McKinstry Moments: The Tenth Month

A little over a week ago, my baby turned ten months old.

What's he been up to lately? Getting into EVERYTHING! Reid still hasn't mastered walking, but that child sure can get around. He's either crawling, pulling up on something, cruising along, chewing on something, or a combination of these.

He's a pretty good little fella though, and we love him to pieces.

I am actually shocked that he still isn't walking since he's been cruising for a long time now, but both my other kids walked in their tenth month so we'll see. Maybe Reid isn't too motivated because he can already get around so well just crawling and pulling up, or maybe he just wanted to be on par with his siblings. Either way, he's getting there! Give him something like a push toy and he can really get across the floor...

Caleb doesn't usually want Reid anywhere near him or his stuff as this stage in the game because he doesn't appreciate baby drool. Hadley doesn't seem to mind it though. He and his sister are pretty cute playmates when she isn't knocking him over or trying to grab a toy out of his hands while he gives her the business. In the end, they really do love each other and are the cutest little boogers to watch.

One of Reid's favorite places to hang out is right under the kitchen table. This is a problem first off because Caleb doesn't want Reid to touch his legs while he's eating; my older son will actually try to perch on the top of his booster seat to avoid his little brother. Secondly, Hadley sometimes gives him a little shove with her foot if he's bothering her when he's under there. To add to mix, half the time Reid acts like a little puppy, eating anything they drop on the floor. The way the house is set up, I can't really put a gate up to keep him out of that area, so I just have to scold the kids, scoop Reid up, and scoot him back to the living room multiple times a day to keep everyone sane and safe. You think he'd learn by now...poor boy! The woes of being a third child....

Just in case you were wondering, Reid doesn't really need to eat off the floor, folks. He gets plenty of yummy food at his own seat. Regular baby food just wasn't happening for him though, and he forced us to move on to the real stuff pretty much from the get go. He's gotten to the point where he'll eat some baby food if it comes out of one of those squeeze pouches (I guess because he can suck it and thinks it's a drink), but for the most part, he just wants whatever we are eating. As a result, I have been convicted about some of our unhealthy quick meal options we go to when things get busy around here. Not that I want my older two eating junk, but you just feel like you ought to give a "baby baby" all those organic pureed fruits and veggies.

Just throw a little bacon grease in the green beans next time, Mommy!

He loved the creamed peas at NaNa's.

In some ways it is nice not to have to buy all that expensive baby food, and usually he can just eat off our plates if we are out somewhere which helps keep things simple. But there are times when we are a a restaurant or snack bar that just isn't baby friendly. Thankfully though, those squeeze pouches come in handy as long as we plan ahead. They aren't as messy as dragging a container of food around and trying to spoon feed him any way. (I'm kind of wishing now that I'd tried them with my other kids for outings when they were small - live and learn.)

At home, we just put a bib on and let him go at it, hoping the mess doesn't get too out of hand.