10 Months

Since Aiyana enjoys feeding herself these days, lunch time and dinner often look like this:

 She shoves one handful after the other into her mouth and gets most of the food in there. I do tend to find pieces of banana or turkey hidden in the folds of her diaper though. . . and avocado stains on her clothes. rrrrgh! I would almost prefer to just keep feeding her myself because it's cleaner but for developmental purposes, I'm trying to be patient with the mess. Besides, it does keep my hands free to clean the kitchen or cook dinner.

 Morning baths! Mmmm.... nothing like a fresh, clean baby all slathered in lotion for a couple hours before the food chaos repeats itself.

 She's chewing on everything! She has 2-3 teeth in her top row that are fighting their way through -- one of which has just cut all the way through in this past week. She's handling it pretty well and still sleeping through the night. I had to watch my groceries today though. While sitting in the cart, I saw her munching on my produce through the bag. Thinking she was gnawing on apples, I figured she couldn't do much harm -- until I realized they were my tomatoes! Now I have tomatoes with teeth marks. Better make use of them tomorrow!

 I have been surprised by how much Aiyana likes this little tent that we put up in the playroom. I figured she'd enjoy it as a toddler, but she crawls her way into it all the time to play with those plastic balls. We also have a great time playing hide 'n seek, where I jump at her from the front or back of the tent. She thinks it's hilarious.

 Another shocker: This rainbow tunnel can attach to the circular entrance of the tent. I thought she'd be afraid of the long stretch of the tube, but she likes it! In this photo, I'm calling to her from the end, "Aiya, come on!"

 Then there was a little bribing of something "cool" waiting for her if she'd come. I like her expression here, "ehhh... what you got there?"

 "Ok, here I come but I'm bringing these balls with me." And she did, crawling with one ball in each hand.

"Nail clippers! Just what I always wanted!" Who knew they could be so exciting?

 She also likes rolling around inside of the tunnel.

 Gone are the days of bows and flowers! She leaves it on for one minute at church before tearing it off her head. So now I get to be creative with styling her hair with lotion to make it stick up. With her gelled hair standing up on her head and her big eyes, I've been told she looks like "Jack-Jack's" sister (The little baby from, The Incredibles).

"Who me?"

 We have so much fun together. I'm thoroughly enjoying all the free time I have with Aiyana (Sorry, not to rub it in to all you super busy moms! I'll get there one day, and I'm excited for extra little ones, but for now I really do appreciate the one-on-one while it lasts.)

 She is so playful, always looking for an opportunity to grunt or growl at us or even strangers. She eggs me on multiple times throughout the day, grunting at me until I grunt back at her, and we go back and forth until she busts up laughing like this.

Or like this in extreme cases. She looks insane! (and also reminds me of one of Ty's videos -- the one where Dan is biting and tickling Ty's neck, and his eyes get wide like Aiyana's as he's unable to contain himself!)

MORE FUN FACTS:

• Drinking from bottles! It's been bitter sweet. My milk started dwindling around 8-9 months but I wanted to keep going at least until a year. However, when she barely seemed to be getting anything substantial from nursing and wasn't taking more than a couple ounces of formula from a bottle, I was getting a little concerned -- especially coupled with the fact that her weight plateaued and then started to drop a bit. I kept trying to nurse but Aiyana started  to not even want me anymore (*sniff sniff*). In fact, she thought the time was better spent blowing zerberts on my boob with her nose while she was lightly latched on! So Battle-of-the-Bottle continued this past month and something clicked two weeks ago because she now drinks 5-6 ounces three times a day and loves it. She now sucks down those bottles with an expression of comfort and joy that she used to do with me. (Is it weird to be jealous of a bottle?) Well, I'd rather she "be over nursing" by choice than for me trying to wean her when she was not ready. She's already put on 2 lbs, so I feel like the Battle was worth-while.
• So that puts her weight around 20 lbs
• Aiyana transitioned into a new and improved car seat. She's still rear-facing but sitting comfortably in the Britax Roundabout (or did i get Marathon? I'll have to double-check). My back is thankful that we could also then move her seat next to the door.
• Quick little crawler! She's still not up on all fours but instead of just pulling with her arms and using her toes, she moves more like a crab and uses her thighs and knees with funny little pushes. Time to get gates for the stairs 'cause she just takes off now.
• Weirdly out of order, but she's just now starting to push herself into a sitting-up position. She's been sitting up on her own since 6 months, but only recently has she developed the skill (or interest?) to do so without help.
• My little "Boo-Boo" is still as vocally persistent than ever! I had to leave relief society last Sunday not because she was upset and crying, but she was simply too happy and too loud! It's a reoccurring event in our lives. This child will not be ignored, whether happy or sad. She does this somewhat obnoxious thing now where, if she wants my attention, she will yell, "Ahhhh! Ah! Ah! Ah!" over and over and over again until I not only look over but figure out right then and there what she wants. It's cute that she's trying to communicate . . . but my ears some days!