Month Ten

Okay, I'm obsessed with this girl. I'm not sure if all moms feel this way about their kids or if I'm just super sentimental, but I don't know how else to be. I never thought I'd say this, but I want her to stay exactly the way she is. I don't want her to grow up! But grow up she must, and I guess that's cute too. After all, it brings with it all of the following fun things:

• The dancing. Oh my gosh, it's so adorable. She shakes her head and bounces to the beat, and she smiles so big when Mommy and Daddy dance with her. 
• She loves climbing the stairs, and she's really fast. My favorite part is that she talks very animatedly as she does it, going "Tut tut" and babbling with excitement. Even though she doesn't need any help, we insist on following behind her when she makes her ascent, just in case. If we're not inclined to exercise though, we block the stairs with her toy bucket and car seat. This makes her sad.
• If you ask for them, she'll sometimes give high-fives. She often needs a reminder of what that means, but then she does it enthusiastically.
• She's quite the acrobatic thrill-seeker. She still loves playing Baby Catch and hanging upside down. If you hang her by the feet, she puts her hands out in front of her and lowers herself to the ground (in order to not smash her face). It's smart! She also likes it if you pretend to drop her while you're holding her. Sometimes when you're holding her, she'll throw her head back to indicate that she wants to go upside down.
• To mimic the feeling of being upside down, she'll sometimes tip her head to the side and look at us. If we tilt our heads the opposite way, she smiles.
• Like most kids, she loves dropping things on the ground and waiting for you to pick them up. In her case she drops it, looks down at it for awhile, and then looks at you. She looks back and forth between the item and you until you get it for her. Then she smiles and kicks her feet.
• One of her favorite things to eat is Kleenex. I don't know why. We have to keep all Kleenex boxes well out of her reach; otherwise there's trouble. She also likes to lick the floor vents and put her whole mouth around the knob handles of our kitchen cabinets. Hey, babies are weird.
• She hates wearing shoes and pulls them off whenever she gets a chance. She refuses to even try walking in them.
• "Words" she says include "Mama," "Diddy," and "Yeah." She'll also repeat "Yay!" if you say it first.
• When you say "Yay!" and/or clap your hands, she claps too. Sometimes she just does it randomly, which is funny. I worked hard to teach her to clap, and the rewards are well worth the effort. It's so stinkin' cute.
• She's a troublemaker already. When you say "No" to something she's doing, she smiles mischievously and keeps doing it. If you come to stop her, she hurries to do/touch the forbidden thing before you get there. For instance, she loves pulling up on and banging on the kitchen trash can. It's gross, so we always stop her. But when she sees us coming, she hurries and rubs her hands all over it before we get there. Same thing goes with the books on our kitchen shelf. She'll hurry to touch/pull off all the books before you can come and stop her.
• Then there's the tantrums. I didn't expect those yet, but they happen. If you try to block her from getting to the trash or if you won't let her play with your phone or computer, she flails her arms, arches her back if you're holding her, and cries. When I wipe her hands/mouth or try to get a foreign object (like Kleenex) out of her mouth, she violently pushes my hands away and voices her displeasure.
• One of her favorite tasks is pulling all the books out of her book basket. If you keep putting them back, she'll keep taking them out.
• She has become a more difficult eater. She refuses to keep her bib on, and she spits her food out when she doesn't want any more. She also throws her food on the ground, which is fun. But she always smiles when you pull out a canister of puffs. And to be fair, she's eating the food we eat now and does a pretty good job most of the time. She particularly likes soups.
• I think she's part bloodhound. If there's anything on the ground that she could pick up and eat, she'll find it. Even after I've swept, she finds it. She's a little scavenger and has no problem eating old food off the ground. This is a good incentive for me to clean up well after meals.
• She loves playing with balloons, either by crawling around after them or by playing "keep off the ground" with us. Daddy holds her and maneuvers her to kick and headbutt the balloon, and she just laughs. As a result, she now crawls after balloons with her head down, charging at full speed to headbutt them on her own.
• Reading to her is a fun experience, as she is obsessed with turning the pages of the books and often cares much more about that than she does about the story. She reaches forward to turn the pages, often well before you're ready. And if you stop her too many times, she throws a fit. Then, when the book is done, she grabs it and tosses it on the floor. It's just part of the routine.
• She can stand on her own, but she doesn't like to for some reason.
• Her "talking" has become so animated. She actually has inflection to her voice now, so it almost sounds like she's saying real words. I love to hear her talk. 
• Diaper changes are a wrestling match these days. She refuses to sit still unless you sing to her, and then the appropriate song is always different; you have to keep guessing until you get it right.
• She loves looking out of windows and playing with the blinds. She'll shake them around and then hold them up so she can peek out the window.
• When she is resisting a nap, she throws her pacifiers out of the crib and then cries until I come give them back. Then she smiles when I come in, as if she has won. She also tosses the pacifiers out in the morning when she's decided it's time for me to come get her.
• She'll fake laugh with you. If you say "Ha ha ha," she'll repeat it. It's so cute and usually makes me laugh for real.

So really, what's not to love??