Little Mister 10 Months

Little One isn't the only one who had a birthday back on the 7th.  Mister hit double digits!
Don't let the fact that His weight is in the 4th percentile fool you (we grow em' light around here).  Mister has become a force of nature.
This little bundle of energy has become a wiggling, climbing, crawling, bouncing little tornado.  He leaves a trail of emptied cabinets, open board books, and stacking cups wherever He goes.
He always goes wherever His finely tuned sixth sense tells Him there is the most Danger.
The phone-charging cord left dangling from a socket.  The not-quite-latched door to the basement steps.  Sisters' room with the entrancing, magnetic dollhouse full of fragile choking hazards.  And, most especially, the bathroom.
Mister has fallen in love with the bathroom.  Any bathroom.  Because, of course, it is the household Mecca of Danger.  It has bottles of tasty-looking potions.  It has hot-water faucets just the right height to pull up on.  A tub to tumble into headfirst, trash cans to upend with who knows what inside and! Best of all! A perpetually filled water table just the perfect size to splash in! The toilet.
It is a constant exercise in vigilance around here to monitor the bathroom door. All of us have developed a Pavlovian response to, at the sound of a flushing toilet, holler "DID YOU SHUT THE DOOR?!" It has to be properly shut, too, not just pulled to.  He's too smart for those tricks.
He's pretty smart in general, though.  He's figuring out how to communicate more and more, He's figured out how to get my attention (with teeth), he knows all of our habits to an amazing degree.  He sees Missy show up in the dining room in the morning and instantly drops His toy and makes a beeline for Her room.  He knows she forgets to shut the door when She wakes up.
Mister at 10 months is getting close to being upright.  He cruises the furniture.  He's very, very proud to show you that He has figured out how to hold onto the outside of the seat on the anchored walker and push it around and around and around the play table.  And around and around and around.
He has very recently started to pull up, dawn the expression of a tightrope walker about to step out on the wire, and let go.  He balances a moment.  He realizes He's doing it- He's doing it!! He looks up to see if anyone is watching, He claps vigorously in admiration for Himself, He laughs, He falls.  Repeat.
He has discovered rocking toys and scooting ride-on toys, and thinks they, well, rock.  He loves to crawl and explore and itches for Freedom whenever He's been restrained too long.  Sometimes the way He writhes and squeals after a long car ride, and then hits the floor and bounds off into the living room, reminds me of a wild animal re-released into it's natural habitat.  The sweet baby snuggles are fewer and fewer.  He just has this insatiable need to move.  All the time.
In finer skills, He has figured out actual chewing, and also how to maneuver bits of stuff into His mouth.  Mr. Independent is so thrilled to be able to feed Himself, that He only very grudgingly allows me to feed Him by spoon when He's really hungry.  Once the edge is off He uses His (amazingly good) hand-eye coordination to fire His fists at incoming spoons like defense torpedoes.  It is the Iron Dome of "That's Not A Cheerio".
It comes with sound effects, too, as He makes a satisfactory "Alldone!" each time a spoon is blasted away.  "All Done" is probably His favorite thing to say.  Also the new one, "Dog".  He LOVES dogs.  He loves to see them, hear them, look at them in books.  He has tried everything a Little Mister could to get to ours in the yard.  He hears them bark and plasters His droopy face to the window, "Dog! Dog! Dog!" I think He may believe He is answering them in their language.
The biggest change in Mister over the last month is the development of preferences.  And by prefer, He means My-Way-Or-The-Cryway.  The spoon vs. finger-food is one such preference.  He also prefers not to have His diaper changed, to have clothes put on His body, or have anything with buckles holding Him back from sweet, sweet freedom.  He prefers not to have things stolen from Him, no matter what hazard they may pose to His health and well-being.  He prefers to play Pat-a-cake.  Again.  Again!  In fact Pat-a-cake is to this child as Fetch is to a labrador retriever.  Don't start, unless you plan on playing until one of you is unconscious.

Other favorite pastimes are:
-Counting things in books.  Either you point at and count things, or He points around the page snickering as you count whatever He is pointing at.  Reading the words in the books? Thanks-no-thanks.
-Things that shake, rattle, and/or roll.
-Music with a good beat.  Mister has found His groove thang and He likes to shake it.
-Dumping stuff out of places.  A guy could spend all morning doing this!  Really.
-Dance with me around the room.  SO hilarious.  All the better if Sisters are dancing too.
-Follow those Sisters around wherever they go, like a little tag along puppy.

Favorite Foods:
-Mister doesn't love a lot of sweeter foods, like banana or mango, or grapes.  His favorites are:
-Raw Tofu.  Seriously.  Almost as much as cheerios.
-Salmon
-Rice cakes (the new substitute for pacifiers)
-Apple slices to gnaw on
-Asparagus
-Kidney beans
-Brown rice
-And of course, Cheerios.

As long as He can get it to His mouth on His own, though, He's pretty happy with it.  That's our Mister.  Our first glimpses into His disposition definitely reveal a very independent dude.  Now, He still needs His quota of time in Mommy's arms, a kiss after a bumped head, and a good cuddle before bed.  He still likes to give and get hugs and kisses.  But He is usually happiest when He's just exploring the world on His own with His people nearby.  His preferences (and first tantrums) have surfaced, but all in all He's still an almost unnaturally easygoing baby, and spends so much time smiling it's a wonder His cheeks don't get sore by lunchtime.
I do love those cheeks, too.  As the babyhood clock winds down, I'm finding myself soaking up these days of chubby thighs and downy hair like rays of actual sun.  Which is about what it feels like.
10 months is so exciting, because He is still all baby, which I cherish so much.  But toddlerhood is clearly visible around the bend, and it's looking like an awesome time.
Little Mister, big or little, you're a bright spot of joy in this family and home.  You keep all of us cheerful when we might otherwise forget to be.  You keep all of us on our toes.  We love you so much, and can't wait to see what's around the corner.