10 Months

Can you believe another month has flown by already?

Ten months.
My baby is TEN months old!

Cuter than ever.

Getting stronger.

Claps and giggles anytime someone says "Yay!"  SO stinkin' cute.

This picture cracks me up.

He's getting around.

We were feeling brave and thought we'd see if he'd stand on his own for a second or two.

He was a little nervous, but he did it!
So glad we caught it!

He is now cruising.  Kind of.

He still can't pull up by himself, but if we stand him up-his favorite location being beside the bathtub-he will make his way around with a few side steps.  Along the tub it also includes ridiculous amounts of giggling because this boy loves the bath!

Speaking of giggles....

We are having monthly dr appointments for now to make sure he is gaining weight and check his iron level.  Today brought good news and bad news.
The good news:  He has gained almost a full pound!  In one month!  Holy Smokes!  That is huge!  He went from 16 to 17lbs.  Considering that from 6-9 months he only gained 1lb 5oz, one pound in a month is a huge leap.  He's still at 2% on the growth chart, but hey-on the chart!
The bad news: His hemoglobin not only didn't improve, but it took a dive.  He went from 10.2 last month to 8.9 this month.  After some discussion with our dr we decided to go ahead and do an iron shot.  I knew that he was super low, but apparently the danger zone of low comes when you start dropping down around 7 or 8.  Just under 9 is too close for comfort.  I had no idea iron injections even existed.  The shot is enough of a pain that they dosed him with Tylenol and Benadryl (in case of a reaction) before even giving the iron.  Premedication = nervous mama.  This injection can leave a tattoo mark, so it goes in the body, gets pulled over a couple of inches, then pushed in further into the muscle.  It was really hard to watch, and my goodness-poor Sam cried like I've never heard before.  I've always done fine watching my kids get shots but this one was rough.  Really hoping it does the job and boosts his levels!
Back in another month to make sure he continues to gain-or at least maintain-his weight, and to do another iron check.  I need to check back in with the neurosurgeon to set up the next MRI and consult sometime in the next month as well.  Hard to believe it's been a year since we were scheduling that very first MRI, that I was counting weeks of pregnancy and kicks from tiny feet.  Who'd have thought that I'd be loving on this today?

*sigh*
pure joy.