10 Months

Today is my 10-month birthday.  I think that this is not very exciting but Mommy seemed to think this was important so I thought I would write a blog about what life with me is like lately.  The big important things in my life right now are eating, moving, talking, sleeping and teeth. 

Eating:  This is my favorite part of the day so it should come first.  I am still drinking out of my bottle but it is more of a snack now, oh and a big bottle right before bed that helps me sleep (sometimes, stay tuned).  Mommy and Daddy feed me 3 meals a day now.  For breakfast I have oatmeal or rice cereal sweetened with fruit puree and then some finger foods (usually fruit like banana, blueberry, or peach).  Then for lunch I have yummy vegetable puree with some finger foods after.  Finally for dinner I usually get a puree of beans or meat and vegetable puree with some more finger foods.  For finger foods I am eating all kinds of things now.  Some of my favorites are avocado and zucchini, but I also like corn, peas, potatoes, noodles, carrots, tomato, and an assortment of crackers.  Mommy and Daddy have been working really hard at making me fresh veggie (and sometimes with chicken) purees but I just don't like them as well.  They have a lot more flavor and different consistency than the jars of baby food.  Sometimes I think I make Mommy feel bad when I don't want to eat the things she has made for me.  But if she mixes them with something simple like carrots or green beans they taste much better and I will eat them.

Moving:  Part of the reason I eat so much is because I am on the go.  I am a very fast crawler (I even have a trophy to prove it).  I am pulling myself up onto everything and I have even discovered that if I am in the right position, I can stand up right from a squat without holding on to anything.  I have two big advancements that happened over the last week.  First I discovered that if I stand up behind my doll stroller I can use it to take some steps.  Sometimes it goes fast and I have to hold on for dear life and make my feet move quickly to keep up with it.  But I can usually go for 5 to 10 steps before I have to let go and sit down.  The other thing that happened is that I was standing at the ottoman and decided I wanted to get to the couch.  I thought it was closer than it was so I let go and leaned for the couch.  As I started to fall I had to take a big step to catch myself, but I made it to the couch without falling.   Daddy was excited and told me that I was walking.  Mommy covered her face in her hands and shook her head.  But I haven't wanted to try that again so I don't think they need to worry about me walking just yet (give it a few more weeks!).

Talking:  Boy oh boy, can talking be fun.  Mommy says that I take after my Grandma Ya Ya!  I love to babble and coo and imitate Mommy.  Right now I still only make the "ma ma ma" when I am crying, but the "da da da" sounds are easy and fun to say all the time.  I have even started saying "Da...DEEEE"  and Daddy sure does love it when I say that.  He gives me big hugs.  I also have my first word down - "DAW!"  every time I see a dog (and most of the time I see any furry animal).  Mommy has been working with me to say the 'g' sound at the end but it is hard for me.  A couple of times I have said "DAW!....gu"  I also really like my 'e' and 'b' sounds and a few times have even tried to get an 'l' sound out.  I love mimicking Mommy and my favorite is when she says "uh-oh"  I say "uh........uh"

Sleeping:  This is the sore subject right now.  I think that I was traveling too much because I am slipping further and further out of my good sleeping routine I used to have.  Between the traveling, teething, being sick, and who knows what I am no longer sleeping through the night.  In fact nighttime is feeling more like a series of naps in a row.  Mommy is tired all the time and grumpy and that makes Daddy grumpy.  First, I don't really like my crib right now.  Unless they lay me down when I am completely asleep,  I will cry to be picked up again.  And even if I am completely asleep on their shoulders, sometimes when my head hits the bed it wakes me up and I won't go back to sleep until they pick me up again.  This is a typical night: I am going to sleep fairly easily around 7:30-8 PM and sleeping for an hour.  Then I usually wake up and cry until somebody comes to cuddle with me.  Then I will go back to sleep and sleep until somewhere between 12-2 AM.  When I wake up then it usually makes me realize I am hungry.  So I have a bottle and fall asleep on Mommy or Daddy.  But I have a hard time being put back into my bed.  So they are usually up with me for an hour during this time just trying to get me to sleep in my crib.  I will sleep for 2 or 3 more hours and then am up around 3-4 AM.  Usually the other parents comes to rescue me for this break in sleep.  Sometimes I am hungry, sometimes not, but usually it takes a few times of putting me into my crib for me to fall asleep again.  Then I finish off the night sleeping until anywhere between 6-8 AM.  This schedule has put Mommy into a bad mood.   But I just don't know how to make them understand what is bothering me and what they can do.  Mommy thinks I need to figure out how to comfort myself and has spent a couple of nights not picking me up but just laying me down and rubbing my back.  This usually results in 3 or 4 hours of me crying and still not going to sleep.  She keeps trying to give me blankets, dolls and other things,  but I just think those are fun to play with and am not sure why they would help me go to sleep.  Hopefully I get a good night's sleep soon because we could all use it!

