10 Months!

Where has the time gone?  I cannot believe that Graecyn is already 10 months old...I'm already planning her 1st birthday party, which is fun, but makes me a little sad...she's growing up way too fast!! 

She has learned so many new things in the past month.  She loves to clap...and claps at every opportunity; she likes to make sure you're watching her clap, too...she's so proud of herself when she does it.  She has learned to wave and dance.  She's "talking" more and more - now saying "mama", which is music to my ears.  She also loves to try to imitate sounds and words we say - she growls, says "duck" and meows like a cat. 

Based on our home measurements, she weighs about 18 lbs 3 oz (25th percentile) and is around 30" long (95th percentile) (she doesn't go back to the doctor until 12 months, so we don't have official numbers).

She hates to wear socks/shoes, which is a challenge considering we live in Michigan and we're entering winter.  She has mastered shaking her head "no", which is pretty cute and funny.  Her personality is beginning to show more and more.  She loves to laugh and smile, but she is also very strong willed.  She has started to "test" us - mostly Eric.  If we tell her "no" or take something away from her, she will try to tell us otherwise.  With Eric, she will look him dead in the eyes and scream at him...trying to take control.  It's pretty hard to keep a straight face when she does that.

She finally has her first tooth!  It's not one of the typical first teeth though (the central incisor)...instead, it's her top lateral incisor.  Based on her current mood the past few days, we think she's in the process of getting her second tooth.  The teething process has not been easy for her - for several days before her first tooth popped out, she gnawed on everything, didn't eat much, didn't sleep much, and was super clingy and irritable.  The night before the first tooth finally made its appearance, she was up until after 4 a.m. crying.  Tylenol did nothing to help her and unfortunately, we didn't discover motrin until after this experience.  Motrin has now become our best friend!

She is extremely mobile, crawling everywhere, and now walking with assistance. We have a walker toy that she pushes all over the house. She has even taken a few steps on her own! She pulls up on everything around her and loves to empty things. She has a box of alphabet books and her favorite thing is to pull each book out, one-by-one, and toss it on the floor until the box is empty...cute to watch, not so fun to pick up. She absolutely loves to play "peek-a-boo" or "Where's Graecyn/mama/daddy?"...this game never gets old for her. She knows how to "switch hands"...if she has a toy in one hand and we need that hand for whatever reason, we tell her to switch hands and she puts the toy in her opposite hand...we have a genius! :-) 

It's so fun to watch her learn new things.  I can't wait to see what's up next for her...I'm predicting she'll be walking independently within the next month...look out world!

Pulling up and chewing on everything

First tooth

Clapping