ten months

Say what?! TEN MONTHS. In roughly eight weeks my teeny tiny baby will be a year old, I can't believe that time is passing so quickly.

At ten months Avery loves Mommy & Daddy, playing tug-of-war with Harper, petting (not so gently) Oscar, shredded cheese, cruising, breastfeeding, crawling, cords, being FREE - as in, do NOT hold her when she wants to do something! geez!, shredded cheese, and oh! SHREDDED CHEESE.

I don't think it's the actual taste of the cheese because I'm pretty sure by the amount we're cleaning up that she's not actually eating any of it. I think she just likes the texture and that she can pick up tiny pieces. Yesterday she had two strands hanging out of her mouth like a cheesy dracula and oh my gosh did I wish I had a camera nearby!! She is still incredibly sweet to us and will sometimes just lay her head on my shoulder and it just makes my heart swoon each time. She's seriously so precious.

She's started trying to play with Harper and a blue plastic connector ring. It came off of the bouncer and Harper claimed it and chewed one end, so now if Avery sees it laying on the floor she grabs it and waits for Harper to try and get it. When Harper tugs on it, Avery just laughs and giggles which is apparently the signal for Harper to then lick her face 463 times. That does not garner any giggles so I just gently push Harper away and the fun starts all over again. Not to be left out, Oscar gets plenty of attention too. He's really been such a good sport as she's learning to pet. "Be gentle" and "Be sweet, so soft like this..." are heavily repeated.

Avery really likes cords, which is a problem if they're plugged in. I've been vacuuming everyday since I caught Avery in the hallway eating pug hair in much the same manner as she does her shredded cheese. Gross, I know. And lest you think my house is in shambles please remember we have two pugs that shed. CONSTANTLY. And okay, I did need to start vacuuming more often anyway. So back to the story, Avery doesn't like the vacuum but she does like me to hold her and vacuum. I let her hold the cord, she's real real helpful. When we're all done and it's time to move on to real toys, things turn tragic. I have to pry the cord from her tight tiny grip and then console her because Avery and that vacuum cord?! They were best friends! And that's how we start our day. It gets better though, it always does.

She dislikes having things taken away from her (um, did you read the previous paragraph?!), baths in the big tub, meat flavored baby food, and being left behind (like when I walk out of the room, I better take her with me or I will most definitely hear about it!). I think she dislikes the big bath tub because she can't see over the side and she's a fan of being able to see everything around her. Meaty baby food? Yuck, totally don't blame her.

At ten months Avery crawls all over the place but I think she still prefers to cruise. She'll crawl somewhere then stand up and cruise around. She's scaled cabinets, walls, open doors, ottomans, boxes, legs...I think she can pretty much get herself up on any surface. Makes me nervous! With all of this mobility have come a few bruises, mostly on the knees, and I know more bumps and bruises are on the way as she starts to walk. Makes me sad to see them though, I know she's tough but still!

She still likes to read books. And sure, sometimes she turns the page before I'm done but ah well! She also loves to knock things over. I stack various blocks and books and things so she can crawl over and push them down with her pointer finger. She can say mama, dada, bye, bye-bye, and lots of other jabbering. Bye and bye-bye are almost always used correctly. She's used mama a couple of times directed at me, but sometimes not. Same with dada. She's been able to mimic more and can growl like a bear. The first time she did it was adorable and it's just gotten cuter over time. She's fierce. She does not, however, like roaring like a lion. In fact, I made her cry just yesterday when I roared while changing her diaper. It wasn't a random roar, I had given her a lion finger puppet to play with while I changed her. I guess she just doesn't like lions.

She waves and can give an eskimo kiss and pretty much is the best baby ever. Right now I love the way she waves both hands when she wants me to pick her up, how she puts her whole mouth over the opening of my water bottle when taking a drink, her six-toothed grin, the way she moves her head back and forth when she gets a little crazy, her adorable laugh, and when I just asked Deran what else Avery does that we love right now he said, "Everything." And yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up. We really do just love everything about our girl.



Happy 10 month birthday baby, we love you lots!