10 Months

Happy (belated) ten months to our little darling! 

We were on vacation on the 19th, but here's what she's been up to this past month:

- She exclusively crawls now, her "scootch" now firmly in the past.  And she's fast, too!  She thinks it's hilarious to crawl as fast as she can away from me, making me run to catch her and squealing with laughter when I get her.

- She still knows only one sign (milk) and it is her all-purpose sign.  It means "milk," but it also means "hungry" or "thirsty" or "more" or any number of other things.  Basically, if she makes that sign she's saying, "I want something and you'd better figure out what it is!"

- She can walk fairly well as long as she's holding on to something (the ottoman, or our fingers).  She can even turn corners, making her way around the entire coffee table on her own.

- She can stand on her own, but she still doesn't realize it yet.  She's done it multiple times for a few moments here or there, but she always immediately grabs onto me or the nearest object to steady herself even though she doesn't need to!  She hasn't stood again for as long as she did that first day, though.

- She eats very well, but doesn't like being fed.  I haven't used one of her baby spoons in weeks!  Everything she eats is a finger food now, and she wants to do it all herself.  And she pretty much eats everything we eat.  Whenever we go out to a restaurant, she gets bits of my meal (although she eats so much, I'm going to start ordering her a meal of her own!)

- She knows how to drink out of a sippy cup by herself, and often she will pitch a fit if I dare to hold it for her.  Fortunately, she is starting to understand the concept of tipping it back to drink, so she can usually take care of things on her own.  But after she's had a few sips, she wants to smash the cup down over and over again on the table.  What fun!  Lots of noise!

- She is taking two naps each day, one at 10 am and one at 2 pm.  She usually goes to bed between 5:45 - 6:30 at night, depending on what we're doing in the evenings, and sleeps until around 7 am.  I am humbly grateful for this!  I know how lucky I am, and trust me, I appreciate it.

- She still hates riding in the car, and will fuss most of the time.  She is marginally better on long car rides, when she will eventually give up and sleep, at least for a little bit.  I can help this by covering her carseat with a light blanket, so she won't be distracted by all the passing trucks, trees, buildings, etc.

- Her favorite toys are the TV remote, any necklace I'm wearing, my hair, the necklines of daddy's t-shirts, any cell phone she sees, and our wallets.

- She has grown a lot more hair over the last few months, but it's so blonde and fine that it's still hard to see, especially in pictures.