Ten Months

Autumn,

Teeth! We have teeth! And the process hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. You have your lower left middle tooth which appeared on November 4th and you have your lower right lateral incisor (not the other middle tooth, but the one on the other side of that tooth) which came in on November 17th. Yay! You did it! I can also see where the gum is thinning around one of your top middle teeth.

You took your first solo steps on November 16th. You did it about 5 separate times throughout the day. It is mostly when you aren't thinking about it that you do it. The first time you were standing there for a few seconds and then you thought about where you wanted to go and I could see the wheels turning on how to get there. You struggled for a few seconds trying to get your hip up so that you could move your leg, but it wasn't quite working for you. Then you figured out that if you bent your knee slightly you could release that leg from being locked. And off you went! Well, it was about 3 steps, with your arms up in the air and a huge smile on your face. After that initial hurdle, the starting out was much easier. Though you still only take about 3 steps before gravity and momentum drag you down. Your Daddy and I just look at each other in amazement. I still haven't been able to catch it on film because as soon as you see the camera you want it and the fastest way to it is to crawl. You seem to do better if you are standing somewhere for a few seconds where you really get your balance, then when you start walking you aren't so wobbly. So far, this is the best I can do:


Walking, Snort! from Deb on Vimeo.

Car rides have been okay lately. Your favorite thing to do is throw all your toys out of your car seat. I do my best to teach you that once you throw them out they are gone, but sometimes I just can't take the unhappy noises coming from back there and reach back and give you another toy. Two more months and you can face forward! I've already ordered the new car seat!

The Crusher is still alive and well. Besides Cheerios, there isn't anything that you consistently will put in your mouth. Green beans, maybe, but probably not. Pieces of cheese, sure, a few. Bread? Okay, you'll eat bread (you are your mother's daughter!). Waffles? Nah, they mostly end up on the floor these days. You like yogurt, so that's good. We try feeding you at restaurants but everything is just too exciting for you to concentrate on eating. How silly of us!

Unfortunately you still have to wear the brace. The doctor said there has been a lot of improvement, but it isn't quite "perfect" yet. And he'd rather you be perfect. So we have another appointment in February. The past week or so hasn't been the best when it comes to sleeping in the brace. I hope it's due to the teething and once a few more teeth pop through you will calm down. We'll see!

You had your first Halloween! You were a candy corn, and while some people who saw you didn't quite get it, most people did! Daddy and I carved our three pumpkins, but we didn't take you trick or treating.

You had your first playgroup experience this month as well! There were about 8 other kids there, but you seemed to gravitate towards Ava, Phoebe and Laura. Watching you interact was pretty cool. You were not happy when Ava used her foot to push you out of the way, but other than that you were a very happy baby.

On the 23rd of October you started saying "da-da". It was "da-da" for everything. At one point you pointed to a picture of Daddy and said it, but I think it was just a coincidence. You say something like "thit-cat" when you see a cat or a picture of one. If I say "Buddy" to Luke, you will say "Bwah".

You LOVE "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", as you can see here. We can't sing it enough times. The Nursery Rhymes book Gram got is an all time favorite. I can't tell you how many times your Daddy and I have sung you "The Wheels on the Bus", "Old MacDonald", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", and "The Hokey Pokey" over and over and over in the same sitting. Tonight you even started shaking a hand all about!

Naps are going fairly well. Although the last few days you've thrown some one hour naps in the mix. Seriously, kiddo, Momma needs at least an hour and a half, if not two! You go down around 10:30 and then again around 3.

It is 10:30 on the night of the 22nd, so I'd better wrap this up. Next month will be three days before Christmas! Can't wait! On to the pictures!

October 23, 2008

October 24, 2008

October 25, 2008

October 31, 2008

November 2, 2008

November 14, 2008

I always feel that somebody's watchin' me!

