Mady's Milestones, 10 Months

Well, its no secret. Mady is 10 months. I have waited to blog about her milestones until the middle of this monumental month for good reason. Everyday there is something new. Everyday my baby turns more and more into a toddler. Her personality is really starting to come out. She is beginning to be more social and interactive than past months. For a long time she was very serious. Watched everything and everyone. Studied the scene and waited to crack her adorable smile. She wasn't going to let you have all of her laughs, just a few. She was saving them for something really funny, in which you really had to work to get! She played hard to get!!

But now. She's easy. Hah. No, not really. She is easier to interpret and get a reaction from. She is full of personality and thrives on large groups of people. She waves at everyone, like she knows them. She even waves with two hands in really large groups. I think she does this to not leave anyone out. She's so thoughtful.

Speaking of thoughtful. When she eats her food, she likes to share. When its really good she'll say "ummm" or "mummm", repeatedly and then offer you some of what is in her hand. Yes, we have even witnessed her sharing veggie straws with Calvin....and yep, you guessed it...putting it right back in her mouth! Yuck. She's ok though.

She is catching on to things and really likes to do them over and over once she's mastered a new skill. Like reading her books. She will sit and flip the pages and talk baby gibberish (sounds like "deedle - deedle") to the touch and feel objects. She likes to scale the walls, book shelves and furniture of our house. Pull things down like books, pillows, cords and remote controls. She likes to sit by our front door and open and close it a million times, as well as play with the door stop. She loves to sit at her book shelve and pull every book off and then watch me put them back and of course pull them down again. She hides behind furniture just to peek out at you. She expects you to make some big noise, as if you were completely taken by surprise. Its amazing to me that she can sit and destroy a puzzle in 10 seconds or watch the same Praise Baby DVD 8 thousand times just to repeat it again like its a totally new experience. Everything is new when you look into her eyes.

She's verbal and with meaning....watch out!

Here are the words Mady can say (everything but the first three she started saying at 10 months)

• Momma, Mommy
• Dadda, Daddy
• Ball
• Hi
• Book
• Balloon (even though she sometimes forgets and calls Balloon a ball)
• Duck
• Dog
• No (which sounds more like" Nooeey", in a loud and very expressive whine)

Here are some of the fun things she can do (in addition to the things mentioned above):

• Repeats things you say in repetition. Like: "Boom, Boom, Boom", with your hand over your mouth. She can imitate this in word and action.
• She gives kisses...open mouth of course :). We are still working on blowing kisses.
• She will pat her naked belly when I say "Pat your belly"....or she'll just do it when she's naked. She will also give Calvin "Pats" when asked.
• She can do "Patty Cake" on command.
• She can also do "So big" on command and has learned from past months how much we like her to do this...so when we ask her to wave hi to people when out and about she will immediately wave, then do patty cake and then "So Big", just to watch you smile and react to her!
• She can give a high five. (My grandmother taught her this)
• She can also imitate you coughing. (My grandmother taught her this too)

My favorite thing is when she lays her head on our shoulder when she's tired. Melts my heart to pat her back and rock her to sleep. I also love that when we pass a mirror she likes to look at herself and smile a huge smile and say "Hiii!" As cute as those things are, my absolute favorite might just be opening the door to her room when she has just woke up. She is standing, smiling and waiting for me to come in and say "Good Morning!". Big smiles with one arm up in the air! So sweet.

As far as physical growth. Bryan and I both think she's gotten longer, but of course everyone comments how small she is. So who knows. She is in size 3 diapers and wearing anything from 9 month to 18 month clothing. Just depends on the brand. She's mainly in 6 to 12's. Shoe size is a 3.

We're still breastfeeding 5 times a day. I introduced meats today, at 10 1/2 months. I boiled a chicken breast and made very small pieces for her to gum. She loved it! She also loves cheese! Still no teeth! However, she has two HUGE bumps in her upper gums where her front teeth should be and their white. They are her teeth and they are coming. Nothing happening on the bottom though. One day she will wake with a mouth full of teeth and braces! Haha. The longer she doesn't have them, the healthier they will be, says my doc. Still napping twice a day and sleeping through the night, 12 hrs. Waking once for a snack at about 4 am.

It is hard to capture Mady in a blog post these days. She is my joy. I love her so. I am so happy to be her mom and take in each of these milestones. I am blessed to be able to stay at home with her. I am thankful to see her growth and excited to see what next months milestones will bring.