10 months old!

At 10 months old you are all over the place! Climbing on to everything, pulling yourself up, getting up the stairs! You have finally decided to incorporate "regular" crawling into your army crawling, but you still prefer the latter. You even let go of the couch for about one second yesterday and stood before falling. You have TEMPER, like I would have never thought, and that so comes from your Daddy. You like to bite me and shake your fists when I tell you no or take you away from something you aren't supposed to have. You have two teeth on the bottom now, and the ones up top are definitely coming soon. You are still an awesome sleeper, never giving me any trouble. You love to wave bye-bye at everything, especially the doggies.

A Visit from Maya

Now that you two don't see one another everyday, it's really cute to see your reactions when we get together. You are both genuinely so excited to see one another, it just melts my heart. One day last week I watched Maya for Aunt Jen, and got the pool out for the both of you. You had so much fun, and were chattering away with one another, almost as if you were discussing everything that had happened since you last saw one another. I really think (and hope) you two have already created an unbreakable bond, which will stand the test of time.

Lunch Date at Nonna's

Since Nonna doesn't drive we try to get up to her house to see her as much as we can. She loves to have you over, and can't wait until you are old enough where she can actually feed you! Which just happens to be her favorite thing to do! You love to crawl around and explore her little apartment, and when her favorite soap opera came on, you snuggled right up with her on the couch and watched TV with her. You are such a good little girl, and I know Nonna loves you so much!

Anticipation

The last time your Aunt Mitzi saw you, you were 6 weeks old. When she sees you again this weekend you will be 10 months old. Last time she saw you, you could fit in her arms, you slept all the time, you hardly even cooed, you were breastfeeding every 3 hours, and you weighed roughly 10 pounds. Now you are this little person, with such an enormous personality. 9 months isn't really a long time, but when you are talking about someone's first year of life...it's almost a world of difference. You are trying to walk, you have 2 teeth, you are eating real food, you are chattering away, you are waving "bye-bye", you are giggling all the time, you are about 17 pounds, and you know what you want. It is going to be just like showing you to her for the first time. You look just like her when she was a baby, and I can't wait for you two to meet once again. These next 3 weeks that she is home are going to fly by in the blink of an eye, but I know I will be cherishing every second. I wish she was here to see you grow and do new things everyday, but I know the two of you will have a special bond regardless of the miles placed in between. I show you Aunt Mitzi's picture everyday, and we have been counting down the days until she comes home and I can't believe that day is almost here.

Overwhelmed in the Best Way Possible

I've seen mothers and daughters interact my whole entire life. I've heard every parent say time and time again how they would do anything for their children. I've even seen the unthinkable and watched parents loose a child. All feelings and emotions that I could certainly relate to because I am human, but now I know I never really fully understood, until the day that you were born. Overwhelmed is the best way that I can put it into words. From the moment you were out of my body and placed on my chest, I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with responsibility. I am responsible now for you. I have to make all the decisions, and the best decisions possible concerning you. Overwhelmed with fear. Fear that I may hurt you, fear that I may do something wrong. This little tiny perfect being is looking up at me, and I was scared to death in some ways. Overwhelmed with tears. I still fill up most days just looking at you. I can remember when you came home, I cried almost everyday when I looked down at you. Overwhelmed with joy. You are the best thing that every happened to Daddy and I. You make us laugh and smile everyday, you make us both such better people. Overwhelmed with pride. From the moment you were born, we were proud of you for pooping, proud you drank a whole bottle, to now proud that you are waving bye-bye, and sleeping through the night. But the most life changing thing of all is how overwhelmed with love we are. Never did I ever even imagine that it was humanly possible to feel the way I feel about you. And all I can say is that you will never really understand this feeling until you become a mommy one day.

The Shore

We are so blessed to have Michelle in our lives and she has become such a wonderful friend to us. She graciously joined us for a day on the beach and took some amazing pictures all throughout the day. She first met your Daddy and I when we were young and so in love, she saw us vow to love each other forever, she saw you growing inside my belly, she saw you take your first breath, and now she gets to see you grow. She has documented everything wonderful that has ever happened in my life, and I am so very thankful. These are just some of my favorites.