Hello again!

I can't believe that it's been more than three weeks since I posted- and that February is already almost over!! I get sad sometimes thinking about how fast time is going by, but it is so exciting to see our baby growing and changing so much on a daily basis.

We have had a couple of teeny-tiny steps, but no walking yet. I am not in a rush to see her walk, but I want it to happen soon when I am around so I can get over my fear of missing it! This past couple of weeks that fear was nonexistent, however, since there wasn't a single minute that we could put her down.

After having a cold for three straight weeks and a cough for more than a week, we finally went to the doctor. Her ears and lungs were completely clear, but the doctor was still worried the cold could spread to one or both, so we started antibiotics. Within a couple of days, the cold had disappeared! We finished out the prescription like the instructions said, and then within two days baby was sick again- but not just cold-sick... she was the sickest we had ever seen her. Incredibly lethargic, inconsolable at times, and just plain sad. It was horrible to see- we considered taking her in to the emergency room when her fever spiked to 103.5 (and didn't even beep- we stopped it because she threw up), but our doctor said to try tylenol and a lukewarm bath to bring her temp down, and that worked. She slept through the night, but still seemed to be very sick and not herself, so we went to the doctor. Turns out her ears went from "perfect" and completely clear, to both being infected :( Now she is on a stronger antibiotic, and she already seems to be 100xs better, although she is more tired and a lot weaker than usual. She did play and even dance a little last night, and this morning I got her to eat a little bit of breakfast, so I'm hoping that means she's getting back to her normal self.

Besides being sick, our baby girl has been doing fantastic! She has the greatest personality- she is a little jokester and loves trying to make us laugh. Her new thing she does is to try and get a reaction from us and then show she was just kidding around- like pretending she has picked something up from the floor and put it in her mouth, or grabbing wires (phone chargers, computer cords, etc.) and pretending to put them in her mouth. It is hilarious- she looks at you with a mischievous smile, and then puts her hand to her mouth really quickly, watching the whole time with eyes that look like she's holding in hysterical laughter. As soon as you say something, she shows you that whatever it was is still in her hand and not in her laugh and gives a great big smile, like 'I fooled you!' It is a lot of fun.
She still loves to play peek-a-boo, both by hiding her own face and by hiding ours, or by hiding behind things. She likes to "beep" our noses- we make a beep sound when she touches our nose- and she has now figured out that we'll do it if she touches the dog's nose too, which she loves. She also loves to gently pet our valentine's day roses, and crinkle the leaves that have fallen off. Every time we go into her room or leave it, she wants to go around and wave at everything- the pictures on the wall, the dolls hanging from springs, the moon nightlight, her stuffed animals, etc... Every time we go into Mr. Beaver's office or leave it, she blows her daddy kisses- which she will also do to the dog, and even to her Nana and Grandpa on skype (we haven't gotten her to do it for Grandma yet). She likes chasing us and running from us, especially now that we got her a big tunnel to crawl through and hide in. She enjoys taking things out of boxes/bags/etc. and putting them back in, which I'm hoping means that she will clean up after herself when she gets older :)

Her absolute favorite things these days are her books. When she is sleepy, she will lay in our laps while we read to her, and she points to the pictures as we go, but most of the time she prefers to 'read' by herself, or with one of us close by just to label the pictures as she points. She spends so much time each day just sitting with a book and flipping through the pages. I am amazed that she already has such a strong interest!

I hear her waking up from her nap, but I can't end without mentioning another huge development- most nights, our baby will sleep through the night!! In the past couple of weeks she has only woken up twice to eat (and that was still after sleeping 8 hours straight), and twice because of having a dirty diaper from the antibiotics. She has a pretty regular bedtime of 8:30, and then wakes up between 6:30-7:30. Also, for naps and bedtime, she goes to sleep on her own! We put her in her crib and say night-night, and she will play and look at books for a few minutes, then lay down with her blanket in her fist until she is asleep. I am so proud of her! At the same time, I feel a little sad that she is getting to be such a big girl already!

half-step toward walking...

our baby girl took a half step!! I don't think it counts as walking or anything, but it was very exciting and scary. She stands hands-free all the time now, and can stand up from the ground without holding/pulling up on anything. Two days ago she took the first step not holding on to anything, but barely put any weight on the moved foot before collapsing down to her knees and crawling instead. I am scared she is so close to walking, but also scared I am going to miss her first steps! She has gotten a lot braver lately, and I get terrified and grab her every time she looks like she is going to try and walk when there is a table edge or something nearby. I know she will be walking soon...I'm guessing maybe even within the next few weeks.

Another physical milestone- she can make it up stairs. I thought we were doing well with our top-of-stairs gate, but that doesn't do much to keep her from climbing up! Looks like we need a bottom gate asap. She made it up four stairs within about 30 seconds! I waited to see how she'd do when she started trying, but then grabbed her before she could fall. Then I went and got Mr. Beaver and had her do it again to show him and get a video :) Hopefully that wasn't encouragement of the behavior...

(gave the video a whole day to load and it didn't work. I'll try to post it later I guess!)

Age: 9 1/2 months... actually more- only a week away from 10 months

Stats/Size: She registers on our scale now, weighing 19.4 lbs. When I weigh myself holding her and then subtract my weight without her she is 19.6, so about 19 1/2 lbs now.

Sleep: Great if she gets her second nap... she even went 8+ hours two nights in a row! Sometimes she still wakes up every 4-5 hours to eat, but as long as she gets both naps during the day she goes right back to sleep. Last night she didn't, and was up for a while in the middle of the night...I'm exhausted! She is still fighting sleep unless we wait for her to be completely exhausted.

Eat: Excellent! A new favorite food: quinoa. She is already getting decent at putting a spoon of food in her mouth if I put the food on it.

Getting Around: Cruising fast. I know it won't be long before she walks... She has mastered walking while just holding one of my fingers with one of her hands. Now she has started running while holding both my hands...

New People: none lately, soon she will make some new friends at baby activities we are joining

Best moment this week: hmm. the half-step I guess? we were both there to see it which was nice.

Worst moment this week: one night after missing her second nap baby woke up and wanted to play for a couple of hours before going back to sleep... that was not fun.

What I miss: being able to hold my baby for long periods of time without my arms getting sore :)

What I am looking forward to: starting kindermusik and swim classes! And of course warm weather!!! I really, really hate the cold.

PS: This is why I don't post pictures... can't keep her still for a second! Poor thing didn't realize she was in deep, freezing snow when she decided to start crawling around. oops!