10 months come and gone

A note from Mommy to Lexie:

I can hardly believe you are already 10 months old. It truly seems like only yesterday I held you in my arms for the very first time. You can count on my saying that countless times throughout the rest of your life. Though I recognized your beauty the moment you were born, you have grown more beautiful with each passing day. Your hair continues to grow in length and lighten in color, and you have sparkling sapphire eyes. Your physical attributions no longer look like those of an infant but of a little girl. I can start to see the beautiful woman you will one day become. You look so much like your daddy that seeing the beauty in you attracts me even more to your father than ever before.

You continue to be a pleasant baby in demeanor. I cannot make a trip to the grocery store without at least half a dozen people stopping to marvel at you and that addictive smile. Everybody who sees you comments on what a happy baby you are. You seldom cry, but at this point in your life, you still get your way most always. You are like me in that respect—happy as long as you are getting your way. Let’s hope this is something we can change in both of us as we grow.

Finally, you are starting to be mobile, something everybody has both anticipated and dreaded (or at least I dread keeping the house clean enough for your busy self). Crawling is something you have held little interest in. You love to push yourself with your hands and roll, but you dislike using your knees very much. We have decided you are too smart to crawl. You always find alternative ways to get what you want rather than crawling to it. Most often you will grab at and pull things towards yourself rather than bringing yourself to the desired object. Very recently you have begun what daddy refers to as “army crawling.” You are using your hands and upper body to pull yourself around the room. Each day you are getting a little braver and trying to get yourself around a little more than the previous day. All of the Christmas gifts and wrapping materials around the house have provided you some good motivation. You love to sit up and to climb. Sitting in laundry baskets is one of your favorite pastimes. You can pull yourself up on the sides of the basket, dump it over, and climb over it.

Your fine motor skills are excellent! You love to grasp toys and move them from hand to hand. You now help me get you dressed by pushing your arms through the sleeves and manipulating your toys from hand to hand to fit into the garment. You love to eat fruit and veggie puffs all by yourself, picking up the tiny pieces and bringing them to your mouth. You have also become a pro at drinking water from your handled sippy cups. Waving bye-bye is another new feat you have accomplished. Clapping is probably your favorite activity. You love to clap along with any music playing. We clap at the end of songs and after any time something exciting happens or you accomplish something. You have a very good sense of rhythm, often clapping on or near the beat along with the radio or c.d.s. Of course you also clap along to “patty cake.” Another favorite song/nursery rhyme is the Itsy Bitsy Spider to which you already know and perform the movements when we sing it with you.

Verbally, you are growing leaps and bounds every moment of every day. You talk about daddy all day long singing, “da-da-da- daddy- dad.” You can say “mama” too, but this one you unfortunately only say when you are mad or upset, usually asking for me. You also say “baby,” “hey,” and “hi” frequently. You say some variation of “patty cake” and begin furiously clapping your hands when you want us to sing patty cake with you. You have said so many words only once or twice simply repeating after an adult. The most amazing thing to me is that your vocabulary is far from random. You are quickly learning to associate words, actions, and people, such as saying “daddy” when you want your daddy or “patty cake” for the song. Though you are starting to say “real” words, you still enjoy babbling and do so often. You also enjoy singing (and dancing too), and you sing along with the hymns at church, home, and anywhere else music is played. You and your Pawpaw enjoy singing barbershop music together when you are at Mawmaw and Pawpaw’s house. You especially enjoy singing when you are tired, regularly singing yourself to sleep.

You really recognize the people in your life now, of course holding a strong preference for mommy and daddy. However, your strongest preference when they are around is for your grandmothers. You absolutely love to be with your Mawmaw and your Nina and will take them over me almost any time. You also recognize and get very excited to see your aunts, uncles, and cousins, especially Aunt Kay, Erin, Harry, Matt, Aunt Anna, and Uncle Phil. You have a new baby cousin Elijah Andrew about whom you are increasingly curious. You try to grab and rub him, trying to figure out who this new little person is. I look forward to watching you and Elijah grow up together.

Just yesterday you played in your first snow. You absolutely love the cold weather, so much so that I can never keep a hat on you. In the snow, however, you weren’t quite sure what to think. You were neither scared nor excited with it; you just sat quietly taking it all in. Tonight you, daddy, and I drove through the Our Lady of the Snows shrine in Belleville, IL. You enjoyed the lights very much. Your car seat still faces backwards, but you are getting tall enough to see out the windows nonetheless. You didn’t miss a second turning from side to side to see all around us.

Your first Christmas is quickly approaching, and I am both excited and fearful to see the many gifts you are sure to receive. We have already informed your grandparents that many of their gifts will be staying at their homes for you to play with when you visit.

As you continue to grow and learn, I hope and pray you will always know and remember how much your daddy and I love you. The word “no” is increasing in our home, and it makes me realize you will not be innocent forever. Though there are sure to be times we disagree and argue, know our love for you never ceases.