10!

It has been 10 months since our babygirl came into our lives. And they have been the most wonderful ten months of our lives. She is just as sweet as her little rosy cheeks make her look. It makes me sad when you see a cute child and compliment them, and the mom says, "Ugh, you can have her!" That's just kind of depressing. And even on those days when there is teething whining and no naps, my days are still joyfully sweet with my little Rei Rei. We thank God for her, the little angel that she is.

Notice, she has her hairbrush in her hand. One of latest "forbidden item" addictions. Much like the remote and telephones and my water bottle. Except sometimes I let her hold the hairbrush and it makes her excited. Unlike the other items, which are strictly off limits.

You will see that I only got one photo of her with the actual "10 months" sign being visible. It's becoming a strategic game that I must find the solution to. Reilly is sporting her best Irish gear this month, seeing as she is about 25% Irish, and her name is about 100% Irish.

Here are some of our latest developments:

1. CRAWLING! She can crawl anywhere and everywhere she would like. And when she is crawling toward something particularly exciting, she crawl/hop/jumps while hysterically laughing.

2. Imitating. She is SO FAST at imitating pretty much any sound or motion. She is quicker at sounds, though she can do motions just as well. For example, we were food shopping yesterday and a man sneezed a low, manly sneeze. Reilly looked at him and imitated the sound perfectly in a low growl. She apparently thinks everyone who sneezes is playing a game with her like her Mama.

3. Finger food eating. She is a pro at it now! She picks up tiny pieces of food with her little fingers. It's hilarious to watch. Right now we mainly eat Puffs, Cheerios, sweet potato, and avocado.

Okay, this picture. She was swinging around the shamrock I made, and the stem would tickle her in the face. And then she did this, for like 5 straight seconds. And I am SO GLAD I got it on camera. She. Is. Hilarious.

4. Kneeling. She can pull herself up to kneeling using a chair, ottoman, crib, etc.

5. Waving! She can wave Hello and Bye Bye! And she can do both waves, whichever one I am doing. You know, the hand flap, or the whole arm wave. Now is that ain't talent, I don't know what is.

6. Speaking. She will make all different sounds, and sing-song them together like she is trying to speak sentences and words.

7. SHARING! Daddy taught her this one. When she has something, if you say "Share," she will give it to you! Unless she picked up a piece of dust off the floor and Mama says share, then she puts it in her mouth. It's awesome. Let's hope this one sticks.

8. Strangers. She really loves peoples, anyone and everyone, especially if they are strangers. She will stare at them and smile at them, as her NY-bred mama is trying to ignore them and give them the cold shoulder and walk briskly away. Now I'm not talking old-lady-grocery-shopping strangers. Although Reilly loves them too. I'm talking about weird Walmart strangers, rest-stop bathroom strangers, really anyone. Even when we were at the doctor, and he was examining her, she was giggling. He said he has never seen a baby so joyful as he was so close to her face and poking and prodding. I'm still on the fence if this is a good thing or not. Right now, I say good, because I have the most content and friendly baby ever. I just have to put the fear of strangers in her and read her the scary Bernstein Bear Stranger Danger book. Then we'll be good.

I found a way to get the sign in the picture! I held it in front of her and had her crawl to it. SCORE. Except, she is in fact 10 months old, and not 0 months. For the record.

I can't wait to see what this month brings!!

Love & 10,
dr Mama