Leo is now 10 months old

jan09walking
Originally uploaded by velacreations

Our son, Leo, just turned 10 months old. We went into the village for a check up and to meet the new doctor at the free clinic. He seems quiet, nice and thorough. The nurse was, as always, happy to see him.
Just after he was born, the two nurses walked the two kilometers from the village to our place with an ice chest containing rabies shots for all our animals. They injected all the animals and then spent the rest of the afternoon crooning over the newborn. There's no way to beat medical care like that, and we are very grateful that these are the people that will tend to our little guy when he is sick or injured.

All in all, Leo is about as happy and healthy as they come. He has had one cold in his 10 months, lasting a day and a night. He also threw up one night after I took some Grapefruit Seed Extract, not knowing that too much vitamin C does not sit well with babies. The only other illness he's suffered has been teething related (upset stomach and slight fever). That said, we have had a rough couple of weeks. He has had his two top front teeth coming in for a while and he seems to really suffer with it. But they FINALLY cut through yesterday, and he seems fascinated with them. Just 16 more to go...

This past month has seen some incredible changes. He is now cruising around our one room like a torpedo. No solo steps yet, but that doesn't seem to hinder him. He has all his routes figured out, so that you can put him down at one end of the room and before you know it, he's on the other side. If he can't make it across a gap, he puts his hands down and lopes like a gorilla (he has unfortunately never learned to crawl!). He'll get to something like the compost bucket or wood box, turn around, look at you, grin and go for it, and you have to lunge to stop him. Although he'll often feign ignorance, he knows exactly what the word “no” means!

Language abilities are also developing. He understands a lot of what we say, and responds physically. When you say hello or goodbye he waves; when you say “saluda-me” (shake my hand), he does. He'll kiss (or rather put an open, slobbery mouth against your cheek) when you say “kisses”. And he loves to copy you! He also has three words that he says. We had thought/hoped his first words would be “papa”or “mama”, but not so. He says “wa-wa” consistently to ask for water, a kind of gurgled version of “good” when he's eating something delicious (his favorite is oranges), and a guttural, garbled sound like “thank-you” when you give him something.

He now always poops in his potty (see our article about Diaper Free Baby if you are interested), but still pees in his diaper occasionally. We don't even try and put him on the potty when he wakes at night as it is a little chilly. As his communication and mobility skills improve, so will his toileting abilities. Once it gets warmer and he will be wearing less clothes, we'll be taking the diapers off altogether and start training him out of the accidents (though will expect them to happen for quite a while longer).

In a nutshell: he laughs constantly; flirts with anyone who shows interest (although when he first meets someone he will just stare at them for a while); loves to be outside; tries to pet every animal he sees (luckily the rattlesnakes aren't out yet!); wants to be thrown in the air as often as possible. We feel very lucky.

The one thing he has never quite got the hang of is sleeping. He still wakes a couple of times in the night to nurse, though does go straight back to sleep afterwards. We have read about various techniques to break a child of this, but most involve letting them cry it out – an option that is very hard to do when he sleeps right by my ear, and heart!!! Once we have finished building the next rooms, he will be moving into his own bed, and the lack of proximity might help him sleep through. Until then, it doesn't really bother me that much. I figure it won't be long until he'll want little to do with us, so I'm happy to take the cuddles when I can!

For more photos, click here.