10 Months!

Dear Nug,

You are getting so big!  In a few short months you won't be a "baby" anymore, and I really can't believe that.  This past month has been my favorite with you so far... but I say that every month don't I?

No doctors appointments this month, so I'm not sure what you weigh these days, but whatever it is, it's the perfect amount :)  Speaking of your lack of a doctors appointment, I'm so glad to say that you have never been to the doctor for a "sick child" visit.  So far, we've only gone for your scheduled "well child" appointments.  I know the day will come eventually, but we've made it ten months so far!

One of the biggest changes from last month is that you are much more mobile now because....you've started crawling!  And once you started, you caught on very quickly and you are quite the little cruiser.  I can't take my eyes off of you for a second, or you'll be two rooms down the hall!  I was reading your 9 month letter and saw that you were just starting to go from laying down to sitting up at that point.  Wow, amazing what can happen in one short month!  Now you are proficient at that move, you are a crawler, and you just started pulling yourself to a standing position.

I think one of the best words to describe you this month was given to you by Pap Hetrick: cautious.  I hadn't really thought of it that way before, but it's definitely true.  It's amazing to me how smart you are already, and when you are faced with a new situation, it honestly looks as though you contemplate the dangerousness before diving in.  And a lot of times you choose not to dive in.

For example, at Pap's office, you would crawl all around, but when you arrived at the slight ramp down to his exam room, you would stop every time and turn around and go the other way.  Not risking it, huh?  And when you pull yourself up, you only do so on low surfaces so that you can quickly sit back down if need be.  It's so funny!  And no cruising for you.  I'm sure you figure its too dangerous.  So when you are standing, you are gripping on tightly and plastered to one spot.

You have become quite the imitator this past month.  And this, my little girl, never ceases to be a form of amusement for anyone that's with you!  When we were in H-burg for Thanksgiving, you first imitated Uncle Lee when he made a face at you.  Everyone got such a kick out of it and you loved that!  So now, when I scrunch up my face at you , you do it back, and we both get a laugh! 

You are always so interactive with everyone, and to this day, one of the most common comments we get about you is how alert you are.  You do not miss a beat Addy.  Not one single beat.  Which leads me to my next point, your sleeping.  You are still a great sleeper, taking two naps a day and sleeping 12 hours at night, but you have become a very light sleeper.  I can seriously tiptoe into your room, in complete stealth mode while you are sleeping, and your little head pops up like you were never asleep at all.  It's wild!  You usually fall right back to sleep, but you don't want to miss a thing.  And you never did.

You wave hi/bye at anyone and everyone.  Sometimes it's still backwards, and looks more like "come here", but it's adorable anyway.

I would say that your newest fun move is the "shimmy shake".  That's right.  I have no idea how this came about but all of the sudden when we say those words you shake your little torso around and smile!  It's the cutest thing and never ceases to get a laugh from those around you :)  I'm gonna try to get a video of that one soon, so that I have it forever :)

You can also do the "touchdown Steelers/so big" move where you raise your arms above your head.  You learned that in Hollidaysburg too, and you seem to throw your arms up whenever we say either of those things.  Daddy's girl for sure :)

Here are some of your 10 month pictures:

All dressed up for church

It was so hard to even get you to look at me for these pics, much less smile.  Your toys are much more fascinating than I am, I know ;)

In one last ditch attempt to make you look at me, I took a toy away.... and I got this!

My favorite?  The last one, hands down!  I laugh every time I look at it.  What is it about a picture of a screaming baby that is so comical?

Speaking of screaming baby, we have discovered a new thing about you this past month, and that is that you are a drama queen already!  Yup, at the ripe old age of 10 months.  You scream like above if we take anything away from you, and you've taken to flinging yourself around in a tantrum too.  I have a feeling that Daddy and I are going to be in for some epic tantrums from you.  Especially if they are starting already!  And I know another thing we're gonna be in for: the incessant "why" question.  You are too smart for your own good, and I have a feeling you'll be whipping out that word in no time.  I can see it now ;)

We are have really started branching out with your food, and have been giving you a lot more table food this past month.  You are an expert and picking up little bits of toast, cheerio, whatever with your thumb and pointer finger.  And you like to have a piece in both hands at all times.  We are trying to instill healthy eating habits, so no sweets for you yet.  You are just a baby!

I don't know if it's from all of the new foods or what, but you have had some nasty diaper rash lately.  It's been going on for over a month now and it became so bad that we stopped using our precious cloth diapers for over a month.  We started putting you in disposables so that we could use the heavy duty rash creams that are a no-no for cloth diapers.  It eventually cleared up pretty well, but was never fully gone.  Despite religious use of the cream with every single diaper change.  This week we decided to go back to cloth because its supposed to be so much gentler on your skin, but your rash has gotten worse.  But we're not giving up yet, so last night I did hours of research on ways to treat diaper rash while using cloth diapers, so we're gonna try a few more things before we throw in the towel.

You got your second tooth this past month (right next to the other one on the bottom), and I'm wondering if there is some validity to the whole "teething causes diaper rash" philosophy.

Other than the Santa fiasco, I haven't noticed any stranger anxiety from you yet.  You are content to let anyone hold you and as long as they entertain you, you're fine.  But as always, you save your biggest smiles for Mommy and Daddy (and Uncle Jay, ha ha!  You love to smile at him.).

This was the best we could get from you that day.  If you look closely at your face, you can tell that you are over it.  Ha ha!

And here is a video that I took the day after your 10 month birthday:

You are so much fun these days Addy.  I love that when I look at you I can almost see how much you are learning every day.  It's a miracle to watch you grow up and learn all about the world around you.  You are such a happy, happy baby, and seeing your huge smile never ceases to make my heart burst with love.  I sometimes wonder how many times a day I kiss your little cheeks.  Surely over a hundred.  Mommy and Daddy love you so, so many millions!!

Love,

Mommy