Eleanor at 10 Months

As of this morning, Eleanor now weighs 17 lbs 12oz, has a head circumference of 17 1/4" and is 28 3/4" tall.  Compare her to William at 10 months

In a major turn of events, Nora has been eating like a pig this whole past month (hence the one pound weight gain. For reference she had only gained 6oz a month in the previous 4 months!). She will eat a full pouch (4.25oz) and 2+ oz of homemade purees plus 8-9oz of pumped milk before bed and another 3-5oz dream feed. Purees have actually never been her favorite though, she would much rather have whole foods. She has now mastered the pincer grasp and is using that to her advantage in the whole foods department. So lately I have been giving her a pouch to start her off, and then I will cut up whatever we are eating and give it to her. She LOVES any kind of meat in particular and will devour anything from chicken to ground beef or hot dogs (cut up into tiny pieces of course). The other night she ate more grilled sausage than Will did! She also loves fruit and will happily put away orange, watermelon, strawberry, blueberry and just about anything else. I remember the days when Will used to eat like her. I can only hope that Nora continues to be open minded about food as she enters toddler-hood. Though I am not holding my breath!

Now that she got 6 additional teeth (making 8 teeth total) this month, she seems to be done with teething for a little while and she is sleeping a LOT better. She has pretty much been sleeping through the night nearly every night for the past 3 weeks (unless I forgo the dream feed), which feels like a major victory. Will started doing that at 4 months old so this felt like a long time coming! Naps have been going a lot better too lately. She will wake for the day at around 9am and then go down for her first nap between 10:30 and 11am and sleep for an hour. Then after I put Will down at 1/1:30, I put her down at 2pm and she will sleep until 4/4:30. So pretty good really. MUCH better than the last two months!

Lately she has made some huge intellectual strides as well. She can now mimic sounds and motions. She can play simple games with Will (one of their favorites is where he will whap something 3 times and then she repeats that and then they both laugh) and can understand basic directions (she stops when I tell her 'no' and lifts her arms when I ask her if she wants to come 'up' and I can direct her to crawl to different places/people). Her favorite game is still 'peekaboo' and she loves when I put a shirt or a blanket over her head, and then I ask her where Nora is. She pulls the item off her head rapidly and giggles madly. She also has a great memory and remembers where I store off limit items like cords and camera equipment (her favorite things to eat/destroy). She's worse than a rabbit and will find any plug and suck on it until its corroded. Shes ruined 3 USB cables and remembers where I hid them last, will open the drawer and find it to suck on it again. Such a stinker!

I've started brushing her little teeth and it was amazing how fast she learned about and accepted it. The first night she was extremely resistant to opening her mouth, but once she felt the bristles brushing against her gums, I could tell she was interested in the experience and by day two, she was eagerly opening her mouth for the toothbrush. By night three she not only wanted me to brush her teeth, but she wanted to do it herself as well. Now its been a week and its become part of our bed time routine. She sure is quick to pick things up!

Another thing shes recently picked up, is how to grip me with her hands and legs when I am carrying her on my hip. She is like a little monkey and grips me tightly. I love it because it makes it SO much easier to carry her. I remember being glad when William learned to do that and I am just as glad this time. Shes no longer like a limp sack of flour. She also enjoys feeling safe and secure in my arms and really doesn't enjoy it when I trip or stumble and she thinks shes going to fall (not that I can blame her). She cried so loud today for two whole minutes when I slightly tripped on a stick at the park. She was in no danger but you'd have thought I dropped her from 10 feet up! Dramatic much Nora?

Her mobility is ever increasing and she can now crawl 'normally' on all four limbs, though she is still faster on her belly and will often revert when she needs to get to something in a hurry. She wants to stand SO badly and pulls up at every chance she can get. Its funny because at this age Will was able to not only pull himself to standing, but he was even cruising (though he couldn't crawl at all yet)! So far though she has only been able to pull herself to standing, but not actually cruise around. She can actually remain standing for 10-15 minutes or more at a time, so her legs are getting stronger fast! Then its only a matter of time before she is running!


She is a very cuddly baby. She wants to be held a lot and her favorite past time is sitting in my lap and watching Will play. She is also fascinated with me and loves to run her fingers through my hair and touch my earrings and play with my sunglasses. And unlike Will at this age, who wanted to be down on the floor, exploring and constantly moving (though she does do a bit of that too as I can't hold her all the time), she would much rather be cuddling with Mom. The nice part is that she actually sits still most of the time too. So she is a pleasure to hold. I mainly enjoy it because I know how fast this time goes and each and every cuddle is precious. Soon enough she will have better things to do so I had better get all the cuddles I can while she is still willing to give them out!


 This little girl has a lot of energy and a fiery personality. She holds her own with Will and doesn't take 'no' for an answer. But you don't want to say 'no' to her anyway because she is so darn cute. She has every last one of us wrapped around her fingers. She is going to be a real spit fire as she gets into her toddler years! At the same time, she also has a pretty laid back disposition. Its an interesting juxtaposition. The only way I can describe it, is that not much bothers her, but when she gets bothered, she sure lets you know about it! She is just SO much fun! And watching her and Will's relationship start to form and grow has just been heart meltingly wonderful. The two of them are just adorable together. They have a lot of fun times ahead together, thats for sure!