10 months

Happy 10 month birthday Laurel-- a week ago. I waited a few days to finish this post because Laurel has had a terrible cold and every picture I take she has sick eyes. Then, I went to take her pictures outside but it was a frozen tundra out there with all sorts of ice and snow. Not really, but it was COLD!

The last month has been relatively uneventful around here. It has been nice to get back to normal life after the holidays and traveling.

Laurel is still such a happy and overall healthy girl. We have gone back and forth with the reflux meds and dosages and it is sticking around for now. Dr. T seems to think that since we haven't had to go up on the dosage, she is growing out of it. Although she has only had 1 ear infection, it seems like Laurel has had a cold for months! She will get the cough, runny nose, green eye gook and everything but over time it is just a cold. I attribute this to all of the germs that big brother brings home. But regardless of having a cold, she is still so happy all the time!

I know I said this at 9 months, but this little lady will not sit still! She has gotten very speedy with her crawling and the second I put her down, she is off. She also gets in to EVERYTHING-- which is a big change from her brother. We didn't really have to child-proof with Micah but we need to do some serious child-proofing for Laurel. If I leave her alone for 2 minutes, she has almost always gotten into something. Off limits means nothing to her... as does the word no. She thinks "no" is funny. Just this morning, she crawled from playing in her room to the kid's bathroom and before I knew it, she had dived head first into the (empty) bathtub. She is not scared of anything (yet) and she throws caution to the wind! She is still not walking- which I am totally fine with because I can only imagine how much trouble she'll get in when she is getting around even better, and quicker. She will push a push toy and stand on her own and occasionally attempt a step from standing but then she gently lowers herself down and crawls.

Along with her tendency to get into everything-- she puts any and everything in her mouth. I am constantly watching the floor to make sure there aren't choking hazards laying around.

Laurel has also gotten much more verbal in the last month. She says "mama", "dada", "uh oh", and "baby" in context. Anytime I say a word repeatedly, she will try to repeat it. By this age with Micah we were working on sign language but I can't decide if I want to do it with her or not. She is so verbal already that I might not even mess with it. Another new skill since 9 months is her waving and clapping. She is getting more and more of a personality every day and is figuring out how to communicate both verbally and non-verbally.

Not much has changed with her eating. Dr. T told us at our 9 month check up to start giving her table food but she gags and has no interest so we are still mainly doing baby food with a little bit of table food here and there. So far, her favorite table food is bread. Yes, just regular old honey wheat sliced bread. I have a feeling she is going to be like her mommy and be a carbaholic. Her sleeping is still wonderful-- 8 to 8 at night and then 2 naps during the day. She gets her morning nap probably half of the time but it doesn't phase her. As long as she gets a little power nap in her car seat (sometimes only 10 minutes), she is good to go until her afternoon nap. Her afternoon naps range from 2-4 hours (depending on if she slept that morning). I guess we are pretty spoiled.

Her favorite toys right now are definitely her baby dolls. Whenever she spots one, she crawls toward it giggling and saying "ba-ba!" and then just squeezes it tight. She has also mastered crawling around while holding onto a baby doll which is so precious. She has moved on from loving the doorway jumper but that is because it makes her stay in one place. She does still love to bounce but just like everything else these days, she loses interest quickly and moves on to something else.

Another new development this month is Laurel's separation anxiety. It is relatively new (the last week or so) but every time I drop her off at the church nursery for MDO, MOPS, or church on Sundays, she clings to me and I have to hand her over screaming. I'm glad she loves me but that is heartbreaking to pass her off so distraught! I don't know if it is because she is my girl or my baby or what but I am definitely very protective of her and I hate seeing her upset.

Another one of her faves right now is bath time. She get so excited to crawl around in the tub and splash and play with Micah.

And even though this has been the same every month, I can't ignore that this girl really loves her big brother. She is getting to where she can communicate more with him, even if it is just repeating a sound he makes. She is also getting a little more durable so and Micah takes full advantage of this, tackling her every chance he gets. She really doesn't seem to mind, most of the time. All he has to do is walk in the room and she is giggling and smiling at him!

It is hard to believe that our baby will be 1 in just 2 months. The time is really flying by. Laurel brings so much joy into our family- we are so blessed!