I can hardly believe that I am typing out NINE AND TEN months. Whaaaaaat.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

This time of year is making me feel super nostalgic. It seriously feels like five minutes ago I was standing in my kitchen making freezer meals and preparing for Max to be here so soon. And now he’s almost been here an entire year. I know that’s so cliche and basic and boring and overstated, but whoa, it’s so true. I really don’t know what to do with myself!

But anyhoo, the little bug is so much fun.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

Um, I still think he’s hilarious. I still find my BABY funny. Am I that mom now?

I am. I am.

He just does this face scrunch thing? I think you have to be there.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

He’s a constant chatterbox. He loves to dance and bounce and climb into everything and anything. I call him Max the Adventurer because he goes everywhere that he isn’t allowed to go.

Current obsession: pulling all the baking sheets out of the drawer below the oven and banging them together.

Most hilarious thing he does right now: if I’m in the kitchen, he crawls out of the room and over to the steps, which are out of my sight. It can be two, three or four minutes, and he will just stand at the bottom of the step and start making noise, yelling out to me, calling mamamamamama and once I walk into the foyer, he starts to go up the stairs. Adventurous, but cautious? That’s what we say.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

He’s a little fiery. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE HE GETS IT FROM. No, but really, if he doesn’t want to do something, he just doesn’t want to do something and throws a fit. He doesn’t want to lay still for a diaper change, he doesn’t want to sit in his chair to eat, he wants to stand. His little personality is hilarious.

I’m afraid I’m parenting him terribly. P.S. this is behind the scenes of Halloween.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

He’s also the sweetest thing on the face of the earth. In the last few weeks, he has starting coming over to me when he’s tired, climbing into my lap, laying his head on my shoulder and GOING TO SLEEP. This has been happening every single day. I basically get nothing done ever because those moments can’t be beat.

He is absolutely in LOVE with Eddie right now. The moment Eddie walks through the door, he lights up and starts laughing hysterically and gets so super excited. They are best buds and it’s insanely adorable. Eddie already wants to buy some massive swingset for our backyard… for NEXT summer.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

Max loves to eat pretty much everything, but these days he wants whatever we are having. Meaning, whatever we have at that moment, even if he just ate a big meal. He wants it! We eat mostly the same things since we did baby led weaning, but he would probably eat an entire slice of pizza if I let him. I have cut up pieces of pizza and given him bites and he inhales it. He also is a baby burger bandit. That happened.

Still, his favorite foods right now seem to be scrambled egg yolks, broccoli, spiral pasta like rotini and cinnamon apples (I cook chopped apples in a saucepan with a touch of water and cinnamon until soft). In order to make sure I always have something easy on hand, about twice a week I will steam a batch of squash, sweet potato, broccoli, green beans and boil some pasta. I keep it plain, then either give it to him that way or mix it into his meals. Also, something HUGE! He started eating purees and not hating them as much. So now, he eats yogurt and applesauce and pumpkin and squash puree. He is still obsessed with only feeding himself. No help, mom. No help!

On that note, I’m still nursing on demand. I still love it. It has been such a wonderful thing for the two of us and I feel so lucky that it’s been successful. Some days he nurses a bunch, other days only 4ish times. On one hand, I feel like he will be nursing forever because it’s his favorite thing – on the other hand, I know the end will come way too soon and I will miss it. WAH.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

Something crazy: on Halloween, he started walking more than one step. Up until last weekend, he had taken one step here or there. As I was sitting with him on the floor in front of both of our families (how perfect is that!), he was standing and lifted his arms over his head to do “so big!” and took four or five steps to me. We all SCREAMED. Like it was so unexpected that we all flipped and shouted and clapped and scared the heck out of him. But then he did it again! So now, he takes a handful of steps everyday. The funniest is that he stands up, then squats halfway down, then stands back up. I tell Eddie that I bet his legs are killing him at night after that squat workout.

He LOVES books. Usually twice a day, early morning and shortly before our bedtime routine, he sits by himself and goes through his books, talking and “reading.” As a book-obsessed child myself (and person today), I really hope this continues and he truly enjoys books as he grows.

You always hear that seeing things through a child’s eyes is magical, and I knew that we would be nutty when it came to holidays and first times this year. We went to four pumpkin patches, Eddie came home with tons of Halloween decorations and I’m 100% ready to start listening to Christmas music. It’s like celebrating little moments just got so much more special.

Let’s not even talk about his first birthday. *faceplant* I’ll definitely be sharing all of that with you.

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

It’s just so difficult for me to believe that it has almost been one year. Because I have truly soaked up EVERY moment of Max, even putting off many work things I’d previously jumped on to spend time with him and enjoy every bit. But it just feels like it has gone so fast – I had to have missed something! Right? Ha – it’s such an odd feeling. Like what did I even do these last ten months? Where is my brain?

Oddly enough, it seems that the “new normal” is quite possibly FINALLY sinking in. I have still really struggled with feeling normal, often reading that others find it takes a few “weeks” or “six months” (um, hello, NO) or whatever. And while I’ve been so good at not comparing this stage of life to others (something I struggle with everywhere else), I can’t help but see what others say about when I might start to feel like myself again.

It’s been said MULTIPLE times to me but it’s like I just had to wait until I was ready to grasp the words: I will never be or feel like my old self, because normal is new. And with those words it’s like I’m finally getting it. Finally. Finally!! (… maybe. ask me next week.)

life with max: nine and ten months I howsweeteats.com

So that’s what’s going on around here – and in seven days he will be eleven months old. You can find my sobbing in the corner over here. Heart explosion.