10 Months Old

I know it sounds cliche but I can't believe you are 10 months olds already. Time is going by so quickly. I was saying to you tonight that it's so hard to believe you have been my daugther, I have been your mom and you have been living in our lives for 10 months now. It's like a dream. In a million years I would never of imagined how precious life was going to be when you got here. I just thought it would be cute to have a baby. I am fascinated by you every day.

When I watch you play I can see how you are learning. When you hold your blocks or your ball and then look at them...it's so cool. You love standing up. You have taken a few steps on your own here and there. You can sign the word 'more'. You are learning to clap. You have an adorable laugh. You love to wave hi and by...particularly at the Y. Oh yeah the Y...we LOVE going to the Y. We go almost everyday. I feel like those women there are your aunts. We have been going there since you are about 8 weeks old so they have watched you grow too. You love to play with the other children. Specially older boys. I think they remind you of Ethan.

You love reading your books. One of our new favorite activities is going to Borders bookstore and I let you crawl around in the kids section and take books off the shelves and read them...so cute.

You love animals...go figure :). I am sure I said this before but 'cat' was your first word. After dinner is when you watch your one video for the day. Lately we have been alternating between Neighborhood Animals and First Signs (both Baby Einstein).

Daddy has been traveling alot lately and I know he misses us. It makes it harder for me to take care of you but that's the way it has to be right now.

Here is the one challenge we are dealing with. Thus far I have always been there to help you go to sleep. Either rocking you or nursing you. I have no regrets for doing it that way up until now but we have to start learning how to let you fall asleep on your own. It started last week when I had you stay the extra 2 hours at Kids Day Out at the JCC. That's where I take you once a week so I can have a few hours for myself. Normally you go from 9 - 12. If I want to keep you the extra 2 hours I can do that but that time is nap time. You don't usually nap then so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Well you did some crying and eventually you fell asleep. I talked to the lady there and Daddy and we all know that it is OK for you to cry a little when you are trying to go to sleep. Eventually you will know how to put yourself to sleep and then you won't cry. So we are working on that.

You also just starting waking up a second time in the night. So pretty much you are up every 4 hours or so. Doesn't make for a restful night sleep for me :). I'm sure this will all work itself out soon but for now we have to deal with the crying. I have only done it twice so far (where I let you cry in the crib and come in every 10 minutes and try to soothe you). I hope it doesn't take too much longer because it is very upsetting to see and hear your cry like that. OK, enough of the sleep thing.

So you are 10 months old tomorrow. Happy Happy Birthday...I love you soooooo much.

Walking

Well I am going to make it official and say you took your first steps yesteray. We went to a baby shoe store because I really want something for your feet. It was a very kid friendly place however you weren't too happy to be there. I got down on the floor with you and we played. You like to stand alot so I put you a few steps away from me. The sales lady tried to talk to you and you wanted to be near me so you scrambled to get to me and in the process took 3 steps. You also did the same thing today.
Now Daddy said her saw you take a step this past weekend so we can count that too! Either way I'm pretty sure you will be walking by your 10 month birthday. :)

Georgia Aquarium

This past weekend we went to Atlanta for a wedding. It was our second plane trip. On our outbound flight we got bumped to first class...that was pretty cool! As usual you did very well with all the travel. What I wanted to tell you about was our trip to the Aquarium.

I believe the Georgia Aquarium is the biggest in the country. It is only a few years old. We had a great time! I felt like it was our first 'family trip' going to do a touristy thing. You were mesmerized. All the tanks were floor to ceiling and some even in the ceiling so there was so much to look at. We mostly had you in the Baby Bjorn. You would just stare at the fish and reach out your hands. I enjoyed watching you as much as I did watching the fish. We saw huge beluga whales to small tropical colorful fish. They did such a nice job with the design, color, music and lighting. We stopped about 1/2 way for lunch and I thought you were going to fall asleep but as soon as we got back to the exhibits you were wide awake! It was so much fun. I think if we lived there you and I would go every week.

You are such a pleasure to travel with. You have fun on the plane. You love to play in the hotel rooms and explore. You are just very adaptable to whatever we do. Like we always say, we have the best baby! I love you so much!!!!!!

Our typical day at 7 months...

