My Achy Breaky Heart

Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart... I just don't think it'd understand... and if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart
It might blow up and kill this WOman :(

But apparently being 10 months old means you're not a baby anymore. (Insert a million frowns here.)

Yesterday, Max signed his first word.  We've been working for months and months on the basics: more, please, all done, mom, dad, thank you, etc.... and then just this week we started with a few extras courtesy of a really awesome DVD, Baby Signing Time (thanks Anna and Elizabeth Grace).  So yesterday Max decided it was time for his first word and that his first signed word would be "shoes".  My heart melted. Let's skip the easy, obvious ones, and go for the gold!

Then last night at dinner, I didn't fix Max any baby food... because he ate the chicken pot pie we were having.  I should be celebrating this milestone, but this means he's a little person and not my little baby.  I didn't even have to mash anything.

As if that wasn't enough for my achy breaky heart, this morning, I made myself a smoothie and poured some in a bowl for him and added some baby cereal to thicken it-- but he would have none of it-- he wanted his in a cup with a straw-- no lid.  And he drank his very first smoothie like a grown up.

Now let's add some more fuel to the fire- at lunch he kept throwing food so I told him no.  Then, he did it again, so I grabbed his hand and told him "no" very sternly.  And he looked me straight in the eye and did it again- so I grabbed his hand and smacked it for the FIRST time ever.  And in response to his first "spanking",HE hit ME back!

(Just to be straightforward, you should know that I'm a bad mom and had to turn away instead of finishing the disciplining because I started laughing... we're going to have to work on the whole spanking thing!)

So this afternoon, when it was nap time, I changed his diaper and laid him in his crib with his snuggle and his passy.  An hour later, he was still in there talking and I heard this weird banging noise. Now he's all gushy, his snuggle is soft and his passy is rubber-- so there is no reason for any banging!  So I grabbed my camera (I knew it was going to be good) and walked in and apparently, because he is 10 months old and grown up, he decided that nap time was a no-go today and he'd rather do puzzles:



The little nugget reached into his toy basket that is outside of his crib and pulled the puzzle through the slats and just had a grand ole time.

Someone bring me a big bandaid-- these next few months (18 years) are going to be rough.  How come no one told me they don't stay babies long enough???