Are we really less than two months away from this girl's first birthday?? Totally nuts!! We were in Seattle when she officially became ten months old, so this post is a little behind (sorry, monster!), but absolutely necessary to do because this little one has gone from baby to little girl in the blink of an eye... okay. So, technically, she is still a baby, but she seems less and less so every day. And, I should add, she was a perfect angel on her very first flight up to Seattle and quite good on her flight home. She slept for the entire first flight, so I can't say that she was just as good on the second as on the first, but no squawks, no freak-outs, and no crying on the second flight. Thank you, Livie.
I forgot how hard it is to wrangle a little one who is crawling in a non-baby-proofed home, but we still managed during the week we were there. The only major issue was that Liv pulled the stand which was holding the tray tables over on top of herself while I was making breakfast one morning. It could have been a lot worse, but luckily it fell like an old house in a cartoon, in which the character is standing exactly where a window is and thus escapes injury. She was lying where the legs of the tray tables were so the heavy table part landed behind her. Thank goodness. We headed over to our favorite baby consignment shop just after that to see if they had a play yard that wasn't a pack and play, but they did not have one. So we did what we could, but this little girl crawls so dang fast that all four of us (Erin, Rick, Marc, and I) had to keep a close eye on her. And while we were in Seattle she got her first taste of heaven: a freshly cooked doughnut hole from the farmers market. I wish that I had a picture of the pure elation that took over her face with that first bite. It was total happiness.
In addition to crawling freakishly fast (but still on her belly in a little army crawl), she is also in the stage of wanting to look into, and get into, everything. I really do love it, though. I think that when it comes to babies 10-14 months is my favorite stage. So many milestones in so little time. She is so curious about the world, and she is starting to figure things out on her own, and you can just see her little brain working. I love it. Tonight she was feeding herself with a fork (so long as I put food on the end of it), and she inspected the fork one time all around, and then put the food in her mouth and smiled. Boom. Milestone achieved. And she is one of the happiest babies ever. We were driving around the other day, and she just started laughing. I have no idea why, but she got started and couldn't stop. And of course Roman thought it was funny so he started laughing, and so Marc and I just listened to the two of them laughing at each other in the backseat. It was priceless. And she's not only laughing a ton, but she's also "talking" a ton. From the moment she wakes up she starts chattering away. Her new word is "gup"... your guess is as good as mine.
Our ten month old Livia: still sleeps with her Ruby every night, and when I went into her room last night she was totally hugging her; is in the help-I-am-stuck-standing-in-my-crib phase; loves these little rice crackers called mum-mums; always wants to be the one in charge of turning the pages of the book; loves splashing in the tub with Roman and thinks it is funny when he pours water on her; can just about stand up on her own without support, but hasn't pulled herself up on anything besides her crib rails; has eight teeth (four on top and four on the bottom); loves to crawl over and harass the dogs; will take steps if you are holding her hands; is really good at feeding herself; will give you a kiss if you ask for one; has started dancing/bouncing to music; is babbling all the time and keeps saying "gup," but I have no idea yet whether that means something to her, or if she's just making noises; drums/beats on everything, and I am seriously considering buying her a bongo or something similar; will absolutely scream at the top of her lungs if I leave the room. Ah yes, separation anxiety and stranger danger, how I have not missed you.
We love you, monster girl... but seriously if you could stop screeching like a pterodactyl that would be awesome.