Violet - Ten Months

Ten. Months. Old. We're in double-digit territory now, baby. Speaking of baby - in only two short months you will no longer be one! In two months you will transform into a toddler. A toddler - that sounds so grown up! But don't worry, sweetheart...you'll always be our baby.

This month has brought with it a lot of firsts. You are now officially army crawling. You stay down on your belly and pretty much drag yourself across the floor. It works out pretty well on our slippery wood floors, but we know you'd rather be walking. Every chance you get you grab onto our hands with your chubby little fingers and take off after cats, toys, whatever catches your eye. Sometimes you just walk for the sake of walking - you can't get enough of it!

You think you can walk on your own and often try to let go of our hands and take off, but you unfortunately end up on your tiny little behind instead. You've been practicing pulling yourself up on anything and everything and now you can even walk along the sofa, toy table, and TV stand. Your Grammy and Pop Pop bought you a pretty pink stroller that you love to push around the house as well. Do you know what all of this means? We need to baby proof pronto!

As our first step toward a baby proof house, we bought a new vacuum cleaner just for you. That's right - your mama sacrificed her birthday gift for the sake of a clean house. (You're welcome) Every. single. speck of dirt interests you. It goes something like this: You're army crawling along, minding your own business when a piece of lint catches your eye. You work on picking it up with your newly discovered pincer grip, until - victory! It is in your grasp. It then must be thoroughly examined - you turn it, study it, you furrow your brow in deep concentration, pondering - what is this fuzzy grayish thing I've discovered? Where did it come from? Why doesn't my mommy want me to have it? That must mean it's something really fun and amazing. Hmmmm...I wonder what it tastes like...

Your hand slowly moves toward your mouth when, blast! Your mama snatches it out of your hand as you screech in protest. Your father and I have become skilled in the art of distraction lately - put a book in front of your sweet chubby-cheeked face, and suddenly, all is right in the world again.

Yep, you are some good cleaning motivation babe, that's for sure. And between our two furballs and our new shedding striped rug, there are always plenty of new pieces of lint for mommy to clean up for you to examine. Most things eventually seem to make their way toward your mouth. We can't blame you - you've got new teeth popping up left and right! Most recently, an incisor. You haven't quite figured out what these sharp white things are for, so you've taken to grinding them. Someday we promise we'll let you use them to chew up some yummy food, but for now we usually try to distract you with toys, teething rings, and pacifiers - anything to make that horrible grinding noise stop!

You celebrated your very first Valentine's Day this month with lots of love from your mommy and daddy. You even made us a card at your babysitter's house - what a crafty little girl you are!

And that babysitter of yours - she's a keeper. She has sewn beautiful dresses and skirts for you, has gotten you into a routine, and has helped you learn to fall asleep on your own. She takes you to the library and the park and keeps a journal telling us about your day and new accomplishments. It's not easy for our mama to go to work every day, but it helps to know that you are in a safe, happy home filled with love and fun.

At home we still let you fall asleep in our arms - we like to soak up every precious moment with you that we can, but it's nice to know that you can fall asleep on your own. Your daddy is your favorite person at bedtime these days - his calm presence and big strong arms perfect for sleepy babies.

Your new favorite thing to do is wave. You start waving the minute we lift you out of your crib in the morning and continue until we put you to bed at night. You wave at toys you like, and you wave at the cats; you wave at strangers, and you wave at people you love. Sometimes you wave for no reason at all. Even the most stoic passerby can't help but smile as they pass us on the street - your sweet little princessy wave is just way too cute to be ignored. You also love to clap - I'm sure you'll be blowing kisses and high-fiving before we know it.

Violet, we just can't get over how much you grow and learn each day. What will next month bring? Crawling? Your first words?? Walking??? Only time will tell. Even as we feel that you are growing up too quickly, we can't wait to see what new things you will learn. We love you more each day, sweetheart. Keep exploring, keep learning, keep growing, but please always, always be our baby girl. Happy ten months.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy