heaven.  Right now, I imagine that Tucker is running around on streets of gold---in eyesight of his Savior--with a smile that, I’m sure, lights up the throne room.  His story has a happy ending, but when I read it, I was terrified.  For you.  I immediately pleaded with God to never ever take you from me like that.  Not you.  Not my little boy. 

But you know what, little one?  In that moment of absolute fear, I felt the gentle prodding of the Father, reminding my heart that the control I desperately seek He already has.  He’s always had it.  Nothing that happens in this life catches God by surprise.  He already knows. He’s already ordained every single one of your moments!  You’re the most precious gift I have ever received, but you’re His precious son, and He loves you more than I ever, ever could.  Sometimes that’s still hard for me to grasp, because I can’t fathom a love bigger than what I feel for you.  It literally steals my breath to imagine the incredible, all-encompassing love that the Father has for us.  How can I not relinquish my control to a love that big?   

When Tucker was born, his parents claimed a very special Bible verse for him:

"The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Judges 6:12 

I want to claim this verse for you now, in honor of Tucker’s life and in honor of my calling as your mommy.  I know that I can’t protect you a single day of your life, but I can do my very best to raise you up to be a warrior for Christ.  I can commit to being intentional with each of your moments, and commit to interceding every single day in prayer on your behalf. 

Your life is so full of promise, so full of unbridled potential, and my greatest prayer as your mama is that you will grow into a man who God proudly declares His mighty warrior.  My heart soars at the thought of who you will become.  I just know God has big things in store for His mighty warrior Blake.  

And someday, when the things of this earth are long gone and we are all united once again on those shimmering streets of gold, I pray that I will find my mighty warrior running alongside the little boy with the same life verse.  What a day that will be.  

I love you so much, Blake Louis.  Happy 10 months!

Love,

Your Mama