My 10 Month old

I realized that I have not put monthly updates for the past couple of months for Amelia.  We have been so busy that we haven't even done the monthly picture with the bear.  At Amelia's 9 month appointment she was 15lbs 9oz and 27 inches long.  She is about average height wise but dropped to the 5 or 10 percentile for her weight.  The pediatrician said she was healthy and everything looked good- she probably will just be petite.  We go back next week to check her weight again and also her ears (we discovered an ear infection at her 9 month check-up as well).

(Yes, she is chewing on her shoe- top two teeth coming in so she is going crazy putting things in her mouth)

This girl LOVES books!

I love her face here- I finally just let her have at the paper

Eating:  Amelia is breast feeding 4 times a day- morning, lunch, late afternoon and right before bedtime.  She eats three "meals" of baby food a day.  She is really starting to prefer finger foods over her baby food.  Her favorite finger foods right now are peaches, pears, and cheerios. We introduced a sippy cup several months ago and she is starting to get the hang of drinking out of it- we have tried putting juice in it and breast milk. Over the next few weeks the plan is to take away the afternoon breastfeeding and get her used to taking the breast milk from a cup instead.  I am definitely ready to start the weaning process!

Sleeping:  Amelia sleeps through the night the majority of the time!  Every now and then she will wake up and I will just give her the paci and she goes right back to sleep.  Usually this happens when she is teething and lately I think it was because her ears were hurting with the ear infection.  She takes 2 naps- a 1.5 to 2 hour nap in the morning and usually a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  She gets up in the morning about 7:30 or 8:00am and goes to bed at night around 8:30 or 9:00.

Playing:  Amelia is a busy busy girl!  She is pulling up on and getting into everything!.  She will cruise around furniture and even move from once piece of furniture to another. She loves pushing her walking toys- she will grab on and pull herself up and just take off across the family room floor.  Her favorite toys right now:  little kitchen, singing mirror, toy house door, and her activity table.  Amelia also enjoys pulling all her books off the shelf, dumping toys out of bins, her fisher price animals, and bath time!

Achievements:  Amelia first word was Dada (much to her Daddy's delight).  She definitely knows that Dan is Dada; although she will also point to me and say Dada, or point to our dogs and say Dada.  She also will say something that sounds like "More" (I usually ask her if she wants "more" food and show her the sign for more).  She has said Mama a couple of times but it still seems random at this point.  Amelia waves hello or bye-bye and she also claps her hands so sweetly.

Momma's little helper- riding in the laundry basket

Around the House:  Just this week she has officially mastered the stairs!  We have a set of 3 stairs going from our family room up to the kitchen and the bottom step is higher than the others.  Up until just the other day I would have to help her get up that first step and then she could do the others by herself.  Those stairs were a nice natural barrier to keep her safely confined in the family room- not any more!  I was up in the kitchen working on dinner and all of a sudden she was next to me :)  My sweet baby girl is growing up so fast- won't be long before she will be walking!

Just had to include this:  Amelia's favorite thing to do in the kitchen- play with the dog food and water!  We have a basket of dog toys and leashes by the back door. Amelia also likes to pull out the black leash and drag it around the kitchen. We are trying to teach Amelia to throw the dog toys- Marcie will sit so patiently while Amelia grabs her toys.  As soon as Amelia drops/throws a toy- Marcie dives for it and will put it right back at Amelia's feet.