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!

Videos and Valentine's

Ever since your Mommy and I got our new phones, it's easier than ever to just take cute little videos of you doing cute little things and share them with the world instantly. But, since I don't know how much youtube you're allowed to see with those Draconian parent-locks all over the internet, I wanted to share these videos with you directly.

Most of them take place in the high chair because, well, you are so fast that it's hard to get a decent video of you when you're not immobilized in some way.

First of all: BLUEBERRIES!



You love this little fruit so much, and you've really gotten quite good at feeding yourself thanks to blueberries.

Just a few short weeks ago, you had to use your whole hand to mush finger food into your mouth hole. This lead to some hilarity when blueberry skins would get precariously perched on your cute face.



But now you've advanced into 'pincer' stage, which means you're grasping food between your thumb and pointer finger. A lot of food still winds up not in your mouth (and subsequently winds up in your hair, on the floor, stuck in the crevices of the high chair and between your eyes), but, you're getting so much better!

And, that pointer finger is getting such a work out. Not too long ago you switched from reaching with all fingers extended toward things you liked, things you were looking at, things you wanted to go-to-there. But you've evolved yet again. Now you're really on point!

Check out this video of you pointing to an old toy Aunt Sham gave you that we recently unearthed and...much to our amazement...you love it! Every time you see it you ask us to play it, or if you're close enough, you play it yourself!



The bright light city really lights up your life! (And is exceptionally helpful when you are pissed at us for changing your diapers!) I know how you feel though (not about the diaper thing, about the being lit up thing), because you really light up our lives!

You make us so happy...even the little things like how you kick your feet when your happily eating...



To your infectious laugh when something tickles you just right...



Or growing up before our very eyes and perferring Mommy's bread to your own (albeit still eating with whole-hand)...



This Valentine's Day I really understand why the mascot is a naked baby. It has nothign to do with Cupid at all. It's because your Mommy and I are so truly, madly, deeply in love with you! Of course, we are super-de-duper in love with eachother too...even when we get yelled at for leaving our socks out. So, on this holiday dedicated to the power of the heart and the crazy little thing called love, your Mom and I are doubly blessed, not only to have found eachother, but to have you in our lives as well.

We love you, and although you will not be eating chocolate or heart-shaped candies, this is a Valentine's day for three (plus two doglets): we love you, and can't get enough of your love (which explains the abundance of videos).

Oh, PS, remember that really embarrassing photo of you from your 6-month photo shoot? Yeah, even though you're almost twice as old and twice as cute, I couldn't resist turning it in to a Valentine. A modest list of your friends and family received this gem in their inboxes today.

All you need is Love (and the occasional white fuzzy blanket)!



We love you, son! Thank you for lighting up our lives everyday!