Ten Months

Happy 10 months, Gretchen Fawn!

♥ She scoots on the hardwood floors. She does know how to crawl, but will only do this on carpet, which we have none of at home. I figured this out when we were at the bookstore about a week ago & she crawled across the floor to pull some books off the shelf. I assume scooting just happens to be the faster mode of transportation for smooth floors.

♥ She recently figured out how to sit up on her own. She can get from laying down to a seated position VERY quickly, which means that when she wakes up from her naps I find her sitting in the middle of our bed, all groggy eyed and completely adorable.
♥ Two days ago she pulled up for the very first time. I wonder how close to walking we are?? She's only pulled up two or three times & seems to be a little nervous about how to get back to the floor. She's not a big fan of plopping down on her little butt.
♥ She can say "mama", "dada" and makes a sort of "kuhhhh" sound when she sees the cats. She's completely in love with all of the animals and they are starting to get used to her pummeling petting them.
♥ She loves her book collection and will actually sit with a book on her lap, turning each page individually. (I'll try to get a video of this someday soon -- it's adorable.)
♥ She LOVES the Chariot (which I found on Kijiji) and though I still carry her in the Ergo a lot, it's been nice having a stroller that she's happy to sit in. It's also proven to be a wonderful aide in getting her to sleep.
♥ She's copying us like crazy. Sticks out her tongue, screams if we make little screamy sounds at her, she points at EVERYTHING and if I say "Yay!!" she'll clap her hands together.
♥ Her third tooth (top right) FINALLY came through this week and the one next to it isn't far behind. She's starting to look less like a baby & more like a little girl.

These past two weeks have been absolutely INSANE. She's learning SO much, SO fast & I can barely keep up. Everyday she learns something new and amazes me. I can barely wrap my head around the fact that she'll be a year old soon.

I will have to admit, however, that nap time/bedtime has been a little harder lately. I've read that when babes are learning and figuring out new skills, their sleep can suffer because they want to practice, practice, practice. I think that's what is happening over here. She's been sleeping in fairly late, which is throwing off our previous nap schedule, and sometimes it takes nearly an hour to convince her to nap at all. A few days this past week she refused to nap even a little and then wanted to stay up til 11pm. I have no idea where she found all that energy! I'll take comfort in the fact that this is probably just a phase.

Speaking of phases, I had mentioned before that we were having some separation anxiety issues, and while this is still a bit of a worry these days, we're making some progress. I have recently decided to "hire" a friend as a "mother's helper" and potential future babysitting. I'm still not comfortable leaving Gretchen, but once a week, Miranda comes and watches Gretchen at home for a couple hours while I get some work done around the house, do some writing, or shower. This has been FANTASTIC. The first time Miranda came, Gretchen screamed and cried, but since then she's been nothing but happy to see her. I'm so grateful for that time -- it's all about balance, ladies & gents.

Overall, I have to say that this age is a ton of fun, but that it's going by so quickly.

Slow down, little babe!

Happy 10 months!

...

As I was typing this I realized it was at this very time, 10 months ago, that my water broke and my incredible childbirth adventure began. If you've never read my birth story, you can find it here. Peace.