Hittin' Double Digits

I can't believe that Laney's age will no longer be counted using single digits (well, until she reaches 2 years old). And as time continues to fly by, we are enjoying watching her learn more about her world and gain new skills.

Laney has been quite the mover and shaker this month, literally. The week after her 9 month birthday she learned to crawl, the "right" way, unlike her brother who started moving by pulling himself along the floor with his arms...much like a military crawl. So for the last 3 weeks, we have found Laney all over the house. But her most favorite place to crawl to is under the table where she will sit and move the chairs back and forth for at least 30 minutes. Laney has also discovered that she can see (and get into) a bit more by pulling up on the furniture and cruising around it. Her transfer from sofa to sofa to activity table to coffee table to chair is still pretty deliberate, but she's getting faster every day. She is also learning how to bend down and pick up items from the floor...ahh, the art of balance. And becuase she is now able to pull herself up using just about anything, it was time to lower her crib mattress. It's so cute to go into her room after she's awoken from her nap...and she's just standing there in her crib, waiting for me to come and rescue her, wearing a big smile and peering through the bars of "prison". The only problem we're faced with now that she can pull herself up is that she doesn't really know how to sit herself down in the crib to then, in turn, lay down and go to sleep. I have just let her cry a little bit, but she just gets more and more frustrated with feeling like she's "stuck". Josiah never did this, so this is a new dilemma....any suggestions?

Not only has she been perfecting her gross motor skills, she's practicing how to contribute to a conversation. Laney's new sounds this past month included, but not limited to, "ba ba", "ge ge", "ma ma" (although not connecting the words with mommy, the person), "sha sha", and "ra ra". She will also mimic Josiah if he's singing. It's so cute. And she squeals every time she pushes the button to close/open the garage door.

Laney continues to be a good eater and, depending on what we put in front of her, she will sometimes out-eat her older brother. She enjoys oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast, yogurt for snack after nap, eats what we eat for lunch and dinner. We've been slowly but surely reducing the amount of food coming from the bottle, which she can now hold herself. Not sure what she gained in the last month, but I dressed her in 18-24 month stuff yesterday and it fit perfectly. YIKES!

I definitely am loving this stage more now that she doesn't have rely on me to get her to where the "action" is (she would get mad if I walked out of the room briefly to just do laundry, now she just follows me and she loves it). It's also a lot of fun to watch her interact with Josiah. Just other day at the store, she turned around just enough in the seat part of the grocery cart so that she could reach Josiah who was standing in the basket part of the cart. She was doing everything she could to get on his nerves. It was quite funny to watch. Sadly, because "she's just a baby", she is getting away with a lot more than what we would let slide with Josiah...poor guy, he just doesn't understand the entire dynamic yet.

Happy 10 Month Birthday, Laney!