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Oh. My. Goodness. 10 months old!! All the heart eyes for this chubby little happy girl! This little baby has just stolen my heart in the last 10 months, and honestly, she just gets more and more fun each month that she's in our family. I'll admit, when I first found out that I was pregnant, I was scared. How would I love another child like I did Audrey? Audrey was such a good and easy baby, and child. I was TERRIFIED when Michel went back to work and I had to keep Audrey and Ava by myself. I look back at that now and think why????? Ava is seriously the best baby ever! If she cries, there is a reason, and once fixed, she stops crying. Usually the main reason for crying means she's hungry. Once fed, she's happy again!
As she's gotten older, I have so enjoyed watching the relationship between Ava and Audrey flourish. They really play so well together, and Audrey is always willing to entertain Ava. Audrey loves "performing" for Ava to get her to laugh!
Her gross motor skills are WAAAAAY behind. Around New Year's is when she really started sitting up with a straight back. She's very weak in her upper body; her lower body is pretty good. She's been in physical therapy with the same therapist since she was 3 months old, and her physical therapist is very proud of her progress. She progresses each time we go to therapy; it's just slower-than-most progress. We're now bumping up to weekly therapy (right now we go every other week) because her doctor feels it's so beneficial for her. This is where her laid-back personality works against her. She's totally fine sitting in one spot as long as she can reach some toys. If she can't, she has a specific yell that she uses, and Audrey always runs to her saying, "Here Ava! Here's your favorite toy!" Audrey does not like hearing her fuss (it's so sweet).
Everything else (developmental-wise) is right on track. She talks and babbles all. the. time! She says bababa, mamama, nanana, dadada, gagaga, and has recently added the /p/ sound (puhpuhpuh). She loves growling, spitting, blowing, and patting herself on the mouth to make fun baby noises. She is also very good at feeding herself, but honestly, really only wants Cheerios or Puffs. She'll eat baby purees, but doesn't love them unless they contain fruit (for added sweetness).
She gives me a big baby hug every morning when I get her out of bed (when I pick her up, she squeezes my neck and pulls her little legs up to cuddle into me!), and she just makes me melt with how loving she is. This morning I was holding her, and she looked right at my face and said, "mama." Not mamamama babble, but just one "mama." Melt. My. Heart!!!
She's got the best facial expressions ever, and sometimes I feel like she's looking at us thinking, "What kind of family was I born into??" :)
If you can't tell from this long post, she is just the best second daughter I could have ever prayed for, and our family is blessed to have her in our lives. Here's the stats:
Length: 26 3/4"
Weight: 17 lbs 8 oz
Head Circ: 18 1/2"
Sleep: She naps about 45 minutes to an hour in the morning (usually 9:45-10:30/10:45) and again from about 2-4. If her second nap was bad (an hour or less), she goes to bed around 6:30; if her afternoon nap was good, she's in bed closer to 7. She's gotten really good about not waking much before 7am (for awhile it was closer to 5:45 or 6am).
Eating: This girl still takes 5 bottles a day! I know at this age Audrey only drank 3 bottles a day, and was more into real food. Ava would rather have a bottle, and just a little real food thrown in there. I'm fairly confident she'll still be on formula by a year old.
Clothes: She can still wear 6-9m clothing, and it usually fits pretty well. Some 6m onesies fit really well depending on the brand, and sometimes she needs 9m clothes.
New achievements of the month:
1. Can sit all the way up
2. She got her 2 bottom teeth around 9 months, and they are soooo cute!!!
3. She got so spoiled with all the holding at Christmas! She really doesn't like not having constant attention on her now lol (this sounds like Audrey!)
Things she likes:
1. Being held while I scoop formula into her bottle and watching me scoop and hearing me count it out - it brings a huge smile to her face
2. Hearing the door open every morning or after a nap - she knows it means she gets out of bed!
3. Loud noises (weird, huh??) - the blender, the food processor, anything loud makes her laugh
4. Petting Ninja
5. When Audrey plays with her
Things she doesn't like:
1. Being hungry