Oh My Word People! We have hit the double digit month mark. 10 months! Eeeek that's getting so old. Only two more of these monthly photo sessions to go until she is a whole year old. I can't believe it. And the next two months are going to be filled with moving and travel and a whole new world of fun for Ryan. But let's not jump ahead of ourselves, God knows time moves fast enough on it's own, and let's talk about Ryan's 10th month!
Personality:
She has always had quite the little personality, but I have to say that this month it has developed so much. She is super social and vocal all the time. She wants to be anywhere that there is action and so I try to make a point of getting out of the house at least once a day so that she can interact with other people. It doesn't matter who it is, she will usually flash a smile (after she has mean mugged them first and made sure that they seem nice enough). If there is a child "talking" or "screeching" in the aisles at Target or the grocery store, you can bet it's Ryan. And on top of the screeching, she can usually be seen leaning over in the cart, reaching for things off shelves, or banging the contents of my purse on the cart itself.
In fact, earlier this month, Julie and I took Ryleigh and Ryan to the fabric store and one lady commented that "Ryleigh looked like such a little cherub angel baby," as Ryleigh sat so still in her cart, just smiling sweetly at people and not making a peep. And then she looked at Ryan who was likely halfway out of the cart with my keys in one hand, a roll of thread in her mouth all the while talking at a decibel level appropriate for a football game and said "And she...well she looks like she is going to be quite the trouble maker!" Yep. That's my kid alright!
Eating:
Ryan is still nursing 4-5 times in a 24 hour period. I thought we had dropped the night time feed a few months ago but it seems to be back and we don't seem capable of kicking it just yet. I've a feeling there may be some rough nights ahead as I plan to be done nursing sometime around the 12 month mark. We had another biting incident recently in which blood was drawn and if there was ever a question of how long to keep nursing, biting certainly helps you answer it!
She gets solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and her favorite foods seem to change daily. One day she'll eat a ton of watermelon and the next day every piece I give her, she'll spit out. So, we keep offering new things and hoping that she's getting a somewhat balanced diet. She still eats pureed fruit occasionally, but for the most part prefers "real" food. Some of the things she rarely turns down are grilled cheese, pancakes, hot dog, oatmeal, banana, yogurt, beans , and water! The kid loves her sippy cup! For snacks, she still likes Puffs, but has also come around to rice cakes, goldfish crackers, and Ritz crackers.
Mealtimes are messy but she likes feeding herself and so I deal with the fact that she inevitably will need a bath everyday unless I want her to go to bed smelling like a hot dog.
Sleeping:
We have actually been doing much better on the napping front! I transitioned her to two naps a day instead of three and it seems to have made all the difference. On average, she naps for about 2 hours a day spanning two naps. Two hours of freedom is just lovely. We spent two nights at a hotel for SIL Kristin's wedding in early April and someone got to end up in Mom and Dad's bed one night. Let's just say this kid is quite the bed hog when she gets the chance.
She now knows how to go from her belly to sitting and it is not abnormal to find her either sitting in her crib after a nap or in the morning or standing in it. Time to lower the crib to the lowest setting, which is kind of sad!
Mobility:
Like I said earlier, Ry has perfected the art of pulling herself to a stand. She can be seen all over the house standing up and she has also gotten pretty good at sitting herself down from standing and transferring from one thing to another while standing. It still makes me nervous, but the more she does it, the more comfortable I become. She is into everything these days. Some of her favorites places to play are in the refrigerator, with the dishwasher when it gets left open, and pulling all of the DVD's she can get her hands on out of the movie case.
Other Things:
Ryan learned how to point her finger this month and it is pretty cute to watch her point at different things. She also learned how to give kisses. And both Josh and I agree that they are the hands down best kisses ever! Even if they are open mouthed. :) Her absolute favorite thing to do is go to the swings. I swear this child could sit in the swing for hours if I would let her. She cries almost every time we take her out of it. She still thoroughly enjoys the bathtub and if you get her around a dog, her face just lights up. We tried out bubbles for the first time and it was definitely funny to see her watch them float to the ground.
We spent some time at the pool this month and she definitely is not afraid of the water. We had her first Easter and her first trip to Huntington Beach. We hang out with her best friend Ryleigh almost daily and are going to be very sad to leave her next week. It's been so fun to watch the two of them grow up together so far.
As we inch closer to her 1st birthday, we know that lots of things are going to change in her and our life in the very near future, but what doesn't change at all is how much we love this girl. Happy 10 months Ryan Cathleen!
