We are pretty sure you are the world's smartest baby. At 10 months, you have not only learned new words we have purposefully taught you, but you have also picked up a word that evidently I say a lot. You started saying, "OHHH KAAYYY" in your sweet little voice. When you first wake up you say, "hiiiii-iiii-iii" and then, "ohhh-kaayy" and then sometimes, "daa-eee" which is how you say daddy. You also say mama, but I'm not sure you've made the connection that is who I am. You hear a motor noise and you point outside and say, "car". When we are on walks or in the grocery store you point and wave and say hi to people we see, but of course when we want to show off your talking to friends, you get shy and hide your face.
You are crawling all over like a little banshee. If we leave a baby gate open you make a break for it and crawl as fast as you can out of the living room and down the hall. You can also pull yourself up to standing using any piece of furniture or sturdy parent appendage. A favorite game is "book toss" where you stand in front of a bookshelf and pull books off into a big pile on the floor. You can do that for hours if there is someone willing to put the books back on the shelf for you to clear it again and again.
We have started a routine of dropping you off at Nana and Grandpa's a couple days a week so I can go to the gym by myself. You are always happy over there and don't seem to miss me much. Which is good; it would be a lot harder to leave you if you cried when I left.
You do cry to communicate your displeasure. For instance, we might be out on a walk in the BOB and you decide you want OUT NOW and scream and cry real tears until I unbuckle the straps and pick you up. The crying seems like less of a manipulation to get what you want than the manifestation of powerful desires. You know what you want and it is very upsetting when you don't get it. Hopefully, the more words you learn, the less you'll have to cry to communicate with us.
It is also getting harder to take you to restaurants because you are so wiggly. You want to get down and explore and are not content to sit in laps or highchairs for long. However, last night we took you to Taste of Thai with Heather and John and you were a perfect angel, playing/mangling a slice of cucumber for a good 15 minutes and then sitting in the highchair sweetly for the rest of the meal.
You still do not have any teeth.
Last weekend Alanna came to visit us and we had a wonderful time going to the beach and just hanging out.
You love pushing buttons on anything electronic. This means I have to take the batteries out of the remote control if we are watching TV and I'm afraid to look at my cell phone bill because I think you have been downloading NFL scores. It is also hard to sit at the computer with you on my lap because you have discovered how much fun it is to bang on my keyboard. Taking photos and videos of you is tricky because you see the camera and want to grab it and start pushing buttons.
You think peek-a-boo is a very funny game. Also hilarious is when we balance your toys on top of our heads. Dogs are funny too, and you sit in your car seat while we are driving just laughing your head off sometimes. I have no idea what is so funny back there.
You still love books. I bought you two books that were my favorites as a kid: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst and In The Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak. Alexander is exactly how I remembered it but In The Night Kitchen is really strange. You still prefer Where The Wild Things Are, and we still read it every night.
Here are some videos we took in the last few days of you talking and standing and crawling around and being a generally cute baby:
All this talking is your best trick yet.
Love, Mama