Teeth:  A quick update on my teeth and then I am done.   I have had the bottom teeth for quite sometime now and then my top gums started bothering when I was on the trip to Visalia and Modesto at the end of July.  I got sick between trips and then on the trip to Graeagle, one of the top teeth finally broke through.  The rest of the trip I was cranky because that tooth was pushing through and making the others next to it sore too.  Now it has been over a week since we have been home and the second front tooth still has yet to break through.  I can feel it just sitting there on the other side of the gums like it is afraid to come out.   Now in the meantime a third front tooth has started bothering me.  I am looking forward to having the teeth because I sure do like to chew my food, but they are a pain to get out.

Here are pictures of me today on my 10-month-birthday (notice me barely hanging on with the closest thing I could find in my mouth - typical me!).  Hope you enjoyed this little update.

My first visit to Cedarville

As promised, my recent trip was quite an adventure.  Mommy and Daddy took me to visit Gram and Gramps in Cedarville.  It has been hard readjusting to a normal schedule now that we are home and this is the first chance I have had to sit down and tell you all about my trip.  The trip started with another plane ride to Reno.  This was the first time Mommy and Daddy haven't brought my car seat on the plane with us and I got to crawl back and forth and play with all the magazines from the seat pocket in front of me.  I did take a small nap on Daddy's shoulder but it wasn't very comfortable so I wasn't out for very long.  When we landed we picked up a rental car (and rental car seat) and headed to a place called Graeagle.  I didn't like the car seat at all.  It sat upright and I didn't have a good place to lay my head so I cried the whole way from the airport to Graeagle.  Luckily it was only an hour drive for Mommy and Daddy because I can be very persistent when I want out!  When we got there we were greeted by a whole bunch of family that I was meeting for the first time.  It was Gramp's side of the family (his aunt, cousins, and a few of their kids).  Gram was cooking spaghetti dinner for everybody.  I was tired but managed to hang in there and visit with everybody through dinner.  That night I did not sleep well, not only was it a new place and new bed, but I also had a lot of pain in my mouth, and I had one of my front teeth poke through my gums.  That night set the tune for the rest of the nights on the trip.  Teething on vacation is not something I recommend.  

The next morning was cool. Daddy put pants and socks on me and I wasn't sure what to think about that.  It felt weird and I had to give my legs a few good shakes to see if they would come off.  Daddy went off golfing and Mommy, Gram, Meg, the dogs, and I all went for a long walk in the forest.  It was very interesting there.  I loved to look at all the trees and streams, and watch the dogs run through the brush.   I got to practice my favorite word a lot - DOG!  Once we got home we all took naps and then headed over to the other house for the family reunion dinner.  It was fun to meet everybody.  I had a lot of fun with all my cousins, especially Kelly and Lindsey.  They liked to play on the ground with me.  I am the first baby in the next generation and everybody thought it was very fitting to have me there.  Here are some pictures from the evening and our group picture:

The next morning we got up and packed up the cars.  Then we headed down and had lunch at a little bakery in Graeagle, although I just got my standard baby food and some crackers.  After a quick visit at the other house we headed out to Cedarville.  It was just Gram, Mommy and I in the car with Brinkley.  Daddy took the rental car and left for Lodi/Stockton so he could do a day of work.  The drive was terrible.  My mouth hurt, I hated the car seat, and I just decided to cry the whole way home.  Gram even pulled over at one point to make sure I was ok, but I was fine, I just didn't want to be strapped into that thing.  Finally after about 3 hours of screaming I finally fell asleep for the last 40 minutes of the drive.  When we got to Cedarville it was raining.  They were having a big thunderstorm with rain and wind.  It was really cool and very nice there.  We played a little bit, then it was dinner time, bath time, and bed.  Once again I had a rough night and Mommy ended up taking me into bed with her so that I would quiet down and we could both get some sleep.

