Taj turns TEN months old!

Taj is 10 months old!!!! I can hardly believe its been almost a year since he was a newborn. I still remember him as the 7lb 5oz little baby who would always snuggle up to the nape of our necks! Now Taj is such a boy, 19 lbs 8oz, and 28 1/2 inches tall. He stands unassisted for up to 20 seconds, climbs the stairs up and is beginning to slide down backwards, walks by pushing his truck all over the house (he uses it as his walker!), and outside he can push his truck almost an entire block up the sidewalk! This last month he started waving, he puts his arms up and attempts the hand motions when he hears Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, he bangs cups, symbals, and blocks together, and yesterday he clapped his hands for the first time! Taj loves to play PeekaBoo and will usually initiate (i posted a video of this below), and also bumps heads with you during the Czech game "Berane Berane" (Ram). Speaking of Czech, I am dedicating myself to speaking solely Czech when its just Taji and I, so he gets a lot of exposure to my native language. Just the other day he said the word "ne" ("no" in English) so clearly and appropriately, along with shaking his head no :) I had him do it for Brad, and we couldn't stop giggling! Taji has become a little parrot, he tries to copy everything we say (and he will usually get the first letter sound!) When he flips through his books he "reads" to himself.

Since he's roaming around the house and gets into everything, some of his favorite no-no items are shoes, pulling out bowls, pots, and pans from our kitchen cabinets (we need to install those magnetic locks one of these days!), the door stoppers, our car keys, the remote control, and always tries to get his little fingers on our laptop keys! Even though he has his toy versions of all of these things, there's nothing like the real thing...... its the attention he gets from them!! Now i don't mean to brag (but I will ha ha!) not many mommies can say their babies sleep a consecutive 10-12 hours a night each night without a peep..... well, I'm so proud to say we are one of those very lucky parents (knocking on wood) and have been for the last 2 months! Taj is such a sound sleeper that he doesn't even wake up when I change his diaper every night before I go to bed. Even when he was cutting his 2 upper teeth over a month ago, and got his first ear infection, neither of these affected his sleep! On top of sleeping through a whole nite, when it is bedtime all we have to do is lay him down in his crib, turn on his sleep sheep, kiss him goodnight, walk out and close the door, and Taji snuggles up with his puppy blanket and falls right to sleep without a whine. We do his nightly bath routine but I will let you in on a little secret that I think is connected to him sleeping so peacefully..... 2 drops of Eucalyptus oil + 1 drop of Rosemary oil in his bath- sometimes i will put a drop of Lavender oil in his warm mist humidifier when we run it with his cold mist humidifier (usually when he has a cold or sounds stuffed up.) Call me the neurotic, "green-obsessed", homeopathic momma you want..... but it works, and my baby sleeps like an angel and wakes up with a big smile on his face! However, I can't brag that much about his eating habits. Taji went from being a super-go-easy eater to now protesting and throwing/ spitting out his dinner food!! Its just dinner time that he goes on a veggie strike..... ah, all my hard work in making his food and following the rainbow veggie introduction method is a lost cause! His favorites continue to be all fruits, carrots, chicken, beef, some pureed veggie meals, yogurt, yogurt melts & puffs, and now his new favorite is whole wheat pita bread. He loves to feed himself put sure is a picky eater!

Cute videos of some of Taji's hobbies...... playing at the playground and playing peekaboo!

Dear Taji Waji

We can't believe you have entered into the double digits of months..... how much you have grown since your last half birthday milestone! You are on the verge of walking, and we can't get enough of your baby talk! Your instant smile and the happiest giggle we've ever heard brightens up our days. When we take you out, you demand attention from everyone and you definitely get it. The ladies swoon over you, and you flirt right back with your signature clearing of the throat noise! Everywhere we go, you get so many compliments on your wild hairdo, we love your fuzzy strawberry blonde hair that always looks like you stuck your fingers in an electric socket! We could stare into your blueish-greenish silverish eyes all day long, and kiss your little cheeks and dimples forever. We love watching you explore, learn, socialize, and grow! Thank you for being the happiest baby on the block, and thank you for giving us back our nights! As we approach the 1 year HUGE milestone, promise me you will always be our little baby and continue to cuddle with us and want to be held by us? My favorite moment is when we change your diaper at night while you are asleep and we get to hold you just a tad longer without you squirming, and love listening to your breathing and smelling your heavenly baby scent. You make our life Taj-ilicious :) We love you and adore you to infinity and beyond! Love, Mommy & Daddy