10 Months

Norah turned 10 months on Saturday. When her dad was this age, this is what he was up to:

"At 10 months Seth is on his way to walking. If we hold his hands, he goes strutting around the room like a proud peacock—leading with his stomach. He has learned how to open the kitchen cupboards and enjoys taking all the pans out and climbing inside. He got his 2 upper teeth last month so it seems like we’re always saying “don’t bite” to him. He likes to play “peek” and waves bye-bye like a celeb.—with an open palm, slowly from side to side. He likes to knock over a tower of blocks and pays more attention to the pictures in his books. He doesn’t sleep much during the day: ½ hour morning and aft. but sleeps 12-13 hours/night. He still nurses 3-4 times a day."

Like her dad, Norah struts around the house like a proud peacock (leading with her stomach) when we hold her hands. Between that and her best friend the walker, she really seems to be enjoying her mobility. One afternoon we put Norah in her room for a few minutes while we went upstairs to grab a few things before heading out. We came down the stairs to find her on the landing - she had climbed up two steps! We learned a lesson that day, and are lucky we didn't have to learn it the hard way.

Norah makes her teachers nervous when she stands up in what they call the "doughnut" (sort of a padded ring) with no hands. She occasionally likes to practice her balance, but more often she prefers to be on the move. This is also evidenced by the fact that sometimes she fusses as soon as I start putting her in her carseat. I get the feeling she just plain wants out - she would rather be walking around with her walker! We have had a fair amount of fussing between home and the daycare lately, which I hope is just a phase.

Another phase we hope will pass soon is Norah's crying while we change her. We joke that her changing pad cover (which cost about $15, by the way, and is quite plush) must have pins in it. Particularly after her bath at night she often cries the entire time we are putting on lotion, a diaper and PJs. The only thing we can figure out is that she would prefer to be doing something else. It should be noted that the crying stops as soon as we pick her up.

Her personality is developing at a rapid speed. She is starting to understand when we are telling her that something is not a toy, and when we do she often lightly touches her hand to the object and looks at us with a big ornery grin on her face.

There are some specific things in the house that we know she will go for as soon as she enters a room and they come into sight. These include books on my bed side stand, any items on the edge of the tub, our water bottles and the remote controls. One morning Seth and I heard the TV go on from the kitchen and looked out into the living room to find Norah, remote in hand, staring at the TV in disbelief.

Norah seems to like singing. I often sing to her in the car on the way or way home from daycare. When I start a song, particularly the ABCs, she holds her hand out and flips her wrist up and down. She also likes to say "Baaahhhh" while moving the back of her hand on and off of her mouth, making a funny sound.

I have mentioned before that Norah reserves her biggest smiles for Seth. Every morning after I get done nursing her from the recliner she stands up on my lap, finds Seth in the kitchen, waits for him to smile and gives him one of her classic grins. She has also started seeking him out when I ask, "Where is daddy?" or "Norah, who's your daddy?"

Unlike her dad, Norah doesn't have any teeth yet. We're also still patiently waiting on hair (beyond the tiny bit she has now) and are prepared to be waiting for a while.

Norah sleeps close to an hour twice a day and about 12 1/2 to 13 hours at night. She sometimes sleeps in a bit later on the weekends when all is quiet in the house, but generally seems to be a light sleeper.

This month we enjoyed play dates with friends Sarah and Jessica, meeting a new friend Tyce, having cousins TJ and Luka over for a slumber party, and swimming in the pool.

We feel like we are in a nice groove these days. Yes, we are prepared for that to change, but for now we will continue to savor every minute we get with together.