ten months

January 12, 2008



Munchkin Girl,
You are EVERYWHERE! You can get into everything now - there's no stopping you, and you love every minute of it. You crawl somewhere, pull up to stand, then get down and crawl somewhere else..repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat...you get the picture. All this movement has inspired the new nickname of "Munchkin Girl" and you certainly deserve it.

January 11, 2008 (which just happened to be Mommy's birthday) is a day that will live in infamy as the day of Gianna Marie's first step. Can you believe it? You're on your way to the walking world. Even though you're a big almost-walking girl now, you still love when Daddy gets on his hands and knees and crawls after you. You fly across the floor, glancing backwards occasionally to see how far in the dust you're leaving him, giggle uncontrollably, then crawl with all your might until he catches up and "tackles" you. I guess you've realized that crawling really isn't all that bad...as long as you're being chased, that is...or if you're chasing after one of your furry best friends.



Cats. Now there's a topic of the month. You love them. They try really hard to love you. Actually, Holly loves you so much that it's kind of sad. No amount of tackling to the ground, zerberting, slobbering, or tail grabbing will keep her from coming back for more. She adores you. It probably doesn't hurt that we keep telling her about all the treats you'll give her when you're old enough to open the treat jar for her. So, don't forget - you owe her BIG TIME! Oh, and Blueberry wants me to tell you that even though she doesn't allow you to abuse her on a regular basis, she has refrained from biting, scratching, and hissing, and that deserves a reward, too.



You're ten months old now and you can do so many things. You are truly amazing. Daddy and I can't get over how advanced you are - at least in our eyes. The one thing you don't do that I see other kids your age doing is bottle-feed yourself. Don't get me wrong, you definitely CAN, you sometimes will, but mostly you choose not to. I think you're trying to tell us that if we're going to go to all the trouble to buy it and prepare it for you we may as well serve it to you while we're at it. It's only polite. This very fact shows how much personality you have, and you seem to get more of it every day.



I almost forgot - the holiday of the month - it was a big one, Christmas! Santa brought you lots of toys, you were definitely on the "nice" list. You had so much fun, and you weren't nearly as obsessed with the wrapping paper as we thought you'd be. You love your new toys and are already looking forward to the next big holiday, your first birthday. Can you believe it's almsot here already? I don't know who's most excited about it - you, me, Daddy, or Blueberry (she heard birthday cake is served with ice cream, her favorite treat).



Over the last couple of weeks, you have accomplished numerous physical feats and began teething (again!) with your first molars. All of these developments meant that sleeping was not on your to-do list. You suddenly decided that 5:30 am was a good time to begin the day, and that you must wake once a night, screaming bloody murder, until I came in to stand by your crib before you could drift back to sleep. Well, those days have passed and you're back to normal sleep patterns. And while I should be happy and well-rested, I'm not. I spend the night and early morning listening for your cries. I thought at first that it was worry that was costing me sleep, but it's not. It's just that I miss you. I miss going into your room in the middle of the night and watching your whole body relax and your little eyes close, content in the knowledge that all was right with the world. I miss stumbling in so early in the morning, tired and miserable, then seeing you standing up in your crib with a huge smile on your face, instantly brightening my day.



You are my sunshine. My world is a brighter place because of you.
~ Mommy