Baby girl turned 10 months old. It's now the middle of the month, so I
suppose that makes her 10 and a half months... should I round up or
down? I prefer rounding down. Can we turn back the clock please? Life
is happening too quickly for my taste. I don't like the idea of my baby not
really being, well... a baby anymore. They say that the toddler stage happens
at one, and she'll be there in just a month and a half! Oh my. I don't know if
I'm ready for this. I guess life doesn't wait for these types of hesitations
though, right?
Despite my reluctance at allowing her to grow up (as if my
permission is something that is needed for it to come to pass) I really am
excited to see her transform into a toddler and a little girl. And, as much as
I loved the newborn stage and everything that followed, I love this stage the
most of any that I have experienced with her so far. She is so smart, and
funny! My daughter has a sense of humor, and I love it. She learns something
new every day, and she takes so much pride in her accomplishments—as do I. Some
her new feats include pulling herself up on furniture (and lowering herself
back down to her bum very slowly and methodically), walking around said
furniture, and scooting faster than ever before (she likes to speed up when she
knows someone is chasing her or when she is cognizant that she isn’t supposed
to go somewhere—like after the dog food). She also thoroughly enjoys talking. She has eight
words that she says frequently. In the order she started saying them the words
are “Mama,” “Dada,” “hi,” “hello,” “wow,” “ball,” “tickle,” and “what.” She
also said “bum bum” one day when I was changing her (she repeated after me when
I told her I needed to change her bum bum) but that was the last time I was
able to get her to say it. Also, yesterday I swear she tried to repeat after me
when I said “really,” but she only did it a few times before stopping and going
back to her familiar words. Also, as far as linguistics are concerned, she is babbling
a lot more lately and her incoherent strings of syllables have taken on a tongue-esque
quality that makes them almost sound alien. I couldn’t even duplicate these
sounds if I tried. She truly has her own little language.
So I used to keep this running tab in my iPhone of Klair’s various
accomplishments and when they occurred with the intent of eventually
transferring this information to the blog. I’ve been feeling this pressing need
to bring the blog up to date with this information, and I suppose I should have
listened. When I went to retrieve the notes I had made in my phone to create
this post I was pretty devastated to find that they were gone. Somehow, they
were erased. So now I’m left trying to fill I the gap from my last post (in
September) to now (the middle of October). Talk about feeling like a failure of
a mom. It’s bad enough that I post so infrequently, but now I can’t even say
for sure when it was that Klair strung together her first phrase (she did do
this, believe it or not). A few weeks
ago while we were sitting in bed she picked up my phone, put it to her ear and
said “hi Dada.” It was adorable and I believe pretty impressive for her to do
this at a mere 10 months old. Since then she has done this countless more
times. In fact, “talking” to Dada on the phone is one of her favorite past
times. She’ll pick up anything that resembles a phone—remotes, my friend’s
coasters—and say “hello” or “hi” to her Dada. It is so sweet for Sam to know
that he is the object of her imagination, and it’s completely gratifying for me
to know that I taught it to her by always saying “hi” or “hello Dada” when I call
Sam throughout the day. Today she even decided to include me in the
conversation and picked up my phone to say “hi Dada Mama.” It was
heart-melting. She really is watching me and picking up on so much!
In other Klair news she can now clap, she has mastered high
fives, and she loves to point to my nose, ears, and mouth when I ask her where
they are. She also finds it funny when we make dog noises and when the dog
herself makes dog noises directed at the cat. Apparently their little playful
quarrels are hilarious.
In general news we are adjusting well to our new home and neighborhood.
We really love it here. Sam and I were
called to be Cub Scout leaders over the nine year olds. I must say they are
pretty adorable and so fun. We’ve already done several fun activities with them
and have some exciting things planned for the near future. I think it has been
good for me to channel some of my teacher skills into something productive. I
also recently joined a book club and went to my first meeting at the end of last
month. Although I’m definitely the youngest one there (they asked my age and
although I was tempted to lie, I told them the truth) I feel like the ladies
were very open-minded and accepting of me. I plan to continue going. Klair and I also joined a play group at the
local park and have spent a lot of time going on walks and playing at this same
park. Before it got cold I was running almost everyday followed by playing with Klair on the swings and playground. Now that
the weather is turning I need to find something to replace the park. I’ve been
trying to set up play dates with other kids, and Klair really loves to
socialize with other babies. Perhaps I will also have to frequent places like
the library just to get us out of the house.
Sam has been working a lot lately (a lot being an
understatement). He was actually supposed to be out of town right now but
thanks to the government shutdown his travel plans were cancelled. I’m trying hard
not to be grateful for something that was so terrible for so many people, but I
suppose there is a silver lining in everything. It was definitely nice to keep
him home for five days that he would have otherwise spent away from us. I am,
however, extremely grateful to hear that the government will be back up and
running tomorrow. In my opinion it is long overdue and frankly this whole mess should
never have happened in the first place.
Aaand that was a tangent if I ever wrote one. I think I was
supposed to be…praising my husband? Oh yes. That was my intent. He is such a
good provider for our family! He works so hard to ensure that we have a
beautiful home and more than enough. I live such a good life and I owe it all
to him. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is definitely the best
decision that I have ever made.
Oh and speaking of providing, he recently traded in his
beloved car for a Ford Edge so that I can have a new, safe, convenient family
care with all-wheel drive for the winter time. He continues to drive our older car while letting
me ride around in luxury (seriously, it’s the nicest car I’ve ever owned).
Could I be more spoiled by my husband? I submit that I could not. He’s so
selfless. And cute. He’s passed out on
the couch right now, and I want to kiss his face…but I fear that would be
selfish because I would inevitably wake him. Hmmm… decisions… what to do?
Well, now I’m just rambling. I could go on forever talking
about my amazing baby and husband, but I should probably get some sleep. We
also recently had some family photos done so I think that will be my next goal—to
update this blog with some pictures! One day I will be a good blogger. For now
I will simply give myself credit for writing this. Go me J