10 Months Old!

I can't figure out what I'm more surprised about: that Em is 10 months old or that it's March 19th.  Hmm...  I have had several STOP-THIS-TRAIN moments over the course of the last month, as usual ...  I'm sick of saying how fast time is going, so I'm sure you all are sick of reading it.  I'll stop.  SO, back to Emily Mae.  She's my goofy little girl.  Elyse has picked up the word "goober" from us in reference to her, and Emily does seem to fit that description quite often.  She's got a strong personality (shocker) and seems to be quite intense about every activity.  From eating, to playing, to moving, to crying, she does everything with all of her energy.  She's as squirmy as ever, and though I admit I don't take much time to read to her individually, I look forward to the day she'll enjoy reading more. :)  She loves to clap, and that is still her only "trick" right now.  As far as eating goes, I have abandoned pureeing foods for her.  As of 2 weeks ago, finger foods it is!  Em took about a week or so to adjust to having to feed herself most of her food, but she's doing great now.  I am enjoying the liberation of being able to eat some of my own food when we sit down, but I'm suffering through the extraordinary mess she makes.  It's kind of unbelievable.  I'm sure many of you can relate to the fun it is to thoroughly clean your kids and your kitchen after every meal, right?  She hasn't refused to eat anything YET, and her favorites are bananas, bread, pears, cheese, avocados, & blueberries.  She's less impatient now that she's the one stuffing her face, but there are times she just gets fed up with feeding herself.  We hear about it.  Yes, we do.

She takes a morning nap, an afternoon nap, and a catnap after dinner.  Sometimes we can "comfortably" forego the evening nap, which is great if we're out.  As long as she's amused, we're fine :)  She has blessed me recently with sleeping in until 8am a few mornings, but she fell right back into her old ways.  Thankfully, I can credit the time change for 7am - 7:30am wakeups instead of those evil hours beginning with a "6."

As far as mobility goes, Emily's enjoying motion :)  Her favorite is to sit surrounded by toys... use her arms to navigate her body quickly in a full circle while she scopes out what's around her.  Once she's turned a few 360's, she'll settle on the most engaging toy.  For about 1 minute.  Spin.  Repeat.  She is great at rolling and getting where she wants to go as long as it doesn't involve moving forward.  Seriously, she can move sideways and backwards.  She's kind of into pestering her big sister, but she's pretty nice overall.  Jordan said she got up on her knees yesterday, but I have not yet witnessed this feat.

Her other new habit is making this goofy sound with her mouth that we used to call the lawnmower sound (remember, Kris?).  Hard to describe, but she makes the noise throughout her playtime. :)  She loves to blow raspberries still and STILL hasn't said ma-ma.  :(  She loves to scream her head off just to get attention.  She'll yell at the top of her lungs, and I'll run into the room just to find her laughing.  She's notorious for pulling those false alarms often.  She loves to pant like a dog, which is just strange.  Now that she's giggling more, we're having fun making her laugh.... and she loves to make gargling noises when she's not giggling.

fun's:
* Emily's obsessed with ceiling fans.  As soon as she enters a room, it's the first thing she looks for- good luck distracting her out of that!
* her goofy jabbering & noises
* the way she lights up when she sees Mommy or Daddy OR Elyse
* watching her gasp for breath & giggle if the wind is blowing in her face
* Em's just starting to "hug" me- grabbing my shoulders when she's being held
* She loves to knock things off of her toy box, which is at the foot of her crib.  I see her little hand poke between the slats and start pushing things off... She gives me a big smile when I catch her in the act.  I admit, Daddy is the one that keeps putting the stuff back up, but I think I would, too, just to catch her in the act...
* I love the way she loves her daddy...
* She holds her breath with delight when she gets to "fly" into her crib at night.  She immediately rolls to her back and starts laughing.
* I love watching her push her little booty up in the air!
* Warm weather is coming, and she's got the cutest feet to display.  I can say that- I'm her mom.
* I do love watching her enjoy food.

not-so-fun's:
* In light of that, I don't enjoy watching her rub food in her hair. That is one big downfall of all of that hair!!  She could pretty much use a bath after every meal.
* With all of her energy comes a great deal of frustration if she can't get what she wants.  BOO.
* Screams.  Screams.  Screams.  Screams when she wants to roll over while I'm changing her diaper, screams while she's getting her two teeth brushed, screams when she's impatient... when I scold her, she gives me a pretty evil smile, too :)  She LOVES to hear her own voice.
* She's not at ALL gentle with books.  Even board books take a beating with her!
* Emily's totally a second child.  I have a feeling she'll get all the things her big sister didn't at this age... aka. sugar.  I'm TRYING to hold out until she's 1, so we'll see if I can...

We love you, Emily~ Please learn to quit pulling your sister's hair & glasses... other than that, we think you're just perfect :)