Baby 10 Month Update: Isabelle Lilly

 Isabelle Lilly : 10 months old update

My once tiny premature baby is now in double digits! 10 months have flown by in a blink of an eye at lightening speed. I wish I had started doing these monthly age updates for her from the very beginning but better now than never! Besides I will probably keep doing them until shes at least 24 months i.e 2 so that's a whole nother year + 2 months I can document. I personally find these very interesting being a mum to know what other babas around my little ones age are doing plus I know these will be wonderful to look back on and cherish with Isabelle when shes older. I hope other mums enjoy these as much as I do and maybe find some useful tips, tricks and fun ideas to do with their baby. 

As I have started late I'll give 10 quick "milestone mentions" from her birth up till now to catch everyone up to speed (which by the way was hard to compress into just 10 cause there's SO much to mention!). You can just skip ahead if you'd rather dive straight into this 10 month update. So the big ones I can remember are as follows:

1. 7 weeks old she smiled for the first time and 10 weeks old she laughed for the first time which was the best feeling I had felt up to that point as they can only communicate by crying when they're newborns.
2. 9 weeks she was sleeping in her own room. She successfully went from sleeping 2 hours of the night if were lucky to 15 hours solid no interruptions! I contribute this mostly to implementing a bath bottle bed routine which I will do a post on. This lasted till she was 9 months old and I believe teething to be why shes waking of the night now.
3.  14 weeks she learnt to roll over. She did it occasionally before that but by 3 months she had mastered it and was rolling everywhere and from side to side to get at her toys.
4. 4 months she wanted to be standing all the time! If you didn't hold her in an upright standing position she would throw such a tantrum and scream. She was happiest when letting her hold your finger for support while she stood up.
5. By five months she had mastered sitting up on her own where I would feel confident enough to leave her sitting with her toys without positioning hundreds of pillows around her. 
6. 19 weeks old she had her first try of baby banana porridge. Big moment for us her first try of food. She absolutely loved it.
7. 6 months old I taught her how to high five and play patty cake and also properly started weaning. This is also when her crawling really took off where shed be so quick I couldn't turn my back for second without her getting into something! She learnt to drink from a big cup and a straw.
8. 7 months old she did ALOT. She took her first steps and I couldn't of been more proud of her. She got a real personality by then too. She would find it hilarious to play peek-a-boo and laugh at herself when peering at you from over the bed or from out behind a door. She still thinks she is the funniest comedian going. She could stand on her own confidently. She could bend down to grab a toy off the flour and get back up to standing again.
9. 8 months she got her first teeth. 2 front bottom teeth at the same time just sprouted up over night! By then I also had to lower her cot to the floor cause she was trying to climb out of it which any parent knows is a big moment cause you realise they're not little babies anymore. 
10. She said her first real word at 9 months. She said "Yeah". That is still her fave word that she says the most often. I believe its cause in response to literally everything she does I say "Yeahhhhh!?!"

Without further ado Isabelle Lilly's 10 month update. 

Growth

Her development now at 10 months has really come along way. She is very smart and a quick learner. She is however very short. She has always been an age clothing size smaller than the one shes meant to be. I think that is in part to her being 3 weeks premature and due to me and her dad not being the tallest either. Other babies half her age within my family and friends have already overtaken her. My family joke in a loving way of course that shes a midget. When she was born we already had a whole wardrobe full of clothes for her but she was in tiny premature baby clothes for nearly 3 months before she got to wear any of them. When she was suppose to be going into 6-9 months clothing she had just outgrown 0-3 months bottoms. Shes one cute little lady. 

Speech

She says yeah, dada, mama and hi. As I mentioned her first word was "yeah" and is her favourite. She'll often ramble off yeah yeah yeah yeah over and over again in a row as well as other phrases like baba baba. She can have a full 5 minuet conversation with you where she knows when its her cue to speak and she finds it so fun to try and copy what word your saying. She also likes to shout especially if your in the middle of a conversation with someone, on the phone or at somewhere quiet like the doctors waiting area.

Tantrums

 She started what I would call the beginning of the tantrums when she was 3 months old. She would cry/scream in protest and out of frustration if you took something off her that's not safe for her to play with or if you took her away from something that she was enjoying for example when we took her out of the bath for bedtime but she wanted to stay in it. Now her tantrums have progressed to her going full bright red while screaming, real tears running down her face, shell throw her arms back over her head and hit the back of her head on the floor as she falls, shell kick out and run on the spot. The way were dealing with it is to be patient and understanding with her because we have to remember that she doesn't know how else to express her emotions yet. We try to distract her with something else like a suitable safe toy if shes crying because we've taken something unsafe away. Well play with her when trying to take her away from something unsafe like plugs and wires etc. We always give her reassurance with a cuddle and kiss to help calm her down. Really we do what ever we think in the moment is best whether that be cuddles, singing, playing throwing her up in the air, giving her a drink/food, another toy, whatever it is but we try to never let ourselves get frustrated back at her as that would only exasperate the problem. 

