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