Month 10: Teeth, Talking and Walking!

Julia, "Da da da da da" was the call from your bedroom this morning. I was on my way out the door for work, but I dropped my briefcase (okay...my lunchbox) and went upstairs to bring you downstairs and change your diaper. What I found was a beautiful, smiling, standing little girl who was so happy to see her "Da da da."

You pointed at lots of different things and told me what they were, in your own way. And we chatted all the way down the stairs and into the bedroom. You were surprised to see your brother and mother still in bed (sometimes I'm surprised to wake up and see your brother in bed with us too!). Your sheer happiness at seeing your family is so refreshing and lovely.

I changed your diaper and gave you to your "Ma ma ma ma ma" so she could feed you breakfast.

You're well into your 10th month of life now, and it's been hard to keep up with you. You've been growing and changing so rapidly that it's hard to fathom.

It seems just like yesterday that you figured out how to crawl. You're now a master faster crawler.

But now, you've grown to be able to do and say so much!

Before we went on vacation to Galveston again at the beginning of this month, your 'vocabulary' really started to grow.

You say "ma ma ma ma ma" to your Mommy and "da da da da da" to your daddy.

You say "bmmf" to your baby dolls or other babies. (It's your word for 'baby'). If we pick you up in the morning and you don't have your baby doll in your hands (which is rare), you'll point and say "bmmf" until we grab it for you.

You also recently started to say "bah" for "ball." Every toy ball, super bouncy ball, marble, balloon, they're all "bah" to you!

Through the month you also learned to talk about "bir", aka "birds!" You see them on the beach, you see them in the tree, you see them on a t-shirt. It's all for the "birs" for you!

Of course, all this talking is accompanied now by lot more of pointing. You use your index finger as an extension of your voice, telling us what you want, and where you want to go and what you see. 

Just before your 10 month-I-versary, you also started developing an even more acute sense of humor, complete with a really awesome, hearty laugh: "Ha ha ha!"

 

This is sort of your "I'm mischievous" laugh, perfect for such occasions as messing with your mama.

But, you also have such an infections "I'm really cracking up, here!" laugh! Whenever you're laughing, we are all enthralled.



Much to our amazement, you also started communicating non-verbally using sign language too! We always use the four or five signs we know to talk to you (and to your brother at this age), and the other day, we were feeding you and you bounced your fingers together to say 'more!' Wow!



Now, you may have noticed in the first video that you're walking pretty well. Well, you aint seen nothing yet. You've been pulling to standing for quite some time, with tremendous levels of success.

Sometimes you have help.

You've been walking while holding onto a finger or two for a while now too. Back when we went to the beach the first time this summer, your Mom predicted that you'd be walking for real by the time we went back in early August.

And, low and behold, we get to the beach, and guess what you figured out, much to everyone's surprise!



Everyone was so thrilled, including yours truly. My biggest fear was that I would miss your first steps; but here we were, on family vacation, and you decide to take your first strolls!



You may have been the most excited of all!

You're walking on your two legs now! And you're also able to chew on your two front teeth! In Month 10 your two front chompers came in (and a third one up top too!) But they're very elusive and refused to have photographs take of them for the longest time. That is, until, your 10 month photo shoot!

So, we caught your teeth, and caught many sides of your personality too!

 

As we returned to normal life from the beach, you continued to  practice your new tricks, work on your old ones too and just enjoy life!

You continued reaching new heights...

And taking bigger steps...

With all these big new steps, and words, it's been very hard to keep up with you. But luckily, you still want to hold our hands (or our fingers) and make sure we keep up with you.

But every day, among all this excitement, you still love to cuddle and give kisses and climb all over us (and your brother (and your dogs)). Just yesterday afternoon, you woke up in the middle of your nap and couldn't go back to sleep. I rocked you back asleep and laid you down, and you woke back up. I tried again, and you woke up again. So, since your mother and brother were out together, and I had no where else I'd rather be, I laid down on your bedroom floor on a pile of pillows with you on my chest, and together we slept just like on the day you were born.


The faster you are growing up and taking these giant leaps, the more excited I get...but also the nicer it is when we can have some quiet father/daughter time together. No matter how big and awesome you get, you will always be my little girl. I'm so proud of you, and I can't wait to be here for your next amazing step!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

You laughed, you were scared, you held your breath, you screamed in awe, you took off your shoes, you ordered junk food! That's right...the circus was in town, and your Mommy and I went on a very special with you to your first adventure ever with the greatest show on Earth!

We told you that morning, and you were so excited that you told everyone! You told Yaya when she came over to watch your sister. You told us in the car. You told the parking lot guard:

"I'm going circus!"

And what a circus it was! At first, you were just so floored by the concession stands that we thought we would never get you in the arena for the pre-circus fun.

 

And then once we got you in the pre-circus fun show (replete with amazing blue bounce house), we thought we were never going to be able to get you into our seats for the actual show!

 

In fact, nothing seemed to sway you from bouncing.

Not the clowns...

Or the lights...

Or elephant or cyclists...

You were just so happy bouncing in the bounciest, circusiest bounce house that ever existed.

But once they started deflating the bounce house around the last kid in there (aka, you), we were able to make our way to our seats.

 

...with some bribery. 

 

So with your first cotton candy in hand...and popcorn...we settled into our seats, the lights dimmed and we were treated to a show of clowns and elephants, lions and tigers, acrobats, trick riders, motorcycle tight ropes, trick dogs, ladies hanging by their hair, an energetic ring master and (the promise of ) DRAGONS!

You yelled "BE CAREFUL!" to the trick riders.

You laughed and meowed to the big cats.

You sat in my lap, in your mom's lap, in your own chair. You whispered to me and Mom. You shouted to our neighbor "Look! Elephants! SEE???"

 

At one point, in the dark of the show, your reached out with both arms and pulled your Mom's and my heads in really close to yours and just held us tightly. For a long time. I don't know what you were thinking, but I know what I was thinking. I just let that moment sink in, and I want to remember it forever. I didn't reach for my camera or even watch the show. At that moment, I felt like I was on top of the world. That one act of snuggly, mushy, close-holding love, that huge show of compassion from your little arms- to be pulled in close and held tight to your noggin with your mother- was the greatest show on earth for me. Long after your souvenir shirt stops fitting your and your blue icey elephant cup stops being dishwasher safe, that is the gift I will take home from the circus. The day you hugged my head, and your mothers, and made a head-hug sandwich. The greatest show on earth. True.

 

What a happy day that was. Our tummies all hurt from all the crud we ate, but our hearts were even fuller...no, not with clogged arteries from all the crud we ate, but with love...and cotton candy, popcorn and blue icey.  Big love under the big top. 

 I love the circus.

And you loved it too. Every day for the next couple of weeks you would talk about the circus and say "Where are we going? We're going Circus!"

 

 Let's load up the clown car and go again!