Ten Months

Can you believe little Stella just keeps getting older? Because I cannot! She is ten months old now. It's been a busy, but fun month since my last update. I have decided this is a fun stage. Though I have to constantly keep on eye on the little one, it's so fun to watch her explore, and figure things out, and gain her independence. So, what's new with Stella?

She's picked up some new hobbies. At the beginning of the month, it was pulling all of the books off her bookshelf.

That lasted a couple of weeks. Then it was on to opening her drawer and pulling out all of her shirts.

She also loves banging. Any kind of banging. Banging her hands on things. Banging toys together. Banging a toy on a piece of furniture. If there is banging to be done, she will do it.

She has little interest in her toys these days (unless she's banging them on something). She's much too curious and interested in everything around her to sit and play with her toys. She prefers to crawl around checking EVERYTHING out. And when she's crawling, she's very focused. If something is in her path, she doesn't just move it out of the way. She picks it up and throws it to the side. She even tried that with Scout once when the dog was in her way. She recently learned to open the kitchen cabinets, so we have now installed cabinet latches on the cabinets she's not allowed to play in.

Here she is checking out her box of wipes and showing off her staunch support of Team USA in this summer's Olympic Games:

She also knows where the dog's toy basket is and that she's not allowed to play in it. So, she is naturally drawn to it and I find myself pulling her away from it almost constantly throughout the day. She is a very busy little girl. It's difficult to take pictures of her because she won't stay still long enough. We have lots of blurry ones, like this:

 

Her busy-ness and desire to explore applies to bath time, too. All of a sudden one day, shortly after she really started crawling, it was like she realized she didn't need to just sit in the bathtub and be bathed. She realized that the bathtub could be explored, too. So, now she crawls around the bathtub and pulls herself up to the sides and checks out the little soap holder and tries to check out the drain. Except, I won't really let her because it pretty much grosses me out if she tries to stick her hand down it. And all of this keeps me much more on my toes and makes bath time a lot busier.

She has gotten pretty expert at pulling herself up to things and checking out whatever is within reach. But, she still hasn't figured out cruising. If she's standing up at a table or couch for instance and she sees something just out of reach, rather than just take a few steps over to get it, she'll get down, crawl over, and then stand back up to get things. She's gotten a little more confident with her standing and will let go of things with one hand so she can turn a little and see things around her. She has made no attempts to stand totally unsupported, though.

Here she is checking out toys at Grandma's house. Grandma's toys are way better because she hasn't gotten bored with them yet.

She and Scout are still good buddies. It really is cute to see how excited they get to see each other in the morning. Just over the last few days, it seems like Stella is starting to understand that some things are Scout's. She'll pick up one of Scout's toys, look at it for a few seconds, and then hold it out to the dog, waiting for her to take it. And, sometimes when Scout takes it, Stella won't let go so they play tug for a few brief seconds. It's pretty adorable.

One of her favorite things this month has been to pull herself up to the sliding glass door so she can see outside. It's a real treat if Scout is out there and she can watch her running around.

Stella continues to be a very happy and easy-going baby. It's easy to get smiles from her and she seems to just enjoy life.

This next picture is one of my faves because it showcases a new look that she's developed and perfected this month - shall we call it Magnum? It's kind of a cross between a big smile and a laugh. She scrunches up her nose, squints her eyes, and gets a big grin. And she often pulls her head down into her shoulders, almost like a turtle. It's pretty darn cute.

She has developed a little habit this month that I'm hoping doesn't last. Sometimes when I put her down for a nap, she crawls over to the end of the crib closest to the door and sits there looking out. Eventually she gets sleepy enough that she just slumps over and goes to sleep.

Cute, no? The problem is, it results in about a 20 minute nap for her since one cannot comfortably sleep in this position for any decent length of time. I much prefer when she falls asleep the normal way - laying down.

She now has 4 teeth, the two front bottom and the two front top. I think she may be working on more because she's been gnawing on things like crazy today. She also just learned how to grind her teeth in the last couple of days and it's driving me crazy. Like fingernails on a chalkboard. You just shuddered, didn't you?

She has also very adorably learned the word Daddy. She can't say it, but she understands what it means. When I say, "Daddy's home", she immediately looks toward the door and when she sees him, she squeals in delight.

She is already in need of a haircut again. And, she's figured out that when I have a barrette in my hand and then I sweep her hair back, said barrette is probably in her hair. So, she reaches up and pulls it out and starts chewing on it. Every time. This leaves me with two options for doing her hair. One - do nothing. Two - a pony. We like both options.

Stella is a big eater. She loves her solids. Formula, not so much. She doesn't have too much formula or breastmilk during the day, but she eats food like nobody's business. She likes almost everything I give her, although sometimes it takes a couple tastes before she decides she likes it. I've also made some of her baby food myself and she seems to like the homemade variety quite a bit. She really loves it when she can eat what we're eating, though. That's when she really pounds her food.

And that's our little 10-month-old in a nutshell. We're looking forward (with both excitement and lots of trepidation) to her first plane trip this coming month. Get ready East Coast - this little babe is coming your way!