And what a busy month of growth it has been! Let's get started on the happenings in Reese-land.
This can't be right.
Oh yes, there she is.
Getting ready to practice driving so she can get her permit.
Eating: Thumbs down baby food, thumbs up big people food! Reese went from eating baby food really well, to refusing to open her mouth when anything on a spoon came at her. Instead, she would bat it away and put it on her head. We know she is right handed because the R side, top of her head is constantly crusted with food... her preferred hand to bat away and dispose of the offending offer. On a whim last week, Tom bought some squeezable baby food pouches so I offered it to her and 15 seconds later, 3.5 oz of baby food was gone! So that is the way we get baby food down her now. Suckable baby food. Genius. She loves it and so do we. As far as table food, she loves whatever we are eating. Mac and cheese, meat, wheat tortillas, banana bread, graham crackers, french fries and saltines, those are her favorite things.
As far as milk, we are pretty much done breastfeeding. Sad face. It was definitely time but I miss it already. I fed her tonight but had not since Sunday night before that. My supply was getting so small so I was having to give her formula afterwards anyway so I figured we could call it a day. Made it to 10 months though, which is 2 more than with Donovan so I am proud! She is eating 4 bottles a day, sometimes downing 8 oz, sometimes barely taking 2. She likes to keep us on our toes.
Sleeping: God bless this little angel, she sleeps so well. Doesn't fight or fuss long at all at night and we can pretty much count her asleep every night by 8:15 at the latest, even if she slept til 5pm and isn't acting sleepy at all. The past couple nights I have not wrapped her tight, but just loosely around so she could still have it for comfort and could grab on to the wrap and it is going really well. Still sleeping as much. My favorite thing about putting her to sleep is when I go to leave the room, she flips herself over to her side, to watch me as I leave. I loved when she did this all wrapped up because she looked like a caterpillar to me. Then I wave, and leave the room and she doesn't fuss at all. I was worried this would stop but now, she sits up and watches me go, then I hear her talking to herself a little and a few minutes later she is out. God bless her. Still taking 2 naps of varying length during the day.
My sleeping beauty in her wrap. Incase you wondered what a 10 month old looks like wrapped up.
Walking: She is now walking 98% of the time. Still crawls to get to something to pull up on if she falls and still crawls if she is sleepy or in a new environment and trying to figure out her surroundings. She is so steady. Twice on Saturday we watched her stop, crouch to pick something up, and then stand right back up without holding onto anything. She hasn't done it since then that I have seen but standing from a sitting position must be following soon.
New business:
-A TOOTH!!! Reese got her first tooth on March 9, 2012, and what a difference a tooth makes! (It's bottom R for all you keeping track at home). She was so fussy for about 2 weeks before and we were just crossing our fingers it was a tooth and not her personality causing the fussy. Sure enough, as soon as that dang dagger popped though, happy baby and thus, happy family! She has been such a happy joy now!
-No more men hating! She has reversed her strict, "no men allowed to hold or interact with me" stance and it makes things so much nicer. Since she held that standard true with Tom, it was all mommy, all the time with Reese so it was a little taxing. (Ok, secretly I loved it, but this way is better for all of us. I guess.)
-She claps! And is so proud of herself for doing so. If you have never heard a 9 month old clap, it is the tiniest cutest sound ever.
-She does "soooooo biiiiiig". Holds up her hands in the air when you say, "How big is Reese?". She is still playing peek-a-boo too and that is also adorable.
-She holds her own bottle now. This is a brand new skill, she only started this over the past few days but it is cute and very handy.
-She can go up the stairs all by herself in a quick-like fashion. Unfortunately, once she sees stairs, that is all she wants to do so Lord help you if there are stairs around and you don't want to spend the next 15 minutes going up and down them.
-She is starting to say "Dada" and "Doggy" when you ask her to...sometimes. She has to be in the right mood but when she does it it sounds pretty dang clear. She is also taking a page from her brother's book and saying, "Hi!". The kids and I were in the car with my sister and Reese said it so clear that my sister asked Donovan if he had said it because she didn't believe (me) that Reese had said it.
It has been such a crazy month of growth and change for our little sweet pea. Tom and I were talking about her this weekend and we both were noting how all of the sudden she isn't a baby anymore. She has gone from this quiet, baby, observer to a big girl that interacts with you. Saturday, she and I were just playing in my bathroom and we were just talking, sitting on the bathroom floor. At one point she grabbed a fist full of my hair, and put it on top of her head and just looked at me with a huge smile as if she was thinking, "Hey mom look! I have long hair now too!". I just laughed. Then she started doing this kind of head banging thing, where she shakes her head forwards and backwards a couple times, kind of like she is dancing with her head. So then I would do it back to her, she would laugh, and then do it back to me. Then later we did it with daddy too. She is also imitating her big brother. Donovan was jumping on the bed in the basement last night and Reese was standing there, looking at him and bouncing as she watched him jump. She wants to be just like him. In fact, Saturday night we went to Dono's best friend Ian's house. Ian and Donovan are two peas in a pod, and Reese just wants to be a part of that pod so badly. She just followed them around, played with their toys, and annoyed them in general. There will come a day when Ian is mad at himself for ever being annoyed she was trying to hang around him, but unfortunately for Reese, that day is not soon. Once the boys went downstairs and shut the door behind them before Reese could get downstairs and she went to the door, turned around and just cried, cried, cried. How rude.
In case you couldn't tell we are so enjoying this phase with Reese. We could not have asked or been given a more perfect little lady.
