10 months old
Katherine,
Today you are 10 months old. You are really growing up. I continue to be entertained by you as you are developing your personality. This month you really have started to show some of your personality. You love to snuggle with me and your daddy. One of our favorite times of day is in the morning when you play on our bed while we are trying to get just a little more sleep. Sometimes I wake up to your little finger curiously poking my eye or trying to fit into my nose.
You are learning to give kisses. They are rather wet and slobery, but so precious. You have also learned to point to other people’s noses. It is a game that both Nana and Daddy play a lot - “where’s my nose?” It is really funny when you combine these two skills and kiss my nose - actually, it ends up being more like you are trying to eat my nose, but cute none the less.
You love to laugh and to dance. When you are really happy you bounce up and down. You enjoy being tickled. You love to play with your dog. When I am holding you and I go to let Hooligan in from outside, your face lights up and you squeal with delight.
You do not like to have your diaper changed. You flip right over and squirm all over the changing table, reaching for anything you can get your hands on. I have become an expert at changing your diaper and getting you dressed while you are standing up or sitting down or even while you are on your tummy.
You enjoy bathtime. As soon as you hit the water you start to splash. Mom is still lazy and has you in the baby tub on the counter so you get water all over the mirror, counter and floor. That’s ok, we are going to tile the floor soon anyway! We also have bubbles that we play with at bathtime and you think it is fun to try to catch them.
You are starting to communicate a little. We took a sign language class which was a lot of fun since daddy was able to join us. You sign “all done” and “milk” though not always at the appropriate times. You also have a few words. You say “da” for dog and “mum” for me. I can’t wait until you can communicate more so that I know what is going on in that head of your.
A not very fun new thing is that we are starting to have to discipline you. It is really hard because I am not sure what you understand. Do you even know what “NO” means? Right now we tell you “no” and redirect you but you are not really catching on. The main thing we are having to correct is when you are trying to touch something you should not be touching (christmas tree, knife in the dishwasher, Hooligan’s food, mom’s hair . . . )You are just so curious.
Speaking of the Christmas tree…you are really enjoying the Christmas season, especially all of the lights and sparkly things. When we put up our tree, we put baby safe ornaments near the bottom knowing that you would be curious. You especially like to take off Hooligan, Jack and Trent, the three stuffed dogs. What I did not count on was that you would try to reach for the ornaments from the couch. That has been more of a challenge. You are so determined.
You have spent a lot of time playing with friends. In fact, I have started trading off with a few other moms so that we leave the kids with one mom and the other has the morning or afternoon free to get things done. You are doing much better with being away from me and staying happy when someone else is taking care of you. It is interesting to see the dynamics as you have friends at our house and you go to theirs. Hannah’s mom, Meg, and I noticed that when visiting one another’s house, the visitor whines and is clingly while the one who lives there is a bully. We also notice that you are a little bit of a bully in the church nursery. They moved you up to the 11-14 month room at 9 months because of this and the fact that you are so mobile. You were just climbing all over the place while the poor other kids were just sitting there. Yesterday Cale was over playing. It was funny because he is almost twice your size, but you climbed right over him to get where you wanted to go. Luckly Cale is pretty laid back and did not seem to care at all.
We are still working on eating. Dr. H said you may just be a baby that wants to feed herself but until you are able to gum/chew your food and swallow it, you be frustrated with baby food. We continue to try 2-3 meals a day. Some days you only eat 3-4 bites a meal and others you devour the whole serving. Your new favorite is bananas because you can feed them to yourself and successfully gum and swallow them. I usually try to feed them to you though or else you end up with them all over the place. Hooligan has learned that Katherine’s mealtime might be a good place for a snack. Today you were snacking on a teething biscuit while I was doing the dishes and all of a sudden I heard a loud crunch. I looked over and you were happily sharing your snack with Hooligan. Sadly, mommy had to take it and throw it in the trash.
I continue to be amazed at how much I enjoy being your mom, even when things are difficult. You are a precious gift from God.
