Happy New Year

10 Month Observation of Miss C

Dear Baby Girl,
You are now 10 months old! With so much going on here's a little list of the highlights...

• You are quite mobile now and can crawl at a high rate of speed.
• That crawling comes in handy when you see an item, like Copper's bone or the cat food, that you would like to have.
• You are well aware of the word no but will often continue to crawl toward what you want looking back over your shoulder to see how much you can get away with.
• We draw the line at actually putting the dog bone in your mouth or eating the cat food.
• It is hilarious to see your little bum up in the air as you crawl around especially when I say "I'm gonna get you" and you squeal with delight and try to speed up.
• There's also a lot of dancing going on where you are concerned.
• You LOVE to dance and sing which seems appropriate in this house because there's a lot of both going on.
• Of course, that dancing has resulted in a few bloody mouths when you get super excited over the Sesame Street theme and lose your balance.
• I am sure hitting your mouth on the crib rail was made worse by the fact that you are cutting 3 teeth at exactly the same time.
• Looks like you will have 5 teeth by your first birthday! Very exciting.
• You love to use those teeth to eat and are pretty insistant upon feeding yourself whenever possible or assisting if you can.
• Green beans are one of your most favorite things to feed yourself but really, you'll stick anything in your mouth...even paper.
• Speaking of paper, at the day care they only give you the plastic books to play with because you keep eating the pages of the other books.
• Oh, the day care. It has not been as traumatic as I expected but I still do not like it when you cry when I leave or when I pick you up.
• Still, I think you are learning a lot and are benefiting from the interaction with the other kids. Miss Samatha is your primary care giver and you seem to have taken to her pretty easily.
• We still have Miss Amy come and watch you during the week so Dad and I can have date night and it's evident that you know who she is and love her dearly.
• You are definitely a Daddy's Girl and your face lights up when you hear Daddy's footsteps, hear his voice or see him. And he's pretty smitten with you as well
• As for me, well, there have been many times this last month that you have crawled up into my lap on your own and that has meant the world to me. It was like you were acknowledging I was someone important to you.
• I expect that you will be walking before we know it because you are pulling up and walking along the sofa with ease.
• And along with the walking you are quite the dare devil...standing up on the seat of your new Christmas toys may be exciting to you but it freaks us out.
• You wave hello and good-bye a lot.
• When we say "Yeah!" you clap your hands.
• It's not always easy to decipher your wave from your request for milk but we are starting to figure it out...hand sideways is milk, hand with palm facing out or toward you is a wave. We're still working on this.
• MaMa is a word in your vocabulary that is used quite frequently though not always when referencing me.
• Most of the other things that you say are incomprehensible to us but you are trying hard to form words and talk to us.
• Right now your favorite toy is still the music stand we bought you that has the mirror, microphone and buttons for you to push that result in various songs being played. You pull yourself up to stand and then bounce up and down with the songs.
• As with the last 9 months, this month has seen your personality and just overall happiness continue to blossom.
• You really are a happy baby and our home is filled with your laughter, sounds, songs and bright energy.

Thank you Baby Girl for making me the happiest Mommy on the block. I look forward to watching you grow, though seeing you go from being my little girl to a big girl is not always easy, I truly am blessed to have you in my life and will cherish every minute of it.

Love,

Mommy

Wintery Mix

Miss C spent her first Christmas Eve and Christmas Day surrounded by people she LOVES the most (and who spoil her rotten)...her Grandparents, Counsins, Aunts and Uncles. It was a wonderful first Christmas for all of us and we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Here is a mix of her Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Santa Baby

Today we took Miss C to get her picture taken with Santa. Look closely at the smiling baby and the fact that she is NOT sitting on Santa's lap. We are actually in the family restroom at the mall changing out of her dress and into more comfy close. She saved all her smiles for this part of our trip. There were no smiles for Santa. She didn't wail while sitting on his lap but she wasn't real happy about it either.

I need to scan the pictures to be able to post them and haven't done that yet. But seriously this is a way better picture.

