Ten Months

My oh my...we are really creeping up to that 1st year mark now aren't we? I can't believe it is already been ten whole months since Brenna Ann joined our family to complete it. I really really just can't believe it.

Not sure of height or weight, but I assume it probably hasn't changed too much since last month. She is still eating about the same - 3 nursings a day and 3 solid food meals a day, plus snacks. Her new favorite 'snack' is a simple Saltine cracker. My, they are easy to please at this age. She is still not too keen on chunkier foods...I'm sure it's a texture thing. We thought she was doing ok with a sippy cup as well, until I tried to leave her with Brad for bedtime, leaving a cup of breastmilk behind so he could give it to her before bed. She didn't do so hot. And I ended up having to come home and nurse her before bed. Not sure if it was the cup that was the problem or if it was because it wasn't me, but either way...we're going to start working more on using the cup. It's so wierd to me b/c at this age, Brooke was already using a straw cup so I have no experience in getting them to 'learn' how to use a cup. Brooke just did it. Anyway....

She is also getting two more teeth now. So far, she only has her two bottom teeth still, but just recently, I noticed she has two coming in on the top as well. But they are not the two FRONT teeth....they are the ones on either side of where her front teeth would be. That's different, huh?

We have had a busy month development-wise though. In the past month, she has learned to sit up on her own (get to a sitting position by herself) and has established her army crawl very well. I didn't post about it, because there wasn't a certain day that she did it. It was more a gradual thing. Here's some video taken several days ago....


As you can guess, this was late at night and right before bed (hence the fussiness) and since this was taken, she has gotten MUCH better at the army crawl and MUCH faster. It takes her no time to get from point A to point B. And even in the last few days, she has started to get up on all fours and do the whole rocking back and forth thing.

She hasn't started pulling up on anything yet. I am definitely in NO HURRY for that one. Because from there, you know what's right around the corner. I think she has really been too busy perfecting her crawling lately to worry about pulling up. Which is just fine by me! She really seems to have no interest in wanting 'up'. It's like she doesn't even know it's a possibility. LOL. We're trying to keep it that way.
She has also finally started saying "Mama" on a regular basis now - starting a few weeks ago. FINALLY! I got tired of all that "Dada" stuff. :-P I'm still waiting for the signing to really take off. She knows what everything means and will do MILK and MORE, but that's about it for now. She has recently really started looking at her hands and trying to watch what they do and how they work, so I'm sure it'll be happening any time now. Brooke really exploded with the signs right about 10 months.

She is such a sweet baby too. She rarely likes to be rocked to sleep, but anytime she is in a calm, subdued mood, she likes to "smooth" us. That would be a term Brooke made up. It simply means to rub someone softly (Brooke would always want her back "smoothed"). Well, Brenna does that all the time. It is sooo sweet! She'll rub your arm softly or pat you. She does it especially often while she nurses. It is the softest touch and so sweet!
On the same end of the spectrum, she gets so excited to see a familiar face and when you pick her up (like after a nap), she'll just wrap her arms around you and hug and pat your back. She really is the sweetest little angel we could've asked for.

She is so much fun these days, laughs all the time at the silliest things, but is still very slow to warm up to strangers. She is really attached to Mama these days. She's at the age where she better be near one of us at all times....I think the separation anxiety has set in. We started Kindermusik this past month as well. She has been going for a few weeks now and this past Tuesday was the first time she actually smiled at her teacher. She's finally getting to know her and feel comfortable around her. She does really enjoy Kindermusik and it's fun for me as well. It allows me the time with her and only with her to focus on her. It's so great to have those moments.
She also loves anything Brooke and loves to be outside. She is definitely an animal lover as well. She gets sooooo excited to see, or be in the presence of, any animal. Whether it's the pet mouse at Brooke's school she sees every day at dropoff or a goat or our dog or our cat in the garage. Each time she sees an animal, she gets soo excited, starts kicking her feet, squealing and laughs at any little thing they do. I'm so glad she is going to be an animal lover too. She definitely fits in with our family! And we cannot remember life without our sweet and funny Brenna. We are so proud to have her with us and only wish we could slow this time thing down a little.