Ten Months

Just look at that little ham!  Such a stinker, Millie Janalee has been the sunshine in our home for TEN MONTHS now!  I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that her first birthday is just around the corner.  It seems like she is doing more and more each day...and this month she has been on a major "Let's freak my mama out and show her how grown I'm getting" streak.  I mean, is it just me?  Or does she look like a little girl in these pictures?!  Where did my chubby faced itty bitty babe go?  Oh my!  We had senior Sunday at our hometown church this week, and I found myself fighting back tears through all the songs leading up to the recognition.  Man, this Mama thing is doing a number on me.  I hope to have a looooonnnng 18 years ahead of me.  But, I'm afraid they are gonna be way too short!  I've been putting our home videos on DVDs this past week, and I've gotta admit that I have a full 1 hour and 25 minutes for one month of this girl's life.

I've gotta get a grip.

Last month, I talked about Millie Janalee getting into that "hands on everything" phase.  Well, she certainly took that into high gear this month.  Hence her first baby injury.  Grabbing anything in sight, she is not prejudice to anything sharp or dangerous.  Russ and I took a trip to Lowe's this month to pick up all the hardware needed to strap furniture (big and small) to the wall!  Some may call us paranoid.  Maybe we've read one too many horror stories.  But, I'm pretty sure this is one thing we will never look back on and regret.  Make fun of?  Maybe.  But, never regret.  The more Miss Priss grabs and pulls, the more wobbly everything becomes. 

We've had a few milestones this month.  She now proudly chomps her food with FOUR little toofies!  She also taps them together at varying times throughout the day.  Maybe she won't ground them down to the gums before her adult teeth start coming in.  Ha!  She loves to "dance" when her music from the toys plays.  She swings her arms and twists from side to side.  LOVE. IT!  While Millie Janalee still shows very little interest in crawling full time, she absolutely loves to hold onto her new walker and walk across the room.  Yes, that's right!  This girl is a walking machine with her little "granny walker."  My brother and his girlfriend liken it to Forest Gump's walk when he still had the braces on his legs.  It's just the cutest little Forest Gump walk I've ever seen!  And she's just about the happiest little thing when she gets going...

I noted that she wasn't crawling full time.  But, at least she is getting up on all fours now.  Finally!  Ha!  She gets up on all fours and rocks back and fourth.  She has taken one little knee forward only to fall on her face when her arms didn't follow suit.  The latest attempt at crawling brought what appears to be a leapfrog!  Her little feet and legs hop up and back down.  But, she goes nowhere.  Bless her!  In all seriousness, I'm sure she is not very far.  At all.  God bless my thunder thighs when I start chasing her around!  She is also attempting to pull up on things.  She gets about halfway there before her little fluffy diapered bottom hits the ground again.

Millie Janalee is still in size 3 diapers, although I started putting her in size 4 overnight diapers at bedtime.  We had a couple of accidents last month.  She is wearing a full 12 months in clothes.  Like, I pull clothes out thinking it's huge.  Then I put it on her.  And it fits.  Like a glove.  [Tear.]  With all the traveling we've been doing, I have not made her baby food in a while.  [Gasp.]  Soooo...she's going through 6 packets of baby food a day.  And I'm starting to see the financial assistance found in making your own!  Russ is too.  She still also takes two bottles a day...morning and night.  She's drinking her juice/water combo from her sippy cup.  However, I must admit that I don't make her hold her own.  I know.  I know.  I promise not to send her to kindergarten expecting her teacher to hold her drink up for her!  She actually can hold it when I put her hands in place, but she hasn't figured out how to turn it up as she drinks it down.

This will come.

Right?

Our daily routines are pretty laid back.  In case you didn't know that by now.  Millie Janalee usually wakes up around 8 or 8:30 each morning.  She plays for a while (...with Sprout on the television...I know.  I'm poisoning her brain) before taking her morning bottle.  She eats her breakfast of some kind of fruit with oatmeal later in the morning.  This doesn't always happen.  We have tapered down to two naps a day, so her first nap isn't until she starts showing signs of sleepiness.  Usually around 11:30ish.  She naps between 1-2 hours and wakes up to lunch and more playtime.  At some point during our day, we usually stroll to the mailboxes (which is pretty far from our apartment) with Farley.  She loves watching him walking beside her stroller.  We run errands from time to time.  Or just catch on up laundry and repacking for our next trip!  Sometime between 3 and 4, she starts to get sleepy again.  When she wakes from her last nap, we eat supper.  Then,  it's bath, bottle, and bedtime at 8:30ish.

You notice how many times I added -ish?  That's because there's no set schedule.  Sometimes it works that way.  Sometimes it doesn't.

The thing is...we are head over heals in love with these big blue eyes!  We cannot hug her enough.  Cannot kiss those cheeks enough.  And because of her giggles, I cannot kiss her little armpits enough!  Her little nose is just as cute as it was the day we brought her home, and her lips just as dainty.  Everyone who meets her greets her with a smile...because she's usually smiling back.  I love how happy Millie Janalee is!  And I love her grumpy times too.  Basically, because they involve snuggles.  And I don't mind that.  I've tried my hand at a little obedience training, and I have to laugh at myself.  But, I'll continue on and hope for the best.  The time is here for that to begin I suppose.

[Sigh.]

I love you so much, sweet angel baby!  Happy ten months, Millie Janalee!

***PS...Could you go easy on me with the disciplining part of motherhood?