10 Months!

Baby Annabelle you are getting so big.

This month you have continued to grow into the silly baby ham that you are. Your laughs and silly faces are getting more intense and basically just more silly. You keep yourself entertained for longer periods of time but still need and crave a high level of entertainment that my days are still based around keeping your surroundings interesting. You never stop going, never stop playing, never stop making faces. You are just starting to sit and watch one your videos, but you still prefer to be standing and cruising while you watch us or a video.

Our holiday photos came this month and I am so thankful how much your smiles were captured. My day is always instantly better with your smiles and you are starting to use this towards your advantage. Almost as if you feel the appropriate response to discipline is a big smile and a hug for mama. You know that word "no" and that tone that goes along with it means business but are starting to gauge how to avoid the situation completely.

Your new thing is crawling away laughing or shutting the door if you hear anyone coming to find you. Since you have begun to prefer your room for playtime we've had to set up some new door and bookshelf guidelines. Of course Ben still plays with you. He continues to follow you around during the times when you are not following him around. Right now he is sitting in his corner chair just watching you play. You will pull yourself up to say hi and give him a good pat (swat) on the head and then back to play.

In this past month you have:

---pushed another tooth out for a grand total of 6. Currently another one is coming through but we have been unable to find it, we just are guessing from your biting hands drooling behavior.

---continued to improve your cruising abilities while, in the living room, this is your favorite source of transportation.

---tried more foods. You were not too keen on your bite of turkey last month so we have still strayed from meats. Tofu, brown rice, veggies, fruits, potatoes and egg yolk are still your preferences. You loved the small bites of white fish you have tried. Loved!

---continued to sleep from 7:30 ish to 7:00 ish. Thankfully!

---continued to eat 4 times a day. Breakfast around 7, lunch around noon, dinner around 5 and milk before bed. Sometimes you add some more milk.

---finally taken to two naps a day. It took you almost two months to get comfortable without that last little cat nap in the evening, but once this finally hit you are so much happier. You get tired around 10 am and around 2:30 - 3:00 pm. On good nap days you sleep 1.5 hours each nap. Again you are not a big napper. The occasional 2 hour nap is always welcome.

---learned how to dance, especially to the Hot diggity dog song and if dada sings to you. You wave your arms and bounce on your knees.

---You still acknowledge the signs for milk, eat, play and cat. You sign for more, wave hello and your arms go up and down for yes.

---still enjoyed spending time with other babies and the company of yourself in the closet mirror.

---just started to point. You point down the hallway or at the front door if I ask where dada is. And you point at the cat's chair when I ask where benny is.

Annabelle, we just continue to enjoy your company each and every day. We love being your parents and we love how much you enjoy learning about the world. Your constant need for movement has allowed us to enjoy the quiet more peaceful moments of life. Every day it becomes more clean how much we were meant to have you. Thank you for being such a good, sweet and cheering baby girl.

At 10 months you wear:

Onesies: 6 months

Jeans, pants: 6-9 months

Tops: 0-6 months

Dresses: 3-6 months

Jammies: 6 months

At 9 1/2 months you weighed 16 lbs 4 oz

9 Months!

Baby Annabelle is 9 months old!

The biggest part of your 8th month was your baptism.

Jenna and JJ both lovingly accepted the roles as your Godparents and were more than willing to share this special day with us. You looked beautiful in the same gown that both myself and Cousin Dawn wore for our baptism days. You were patient in Church and didn't even cry when you were with Pastor Phil. You did speak to him a couple times and right into the microphone. The congregation already loves you.

You had both Great Grandma Sampson and Great Grandma Nance with you that day.

We are so blessed to have this day to share with you baby girl. So proud.

In your 8th month you continued to grow into the silly girl that you are. Belly laughs, squawks and smiles make up the majority of your day. I have to make sure I add at least 10 minutes to each errand stop since people just can stop and talk to you all day. You are gracious with your time and still so patient with strangers.

In the past month you have:

---pushed out another 3 teeth. 5 total now, 2 on the bottom and 3 top middle. You had one sad night when you woke up in some pain, mostly you just stay fussy during the day. Your diaper area gets a bit red but so far you are pretty lucky.

---continued your speed record in crawling. You can spend all day traveling around the house and you no longer like playing in just one room. Again the poor cat gets chased around all day.

---learned how to creep around furniture and you made it to standing on top your toy box.

---stayed your dad's little buddy and you prefer him putting you to sleep.

---still loved eating. You stick with chunks of steamed carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, tofu patties, grapes and sometimes some melon. You still prefer apples and pears as a sauce. You will still eat anything.

---made it back to 6:30 or 7 wake up time. This is just easier on everyone.

---You go to bed around 7:30-8 pm and you still tend to wake up talking around 5 am but go back to sleep.

---You are eating 4 times a day. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner is split with milk and then food whenever I eat, then milk for bedtime.

---made it back to 2 larger naps during the day. You will snooze in the car if we are traveling and its dark out before bed. You still nap longer if Dad is around and we have yet to figure out why.

---you are signing for milk, more and waving. You give high fives too.

---You absolutely love you Gigi. Great Grandma and you had this connection right away. She makes you laugh like no one else can you think she is the funniest person ever.

Baby girl your smiles and laughs are still the biggest part of my day. Even with such a busy and festive month you continued to be such a trooper. Your bad days are filled with so much joy it is a testiment to how happy we all need to be with our lives. Your tummy is upset and you are breaking teeth and yet you continue to crawl around and find things to bring your attention back to happy. Everyone continues to love you. Your family and all of our friends just want to hold you and cuddle. You recognize faces so easily and I think you are starting to enjoy how happy you make everyone. You quickly tell us when you don't like something and are not a fan of being told NO. You still never sit still if you are held you still need to be walked around. Your energy level amazes me. We love you so much baby girl and just continue to be so grateful for you.

At 9 months you wear:

Onesies: 6 months

Jeans, pants: 6 months

Tops: 0-6 months

Dresses: 3 months

Jammies: 6 months