We have these three monarch butterflies hanging from the pull chain on the fan in the family room. They are hand painted on feathers and really look realistic. When Gram was here she brought you a book that had these pictures of animals (penguin, whale, lion, tiger, etc). When Gram got to the page with a butterfly on it, the first time it was read to you, you looked at it, looked at Gram, and then looked up and pointed to the butterflies on the chain. You made that connection all on your own! And the butterfly in the book was white, not orange! Gram and I both looked at each other with our mouths open.

Now, whenever we say “butterfly” you look up and point (you don’t always get your orientation right the first time, but you look around until you find them) even if we aren't even in the family room! So you were pretty happy when those daisies started blooming out back and the butterflies arrived. We can just stand outside watching them and you track them from plant to plant. Right now I am teaching you about airplanes because you always manage to see them in the sky and point.

November 14, 2008

November 16, 2008

November 18, 2008

Retrospective perspective:

November 22, 2007, Thanksgiving
(GiGi, Daddy and Grandpa Hughes waiting for some pie!)

November 19, 2006
A quilt for Braden Fischer

Put on your walkin' shoes because here we go!

Love,

Momma and Daddy

"The Crusher"

We've been trying to get Autumn started on finger foods for a while. We're still giving her formula in a bottle and baby food mush, but we're trying to move past that now. That classic standby Cheerios has worked wonders. At first she had difficulty picking them up and sticking them in her mouth due to lack of hand-eye coordination (once I get her started on video games, we'll fix that...), but now she loves them. Due to the success of Cheerios, we tried to move onto other things like green beans, kidney beans, pieces of bread/waffle/pancake, bits of meat, and unsalted pretzels. We try to give her a lot of green beans. Autumn really likes the green bean baby food so we thought that real green beans would be an easy sell. We're using canned green beans so they're slightly mushy and easy to chew with no teeth.

At first she didn't really know what to do with the beans. She'd just shove them around on the high chair tray. It took a few days but soon she started picking up the beans and ate them! For a few days there she was really packing away the green beans. I thought to myself, "Hah, this feeding stuff is easy!" What I didn't know was the Crusher was lurking, waiting to bring destruction to food everywhere.

She hasn't been eating her finger food much lately. That's because the Crusher is in control. I'll put a bean down on her high chair tray and say, "Autumn, do you want to eat your green bean?" I'm hoping that the Crusher doesn't show up today. She briefly looks at me before looking down at the bean. Her little hand lifts and starts toward the bean. Then the Crusher takes over. Her hand stops and the index finger points. This is the first tool of the Crusher. That finger comes down on top of the bean and crushes it to pieces. No food is safe from the crushing finger! I've even seen her launch a Cheerio off the tray like a tiddlywink.

Even if the food doesn't get smashed by the finger, there's a secondary weapon. Autumn will pick some food, say a chunk of bread. She'll bring it to her mouth, maybe even give it a tentative lick to give you hope that she'll eat it. Then that little fist will pull away from her mouth and crush whatever is there. Crumb of bread will fall, beans will squish, nothing is safe from the grasp of the Crusher! I've even seen her add insult to injury when she drops the entire mess over the edge of the tray onto the floor!

I really hope she outgrows this whole crushing thing sometime soon. With her teeth starting to come in, I'd like to see her start eating more table type food and less mush/liquid type stuff. I know that there's still plenty of time, but I'd rather see her eat less food that comes out of a blender.

You have to admit, if she does decide to have a career as a supervillian or a profession wrestler, she's got a great nickname!

Pictures

Patriotic Teething

Since Richard and I voted early, we didn't have to go to a polling place. But I decided to dress her up as a patriotic baby who is looking forward to casting her first presidential vote in 2028!

No joke, she's actually teething this time. I promise! I can actually see where the top of the tooth has broken through her gum. I can only see the bottom left one, so I'm not sure if both are coming in or not.

I got a Babybel cheese package for a snack, but gave it to Autumn to carry into the living room. I wasn't able to get it back from her for about 20 minutes because it made the perfect teething toy. She gnawed on that thing and was so happy!

Pumpkin Patch, Part II

Where's Autumn? from Deb on Vimeo.