Head banging is a phase that lasted less than a week. I researched it on Google which basically said it was a way for her to express her emotions and soothe herself as they like the rocking rhythm. Luckily she got it over it super quick so I'm not at all worried but thought I'd mention it so other mums know its normal and not to worry (unless it persists).

 Teething 

She's teething badly. She had the signs of teething from 3 months old but her first two teeth didn't cut through till she was 8 months. This last month has been the worst for her teething yet as its now affecting her sleep. Shes waking once or twice a night needing a warm bottle to go back to sleep with. We know teething's the problem because since her teeth came through the sleeping problems began and she got nappy rash for the first time ever. We've been giving her lots of what we call "nudie time" taking her nappy off and getting fresh air to her bum/bits to help combat the rash. Bonjela and Dentanix are essential! Were managing well but if anyone has any tips on nappy rash please let me know!

Making the most of the summer...

 Things she likes doing is going to the park and playing on the swings. We've tried making the most of the summer by trying to take her and the dogs for walk over the park in the evenings before her bath. Of course were not always able to go with me being unwell or whatever is happening but we've made a real effort to take her out to get some fresh air and she has been loving it. Twilight and sun set in the summer is so beautiful and is a nice cooler time to take her out where her delicate skin wont get burnt. Its also the perfect way to kill the last 30mins-hour till bath and bed routine begins when babas seem to get the most tired and irritable. For us the last hour is always the hardest of the day so this has really helped us and they say fresh air helps babies sleep haha We've taken so many photos and videos of her smiling and laughing on the swings this summer and made the best memories. She actually learnt how to push herself down the baby slide for the first time a few days ago I was so shocked!

Exciting

New exciting things shes learnt to do is clap. You can see her clapping in the first two photos. Shes about to start swimming lessons at this new exciting pool being built especially for babies in our area which I can not wait for! Shes been swimming before lots of times and LOVES it so I'm really excited for her. Shes a complete water baby and I think shell thrive at it! She can pick up the smallest of things with her pincers which can be problem as she still likes to put everything in her mouth. Her walking is probably the most exciting thing shes doing as shes a real pro at it now. She can walk from room to room and over humps. I'm so impressed that she can regain her balance and keep going when it looks like shes about to fall. She can even turn around corners and dodge things in the way when walking. It makes things so much easier on my back now I don't have to carry her all the time. She has learnt to climb the stairs so were now baby gating the house. Toy wise anything that lights up and plays music is good. She's actually really good at sharing too where she'll give you bits of her food to share and she'll give me a toy and take it back then give it back to me again. Her favourite foods this month are porridge, yogurt, rice pudding and basically anything creamy. She's on three meals a day like us with the odd snack and drinks LOTS of water through out the day.

Things I love about her at this age is that her personality is really shining through and all the little quirks that make her her. She thinks shes really funny. She'll pop up from behind the bed and all you'll see are her eyes but hear her laugh like its the funniest thing and her laughing makes us laugh. She loves it when you sing to her, read her stories, mimicking each other, when you pull funny faces at her, swinging her around, throwing her up in the air, tickling and pretending to eat her. Shes a very rough and tumble baby when it comes to her dad. She adores him throwing her around and play fighting with each other. She also really likes it when she knocks on something and you knock back. She can play that game for ages. She's more affectionate now where she'll come up to you and give you a cuddle and kiss. Her kisses are more like french kisses though as she doesn't know to close her mouth yet so she basically open mouth licks you haha

Its crazy shes now officially been out of my tummy and into the world longer than she was inside me. They really do grow up too fast. Shes at the age where shes getting into everything and making a mess is the funnest thing to do. She is literally like a tornado round the house destroying everything she can get her hands on! She knocks things over, takes things out of drawers, throws stuff on the floor, pulls things out, rips stuff up, chewing everything, its like shes on a mission to see how exhausted I can get going round behind her cleaning up her mess. I know in her mind shes on an adventure, exploring everything which is actually really cute so I could never be mad at her for it. This last month is where the true fun has really begun! :)

 Through the sleepless nights and tears, all her smiles and laughter are worth it. I absolutely love being a mum and there's nothing better in this life than the love I have for my child. She is my entire world <3 

- Jess x

 p.s this is my first post so I've wrote it basically as if I was saying it to a friend.