The next few days were much the same.  We went for a walk every morning with the dogs.   The first morning it was Mommy and Gram and I with me in the stroller.  It seemed like it was a good workout for Mommy, she was out of breath a lot.  The next morning it was just Daddy and Mommy, and the next morning it was Gram, Mommy, and Daddy and me.  Gram bought Daddy a nice backpack to carry me in.   Unfortunately they didn't get a picture of me in it, but I really enjoyed checking out the world from Daddy's back.  The afternoons were spent playing inside in the kitchen with pots, and spoons, and toys or in the living room with blocks and a tent.  We also spent a lot of time outside on the lawn with the dogs and exploring. 
I loved it! 

Mommy and me in the kitchen

Mommy building towers and me knocking them down.

Playing in the tent.

 Spruce cones were so interesting to look at!

 I wasn't too sure about Awk - she scared me a little bit.

Crawling through the grass

Outside with Tucker, Brinkley, and Auntie Meg (Tucker was my buddy!)

Brinkley wasn't too sure what to think of me and hid a lot

I loved spending time with Gram and Gramps.  Here is Gramps letting me help him on the computer.

 Gramps tried on my hat and I am learning he likes to do lots of silly stuff like that. 

Gram feed me breakfast a couple of times.  I promise I loved it.  Gram picked me a lot of fresh veggies from her garden including zucchini, yellow squash, and cherry tomatoes. 

I also got to see a bunch of other veggies including these cucumbers which I thought were pretty fun to play with.

One morning Mommy's friends Rikki and Joe brought their little girls over to meet me.  Their names are Taylor and Madison.  It was nice to have somebody to play with for a little while.  That is until Madison tried to grab my face and I got a little grumpy. 

 Here are some more pictures of us hanging around outside. 

Gram even let me help her make frozen yogurt.

On our last full day in Cedarville I was grumpy.  My teeth were bothering me and I hadn't slept well, but Mommy and Daddy packed me up anyway and we headed to the Modoc County Fair.  This is THE event for everybody who lives there and Mommy got to see lots of people she knew.  Mommy and Daddy decided to enter me into the Diaper Derby, a crawling contest for babies. 

Pre-competition strategy talks with Daddy

At the starting line (I wasn't too sure what to think of that clown behind me)

I put my head down and went for it (the guy in blue was the announcer and he was giving the play by play for the fans)

 Almost to the finish line - way ahead of the competition

Daddy giving me the High 5 for the win!

They made sure everybody finished

Me getting crowned - Queen!

Mommy and Daddy were proud of me and my big plaque (it is now hanging on my wall in my room)

The King and Queen of Diaper Derby

After the excitement of the Diaper Derby we wandered up to the livestock area of the fair.  It was awesome but a little overwhelming.  Besides dogs (and one cat from earlier in the week) I had never gotten to see so many animals up close before.  We saw sheep, pigs, goats, cows, horses, rabbits, chickens, ducks, and even some reptiles.  I liked to shout "DOG!" at all the animals but Mommy, Daddy, Gramps and Gram corrected me with the names of all the animals.

Duck

Rabbits

Ducks

Horse

After seeing all those animals I took a nap in my stroller for awhile.  When I woke up we headed back to the kids area to play and meet some more kids.

I like driving the cars!

Our last adventure for the day was to go see Uncle Danny participate in a rodeo event called "team doctoring."  Basically the cowboys had to separate a cow with the correct number from the herd, rope it, tie it and put a mark on it's forehead.  I had a great time in the stands watching the activity and playing with Gram and Gramps.

Cowboys receiving their instructions

Auntie Meg took me over to check out the cowboys

Danny is getting ready to go.

Auntie Meg took this great shot of Christian (Danny's brother) - he is in the blue

Here's Danny trying to rope the calf.

Unfortunately the cow won that round and they didn't get to move on to the next round.  Here he is trying to rope the calf and get his first rope back.

After an exhausting but very fun day at the fair, we headed home for dinner, bath, and bed.  The next morning we got up and hit the road to head back home.  I started crying again as soon as we got in the car and Mommy ended up coming into the back seat with me.  She held my head up so that I could take a nap.  We made it finally to the Reno airport, and then on to another plane.  This time the plane was full so we had a lady sitting next to us.  I fell asleep for a little while and spent the other part of the trip playing with the kids that were on the plane with us.  Boy was I glad when we finally made it home and I could crawl around!  Overall it was a wonderful trip and if it wasn't for teething, it would have been perfect.