10 Months

And another month passed...

Leah weighs in at a little over 20lbs. She is cruising along furniture pretty well. She eats all sorts of vegetables, fruits, and meats. She still sleeps great through the night (aside from teething nights) and naps are still pretty short.

I am still in total shock that in two months I will have a one year old! We are having an absolute blast enjoying each other and learning together every day! This picture was the first month where Leah refused to actually look at the camera...welcome to 10 months I suppose. I felt like a pageant mother. "Leah look at mommy. No, no, don't do that. Don't touch the paper. Over here Leah. Ugh, come on Leah just one good picture". After two minutes, that felt like thirty minutes, this was the ONLY shot worth using. HA!

Multi-Tasking

For the past few weeks, we have randomly found Leah with toys in her mouth. I first attributed this to teething. However, now that we have had a few weeks to observe, we found the true reason. She is a multi-tasker. If she wants to get from one place to the next without losing a certain toy, she puts it in her mouth and carries it. If she has a toy in both hands and wants a third, she'll move one to her mouth to pick up the third. I suppose it is never too early to learn the important skill of multi-tasking!

So Many Play Options

Piano Time

Trevor has been playing the paino since he was a child. Both his mother and grandmother play. My hope is that we can add a fourth generation to that list. This piano was in grandma and grandpa Chapman basement for years, and they recently gave it to us. It is tuned, polished, and ready to play. Hopefully, Leah has inherited her daddy's talent. If not, then I suppose Trevor can just serenade his girls for years to come.

Mom is my BFF

I have thought about being a mother for as long as I can remember. Playing house and mommy with dolls was my favorite childhood activity. I am super close with my mom which is where I learned so many skills of motherhood. So naturally, when I was pregnant and found out I was having a girl I was ecstatic! Bonding with her the last 9 months has been such a full circle moment for me. After all those years of caring for dolls, I finally have one that loves back in so many ways. I can say that my mom is by BFF, and my hope is that Leah will feel the same way about me as she grows up...til then she'll just wear this! =)

The Many Moods of Leah

Party at Daycare

Yesterday was Caleb's birthday, and they had a party for him at daycare. This was Leah's first time seeing streamers...highlight of her day obviously! Cole was also very good and telling Leah how things work around there...hysterical! I love baby talk!

Learning From "Big" Kids

I've said many times how great daycare has been for Leah's social development. Today was a perfect example. She crawled over to a pair of binoculars, inspected them, and then held them up to her eyes. There is no way she would know this unless she saw one of her "big" kid friends do it. I love that she is so observant that she is able to quickly catch skills that older kids have. Just another confirmation that daycare can be a great thing.

Furniture Walking

Not only is Leah pulling up, but she is also starting to "cruise" along furniture. She loves to stand along the couch and look at books. If we are sitting on the floor, she also crawls over to us and likes to pull up into a standing position so she is face to face with us. There is no one else that I would rather be face to face with.

I See You

This is how we find Leah almost daily. As exhausted as we are most mornings, there is no better way to wake up!

Time For a New Bathtub

I think it is finally time to transition to a new bathtub. I LOVE this one because it sits on the counter, with the sink right next to it. However, after I took this picture I noticed Leah's legs completely bent and unable to stretch. I'm a bit nervous for her to get into a real bathtub with so much room for water, and slipping, etc. I know, I know...I need to let go of the control and fear and just do it.

Look What I Can Do

Imitation is in full swing in our house! Leah follows directions VERY well...when she wants to, of course. Her favorite for some time has been I'm a Little Teapot. Currently, she loves being chased around the house, and playing hide and seek. I hide, and she uses her walker to follow my voice as I call her...and she really does find me all on her own. It's so fun to see how excited she gets when she finally "gets" me. Of course it helps that I jump around like a crazy person screaming and laughing, "you found me, of my goodness, great job..." These two pictures are her "tipping" over and crawling toward me as I say "come get mommy". Such fun times...

On the Road Again...

This is a long weekend because Monday is MLK's birthday. We decided to drive up to Nonni's and spend some time since we hadn't seen them in a couple weeks. We also have changed Leah's carseat to forward facing. She is so happy with her ability to now see what we see! We opened up some new toys, and the shopping cart is her new favorite! It came with some pretend food items, which she puts in and out of the cart and her mouth. And, of course, we thought it would be adorable to put Leah in the cart...and we were right...adorable she is!

Socializing

Now that Leah has been mobile for quite some time, she really enjoys the company of other kids because she can follow them around. She get so excited when we go to LaDona's because she knows there will be all day stimulation! She shares pretty well right now, mainly because her attention span is so short that she can move on to another activity quickly without thinking of the one before. I am SO glad that she has these daily interactions to help prepare her to be a good team member in the future! Sometimes though a girl just needs some alone time (reference crying picture, ha)!

How We All Feel After Mondays

We had a weekend at home, yet it was busy and went very quickly. Although we spent most of it in our PJs, we were also very productive. We continued baby proofing,visited friends for lunch, chased Leah all over the house, did many loads of laundry, went grocery shopping, etc. Monday morning was miserable for all of us. By the end of the night, this picture said it all. Complete exhaustion. After she ate her cereal and drank her bottle, Leah took this position on daddy for a good ten minutes. We laughed because we absolutely understood her feelings.

Finally a Weekend Off

This weekend was the first weekend in months that we were at home, just us three. With the holidays, we were traveling constantly. Therefore, we had a blast hanging out in PJs most of the weekend. The main challenge of the weekend...garbage collection. Leah's current enjoyment is grabbing trash out of the garbage can and taking it with her around the house. Yesterday, we found she completely pulled out the whole bag and was walking around the house with it between her teeth. This is just about my worst germ nightmare...so I must find a new location for the trash can! She is lucky her smile makes me forget about the nasty garbage strung out around my house!

Simple Toys

Leah's current favorite things to play with are clothespins. She loves the sound that make when they hit the floor, and spreads them all around the house. She's been playing with them for a while, but just recently pinched herself for the first time. After a quick whimper she was back playing with them. Little does she know their true purpose...maybe laundry will be her first responsibility! =)

Loving Veggies

Leah is definitely a fan of vegetables! She has eaten every kind that I have introduced. Her current favorites are carrots and squash. While at daycare, LaDona caught these pictures. Leah took the can of veggies from the grocery play section and was eating them! But, not before examining them of course. That's my girl!

9 Months Old/Happy New Year

Leah turned 9 months old on New Years Eve. That being said, this is also the first New Years Eve that I didn't make it to midnight. I did make it to watch the ball drop on the East coast, but barely. The next morning we woke up at 8:15 and Leah was still asleep! Happy New Year to us! 9 months also meant shots. So today she got another round of hepatitis vaccine, as well as a finger poke to test blood for anemia and other things. She weighed in at a little under 20lbs, and is 26 in. long (or short) ha! She is in the 8% for height, 26% for weight, and 76% for head circumference. She also has three teeth on top and a fourth coming in. What a great 2011 we had, looking so forward to what 2012 has in store for us! =)