10 Months Old

Pictures taken of the boys early in the month look radically different than the more recent shots. It's so trite but so true... they are growing up so fast.

Gettin' Around and Playtime

Immediately after posting the 9 month blog entry, Henry figured out how to crawl and has been on the move ever since. He can now easily maneuver between crawling, sitting and kneeling. He has even pulled himself to a stand a few times, though so far he's very unstable in that position.

Jack relies primarily on his beefy arms to get around. He army crawls at a high rate of speed, and even pulls himself into a kneeling position basically using just his arms. He's been assessed by a physical therapist and there appears to be no physical reason for his persistent toe-pointing and curling, so we're just going to continue to take him to PT and work with him to get him comfortable having his feet flat on the ground.

Now that both boys are extremely mobile, they spend their time primarily attempting to occupy the same space.

(Jack in green, Henry in red)

Already building forts, in this case in the form of an upended play mat (Henry in green this time, Jack in grey):

Good view of the boys' radically different hair, Henry foreground, Jack background:

Peering around the corner at what Mom's doing (Jack foreground, Henry background):

Jack crawls onto the standing platform of the activity center Henry is occupying... y'know, so he won't be lonely:

Henry left, Jack right, among their toys:

The best toys of all? Daddy's shoes! (Henry foreground, Jack background)

Look, Mom, you left the gate open! (Henry in orange, Jack in blue):

Playtime with Daddy, Henry left, Jack right:

Out for a walk with Daddy... they don't seem to trust his driving...

(Jack left, Henry right)

Henry

Henry remains a determined little boy, but has been much happier since crawling increased his freedom to roam. He's generally a joyful little guy, who plays very well on his own and smiles at everybody. He has been doing longer stretches without his pacifier, so we've been able to hear him babble more, which has been fun.

Henry, master of all toys:

More shots of Henry's face, sitting on one of Steve's baby blankets (looking very much like baby Steve to me):

Jack

Jack is an extremely social and interactive little guy, so we often forget that he's quite wary of people he doesn't know and noises he doesn't recognize. The physical therapist really had to pull out all the tricks before she could touch his feet.

Dubious Jack:

The Jack we're used to, doing things like...

...smiling broadly playing with Daddy and a mirror...

... and playing peek-a-boo.

Jack continues to be very talkative and seems to add new sounds to his repertoire each day. He has started to make the occasional string of sounds which sound startlingly like actual words. For instance, just yesterday he said "hi, daddy!" in such a shockingly clear way that Steve and I were both taken aback. We don't think he really knows what he's saying, but his mimicry is getting really good.

Both boys have shown interest in the rabbits and tried to "pet" (that is, grab) them. Kiwi has been surprisingly patient with them, allowing them to watch her and even touch her a little bit with the tips of their fingers before she hops away. 

Jack hanging out with Kiwi (bottom level) and White Rabbit (second level): 

Mealtimes

Demonstrating their different bottle technique (Henry left, Jack right):

Jack finds that by holding his bottle with one hand (we're not entirely sure how he does this, by the way, these bottles are very slick), he has a hand free for other things, like showing off his legs:

Over the past month, the boys have become less willing to drink bottles at all. They've dropped one bottle per day completely and rarely finish the other three. They are all about solid food and learning to feed themselves. They have just recently begun to show willingness to really chew (well, gum), so we're planning to begin adding more non-pureed foods.

Ready for mealtime, Jack left, Henry right:

That last picture is one of the few where I really see a resemblance to me in one of the boys, Jack in this case. It's such an odd feeling.

Reading

The boys have started to take a real interest in books. We sometimes read to them during the day, but most often it's just before bed. Jack has a definite favorite: Goodnight Moon.

Jack, taking very seriously the epic tale "I am a bunny":

Lookin' sly with Daddy:

Enjoying my childhood busy book (Henry left, Jack right):

By far, their favorite book-related activity is pulling all of the books out of the "bookmobile" and spreading them across the floor (then trying to crawl over them and becoming distressed when they slip). 

Henry (left) delighted by the mayhem as Jack (right) pulls book after book:

I'm not sure what word describes the feeling of being beyond exhaustion, but we're definitely there. The boys are amazing, though. I am constantly baffled as to how they figure out how to do things. Brilliant little creatures.