Depending on what my workout at the YMCA will be we usually get up at around 7:30. We play for a little while (oh yeah, first daddy always changes your morning diaper). If I am taking a 9:30 class at the Y we will have breakfast around 8. Lately you have been having oatmeal and apples or some other type of fruit. We got to the Y where Maria and Francis take very good care of you. Now that you crawl and sit up there is more for you to do there and now you are playing with the other kids too (and also catching their colds :))

After the Y we come home and usually have lunch. Sometimes you have food and sometimes you just nurse. Today after lunch we played for a while. Either we play in my room where we have a portable play yard that takes up most of the floor. You always like to be alternating and playing with two things at once. You have your piano that plays a few tunes and a doggy xylophone. We also have these rubber blocks that I stack up and you knock down. I also just put together a bunch of random things like a measuring cup, purple rubber spatula and a rubbermaid bowl. We also play in the office where we have your activity mat (which you are almost grown out of) and Ethan's programmable piano (a real one). Also a toy that you can sit on and press buttons that makes music. You definitely like music!

After playing today we went next door into Jim and Marie's pool. You love swimming. The Trolice's got you this great floaty device with an awning to protect you from the sun. We have pictures of it.

After the pool I rinsed you off in your tub...you had some bottle and then slept for 2 hours...yeah. Then we played some more until Daddy got home.

Other times we go on an errand in the afternoon. Maybe to babies r us or Publix. You love going to publix. All the old people love to smile at you and you give them a big beautiful smile right back...it is so sweet. You also love to look at the balloons all around.

Basically I spend a bunch of time watching you play and interact. I feel like I am watching a miracle everyday. I watch you learn and explore. I can just sit and watch you for hours and love every second of it!

Catching Up (continued)

So let's see...the first time you were able to balance yourself while sitting up was at your photo shoot for Conceive Magazine. That was on June 15th, so right around your 6 month birthday. You started crawling forward on July 4th and on the 11th got some real distance. Now you are a pro! You can get anywhere you want and quick :)
It is so cute to watch you crawl...you are so small and your butt wiggles back and forth.
You also like to pull yourself up to a standing position. You will grab on to anything and pull up. You love to do that. Whenever you get excited you open your mouth real wide and smile. It's enough to make anyone smile who is watching.
Tonight when we were getting you ready for your bath you were so excited. You always love your bath but it seemed like tonight you were particularly excited. You were giggling and screeching with delight. You had me hysterical laughing. I can't believe it can get any better than this. You are just amazing.
I continue to love you more and more everyday...I don't know how that is possible!

Catching Up

Almost 7 months old! Time is going by soooo quickly. You are already crawling and sitting up by yourself. Your crawling is still new and when you want to get somewhere quick (to the cat) :) you use your arms to drag yourself forward. You actually move quite quickly.
I stared making a scrapbook for you and that seems to take alot of my free time. Also because of your ability to get around so quickly I can't take my eyes off of you during the day. Last week I turned around for a moment when you were on Ethan's bed and you fell off. I felt so bad...you cried so hard. :(

Girl's Night Out, etc...

Daddy is out of town this weekend visiting with Ethan. Last night we went to a 'Derby Party' at my friend Samir's house. It started at 5:00 so I figured you should do alright. Our friend Sarah came with us. As usual you were the hit of the party. There was one girl who was particularly enamored with you. She had a few teenage step children but none of her own. I eventually told her how you came to us and suggested that she not wait too long if she wanted to have a child of her own. (she was in her mid 30's) I think I feel a need to 'help' women in their 30's who are thinking about having children. I just want them to know that if they are interested they shouldn't wait. I wish people could just know what the possible journeys are they might take so they can choose when they want to begin.

I love just hanging out with you and getting to know your personality. You are always learning and growing. One thing stays the same and that is you are extremely curious. You like to watch people and things. You can be totally content walking through the mall and observing. A few weekends ago we were walking through the Millennium Mall and you were just giggling and having a great time strolling around.

I find our days are more enjoyable when we have plans. Even if it is going to the YMCA for a class or going to a store to buy or return something. If we have a few things to do in one day it breaks things up nicely.

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the director at the JCC. She is going to tell us about all the programs for babies and toddlers. They are pretty booked up right now but I want you to be able to go a few hours a week and be around other babies your age. Also, I think it will be good for us to spend a few hours away from each other. I know it will be difficult at first (at least for me :)), but I know it will be a good thing. Right now the only time that happens is for 45 minutes or an hour at the Y. You generally have good time doing that...sometimes you nap. There has only been one time when they had to come get me because you weren't happy.