Basement renovation

I didn't really take any pictures of the basement to record the renovation. I know somewhere I have a picture of the gas station bathroom but I can't find it at the moment.

I see you!

Things that go bump

There are many perks to Miss C's new independence and ever budding personality. She can hold her own bottle, feed herself an assortment of foods, get around on her own via super fast crawling, entertain herself, and communicate pretty clearly her likes and dislikes. While she is still dependent upon us for everything there is a lot she can do for herself which makes things a lot easier for us.

One of the drawbacks of her no longer being a tiny swaddled bundle with high levels of new mobility is that there are more opportunities for injury. In the last week we have experienced two such injuries.

The first involved an eye being smacked against her music stand while trying to sit down. We realized quickly that we had no baby ice pack and ended up putting a teether on her face to stop the swelling. The second involved blood and was slightly more tramatic. While dancing to Sesame Street in her crib when I was putting away her clothes Miss C got a little caught up in her dancing and ended up hitting her mouth on the railing of her crib cutting her gums. That definitely was not a fun time with the blood and the crying and the swollen lip. I don't think dealing with those types of things will ever get easier.

In other news we are FINALLY putting our tree up today and taking Miss C to see Santa this week. She's already been once with Mia and neither of them were too thrilled with the old guy. I am doubting the experience this week will be any different but we shall see.

Here's lookin' at you kid

We got Miss C this music station and she LOVES it. Now that she can pull herself up she holds on to it and bounces around to the songs it plays. This typically encourages her Dad and me to dance too.

There is just something innocent and precious about a sleeping baby...especially one that you helped create.

Miss C, my independent girl, is hell bent upon feeding herself every chance she can get so we just let her go to town. She loved it and I think some of it actually got in her mouth.

Looks pretty mischievous doesn't she?

Miss Amy came for a visit tonight and brough Miss C the cutest little poncho. Of course, she loved the paper and ribbon more but that's to be expected. Amy also took these amazingly beautiful pictures of Miss C for SP and I and gave them to us framed as gifts. I feel like an ass because our gift for her isn't done yet...but I am working on it.

Let it snow

Without a doubt Miss C loves the outdoors. She definitely doesn't shy away from the sun or the rain or the snow. Yes, the snow. Yesterday she got to see her first snow and she loved it. We were playing inside and big fat puffy flakes were flying outside and she just sat and watched. Then I let her look out the backdoor and she squealed with delight. She does that a lot, the squealing with delight, but moreso when outside. It's hilarious and I have visions of her hugging the Earth in her hiking boots and backpack.

SP and I got a little adult time last night going to a local comedy club and then out to see a band play. We were out until almost 2 which is quite impressive for us. Miss C was in Louisville with Nana and Papa who took her to church for the first time. They say she was blessed by the Bishop which I hope is close enough in god's book to baptism because we don't plan on getting her baptized and I need something to cleanse away the residue from that lingering Catholic guilt.

Tomorrow starts week 2 of day care. Miss C now has a snotty nose, which I totally expected but dislike nonetheless. I am starting to get a little rhythm in the mornings and figuring out the routine that works best for me when I drop her off.

There hasn't been any crying in the morning when I leave which is good. The crying comes in the afternoon when I pick her up. I think it's because she is exhausted and just wants me to take her home. She gets all excited when she sees me clapping and crawling towards me but as soon as I get out of her site she wails. Like I said, I think it's because she is so tired because she's getting up earlier, not napping there well and falls asleep immediately when we get in the car to drive home. I hope that gets better this week.

Just stomp on my heart why don'tcha?

Days 1 and 2 of day care have been uneventful. No one cried...including me. While naps and eating for Miss C are a little off, we got through the first days with relative ease.

Today, however, is another story. Miss C realized that I was going to be leaving and crawled up to my leg and grabbed ahold of my pants. Can you say HEARTBREAKING? I seriously had trouble leaving because the look on her face was like - why are you leaving me here Mommy? That little baby cries a lot and the other one is always snotty. Take me home. Please Mommy.

Granted, she was probably fine once I left but wow! that was not easy.

I miss Miss Amy.