Tracey Ann - 10 Months

 My precious baby girl is ten months old... my goodness, how is this possible?

Weight:

 Probably a little more than 17.5 pounds, but I'm not sure exactly... I'm just excited to be posting the ten month update ON her ten month birthday, the fact I don't have an updated weight is not something I'm going to worry about.

Length:  

Probably a little longer than 27", which she was at her nine month check up.

Clothing size:
She mostly wears 9 and 12 month clothes, although some six month clothes still fit her.  We have been fortunate to receive some hand-me-downs from a family from our church, but some of the sizes and seasons don't always match.  Luckily, she wears skirts and dresses with pants underneath, and short-sleeve shirts with long-sleeve onesies underneath.  We are all about the layers.

Eating: 

She is such a great eater.  I've said that almost every month... but she really is.  This month she even tasted some of my mom's three-bean salad, which I don't like, and she made a face when she first tasted the vinegar, and then happily ate the beans once she was used to it.  She tried my chili this month, and some of daddy's elk back strap.  We do not have a vegetarian on our hands -- we have to give her veggies before the meat because otherwise she will only eat the meat and ignore her veggies.  She's also still loving breast milk.

Sleeping: 

This month has gone more smoothly with sleeping, with the exception of about ten days following daylight savings time, during which time we traveled to New York for a wedding... the time change with the different time zones with the excitement of traveling, Grammie and Papa, a hotel room, and a wedding took some time to re-create our good sleep schedule.  Now, we're back to normal with Tracey Ann falling asleep between 7-8pm, and sleeping until around 6am.  She often wakes up around 3, and I'm too tired to remember that she will probably go back to sleep on her own -- I often sleepwalk to her room, bring her back to our bed, and start nursing her before I realize the she really doesn't need this and I shouldn't have done this.

New Accomplishments: 

• Tracey Ann had her first Halloween this month, and dressed up like a little pumpkin -- because she is such a little pumpkin.  No Trick-Or-Treating, but we did visit a corn field and pumpkin patch.

• I know Tracey Ann isn't "officially" a toddler until she turns one year -- but this month she really became a toddler.  She gets into anything and everything, and moves a mile a minute.

• She can now lower herself from a standing to a seated position with control rather than plopping down with a thump.
• She has started raising her hands up above her head... sometimes on cue (like when we say TOUCHDOWN), sometimes not
• She has waved good-bye a few times and she has clapped her hands, but neither one consistently

• She has learned to stand in the bathtub... and we are trying to teacher her NOT to stand in the bathtub
• We've started letting her play with pots and pans and wooden spoons when we're in the kitchen

• She's begun nodding her head "yes" and shaking her head "No" -- and often it makes complete sense when she does it.  One night, Chris was talking to Tracey Ann and he told her that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.  Then he said, "Most beautiful is a superlative.  Can you say superlative?"  And she looked at him... then he said, "Should superlative be your first word?" and Tracey Ann looked at him and then shook her head "No."  It was adorable and hilarious... and clearly our child is brilliant!
• She's begun handing her toys or pacifier over to someone while she's playing with it... now she doesn't release the toy from her own grip yet, but she hands it over
• She loves the taste of her different toys... and now she tries to put them in our mouths as well -- she's sharing the tastiness
• She has begun getting stuck places... under chairs, in between furniture...

• She can now hold her toys while crawling, pulling up and standing
• Unfortunately, she is in the process of catching her first cold.  Yesterday morning she began coughing, and by the end of the day she had a little runny nose too.
• We tried out a new church this month, which has a nursery for babies age 6-24 months, and so she had her first real experience playing with peers her own age.  She and I both spent time in the nursery to sort of check it out... I'm not sure I'll be leaving her in there by herself yet, but she did so well exploring the new toys and doing parallel and a little interactive play with the other babies.

Likes: 

•  Cat toys (the little balls with bells inside her the perfect size for her hands)
• The toilet
• Pots pans spatulas
• Pushing doors closed
• Pulling up on Lloyd
• Trying to touch Lexie
• Jumping

Dislikes:

• Getting her diaper changed... she doesn't like to lay still
• Being sick

Places She Went:

•  New York (21st state)
• Abbie's wedding

• Pumpkin patch

• 2nd Airplane trip -- first airplane trip with Daddy along

Special Memories:

• Daddy went elk hunting in Wyoming for an entire week, and I ran the show at home all by myself... and Tracey Ann and I survived.  We had to have our nanny arrive an hour earlier every morning because usually there is an hour after I've left but before our nanny arrives when Chris is at home... but without Chris, we needed her to adjust her schedule, which she graciously did for us
• First snow that we could actually go outside and play in -- she has had "first snows" but she was too little to go outside in it... of course, it was only after I had her all bundled up that I realized she doesn't have winter boots...

• She got to hang out with the bride and bridesmaids the day before Aunt Abbie's wedding, and she had a blast trying to help prepare for the wedding

• She had fun with Grammie and Papa and Daddy while Mama was a bridesmaid in the New York wedding

• Grandma and Grandpa Miller came to visit right after our time in New York and got to enjoy some time with Tracey Ann

• Tracey Ann tried turkey for the first time because we had an early Thanksgiving meal when Grandma and Grandpa Miller were in town
• Tracey Ann and I had our first experience trying to shoot our Christmas Card photo for the year... I, for some reasons, chose to do this while Hubby was out of town... so I boldly tied Lexie, Lloyd, and Tracey Ann to a chair, and did my best to make them smile

Nicknames:

• Tracey Ann
• Tracey
• Baby Girl
• Beautiful
• Pumpkin (pronounced Punkin)
• Fuss-o (when she's fussy)
• Pretty Girl
• Little Climber
• Squirmy
• Hard Worker
• Problem Solver 

Oh my... this little girl is just the best thing in the world.