Ten Months!

Here we are again. Another month has come and gone, and as usual, Stella is actually more like 10.5 months by the time I'm writing this.

So fortunate our little lady is healthy and strong. She's still as crazy as ever. The biggest news here is that she is now standing on her own for several seconds, and she has taken a couple of steps. I'm still not sure we can call them her "first steps" because the most she has taken is two. Still crazy to watch her begin these new skills, and I am honestly terrified. She can already crawl faster than I can run, and I just can't even imagine what she'll be getting into when she really catches on to walking. There is part of me, though, that is looking forward to not having to carry her as much. She is heavy!

She's wearing 18 month clothes now and a size 4 diaper. Her size 4 shoes seem to be getting a bit tight, too. She is a whopper!

 Current Height: I think it's still 29.5 inches

Weight: 25 lbs.!

Stella waves and claps a lot and can sort of "blow kisses" thanks to a friend who is a better mom than me. ;) She also has started laughing a lot more. She seems to be saying "mama" and "dada" in context now and can also say "baby" thanks to us serving in the nursery at church.

She has gotten much more into eating, and her favorite is chicken. Sorry Dad! Hopefully she'll learn to like real meat in the future. ;) She's also a big fan of blueberries and sugar snap peas these days. And, drinking water out of a water bottle or cup is a highlight to her day. I must say, the baby led weaning approach has worked wonderfully for us. We've never pureed anything for her or purchased any sort of baby food. I was a little nervous at first, but it seems to have worked well for Stella!

I really enjoy running errands with Stella because she has really started hamming it up for folks. It's so cute! She waves and grins so big at passersby so I get a kick out of their reactions. One major problem, though, is that she only wants to stand up in the cart so I spend the majority of my time turning her around and sitting her back down. It gets pretty exhausting so I'm hoping it's just a phase.

Her sleeping is still pretty terrible, but we have come to accept it and roll with it. She wakes multiple times a night but is fortunately very easy to get back to sleep. I'm okay with her just wanting reassurance that we are nearby, and if she wants a snack, so be it! Her naps are pretty hit or miss, but the last few days have gone pretty smoothly! I'll take what I can get.

Our life is so much different now than it was a year ago, but what a wonderful gift God has given us in Stella Breann. The giggles. The chubby thighs. The baby rattail. The sharp, little teeth. The cries at 1:30 a.m. The sore back. The poop stain on my Anthro rug. All wonderful gifts we don't deserve.

Enjoy some pics of our crazy lady!