Happy 10 Month Birthday

This past Sunday, sweet Mari turned 10 months old. I didn't do a 9 month update and I suppose I could go back and do one, but I'll just update here. Even though she was sick, we did manage to sing her happy birthday and I am thankful for being sick because it's been enough of a distraction from me to realize that she's officially been living outside of me longer than she was inside. *sigh*

Before we get started, here's some ghost cryptic Mari-blogging: [oi m78bg,

Ok, now onto the fun:

1. Just after her 9 month birthday, she took her frist steps with purpose. Now she's toddling around, almost running. They are right, it doesn't take them long to learn.


2. She's 18.5 lbs of atomic energy! lovesit.


3. She's 28" tall. Don and I were thinking that she and Yoda are close to the same height. ha ha


4. She still hasn't said dada, but I think she calls him papa. She will frequently say papapapa or popopopo for Guapo. I'm still trying to teach her sign language, but she's insistent on her own form of communication.


5. She is fiercely independent and one of the many telltale signs she's sick is that she's extra clingy, highly unusual for her.


6. Lately, she's been doing this lizard-tongue thing. I'm not sure what it means. Probably the same thing as her ever-increasing raspberry noises.


7. SHE LOVES SHOES!! Maybe not so much wearing them (which she doesn't really mind), but she loves touching them and feeling the texture of shoes, especially my patent pumps.


8. Unfortunately, she's a lover of TV and is a big fan of Wall-E, any action movie, and Baby Einstein.


9. She's starting to develop her love of music. Often, when we are riding around, if I'm singing along to a song, so is she. Then again, she could be trying to tell ME to quit singing (LOL), but I think it has more to do with singing along. She will try to sing herself to sleep, as well.


10. She loves to climb and pull up on things. We've blocked off all bookshelves and dressers.


11. She's starting to undersatnd the grasp of self-feeding. She really enjoys it when I put an assortment of goodies in her bowl to eat: goldfish, crackers, and cheerios.


12. Still no teeth, but when she does, I'll look into doing bento box lunches for her for school! (Have any of you tried that?)


13. She's an awesome assistant in the kitchen. She helped me measure out the ingredients for the cookie dough we handed out as favors to the party, she frequently helps me prepare her meals and our dinners, too!


14. She is such a wonderfully social baby and we are so very, very blessed!