Nine Months

Autumn,

Every month I sit down to write this thinking I don't have much to write about and this time is no exception. Of course, every month I end up writing pages and pages!

Now, for the last time...WHERE ARE THOSE TEETH? You've turned me into the Momma who cries teeth!

Crawling is so much fun these days. It has added tremendously to our peekaboo games, as we can now incorporate hide and seek into them. If you wander away from us all we have to do is ask, "Where's Autumn?!?" and you come crawling back around the corner to find us. Of course, once you make eye contact, a lot of the time you'll go back to where you were originally headed, but sometimes we can distract you. The other day you were standing on the other side of the love seat and you started making all this racket. I looked over at you and after making eye contact you lowered your head, laughed and then popped back up! You are now initiating peekaboo games! Also, after a few rounds of "Where's Autumn" if you are lying on the ground hiding behind something, you will prolong the time between when you actually pop your head up. A lot of times I can see your reflection in the media center and you have the biggest grin on your face. It is so awesome to see the knowledge that anticipation and the unexpected makes it more funny written all over your face.

Driving is still improving. A few weeks ago you were talking up a storm all day and when we got you in the car you just back there having the best time talking to your toys. Daddy commented again how nice it will be to have you face forward. But we've still got 3 more months to go!

Daddy still sings you the "Lather Song" every night in your bath. We went through a really annoying patch where all you wanted to do was stand in the tub. The whole bath was spent keeping you on your heiney. Lately it has been much better, though I am sure we are not out of the woods yet.

Eating. Ugh, eating. You are supposed to be eating table foods by now, or at least well on your way. But we have hit a roadblock. And it is NOT FUN! We had been having such a blast with you eating baby food, but a lot of times you don't even want that anymore! If I try to feed you a piece of food you contort your body around so that your mouth is facing the back of the high chair. If you pick up a piece of food it is only to either squish it in your fingers or get our hopes up by touching it to your lips before you squish it in your fingers. C'mon Kiddo! Eat something! Other than Cheerios! You take your bib off all the time, that right there is a power struggle we don't enjoy. When you have had enough you squnch up your shoulders and grab a hold of your ears. Daddy then asks if your ears are on too tight and if they need adjusting. Your ears are your sign language for "STOP!" no matter the situation.

We went for your nine month check up on Tuesday and here are your statistics:

Weight: 19 lbs 13 oz 70%
Height: 28 1/2" 75%
Head: 18 1/4" 95%

So in other words, you've got a big head! Though looking at you, everything looks proportional.

Sleeping is still going well (thank goodness!). You go down around 8:30 and usually stay asleep until around 8 in the morning. We like that! Even being in your brace doesn't hamper you too much. We have a check up with the orthopedist on November 5th, but that is not a guarantee that you will be done with it.

You now stand for over 10 seconds at a time and a few times you've even clapped while standing! It's like a circus act! Come see the Amazing Autumn!

As for plain old fun, we took you to a pumpkin patch, which can be seen here. You and I also went to our first mom's club meeting. I also went out for an evening and left Daddy in charge! He fed you, bathed you and put you to bed, all by himself! What a great Daddy you have!

October 8, 2008

October 10, 2008

October 12, 2008

Wardrobe Malfunction!
October 16, 2008

October 18, 2008

October 20, 2008

Retrospective perspective:
October 17, 2007

October 22, 2006

This interactive little girl we've got in you is just awesome.

Love,

Momma and Daddy

Pumpkin Patch

We took Autumn to a pumpkin patch this afternoon. She fell asleep just as we were pulling into the parking lot, but perked back up once we got her out of the car. We put her on a pile o' pumpkins and went to town with the pictures! What was funny was that there were all these parents yelling out their kids' names trying to get their attention. So along with us yelling out "Autumn", there was "Addison", "Q", "Evan", "Addie" (not the same kid as Addison) and a long list of other names. There wasn't much to do there with a 9 month old, so we pretty much just took pictures and then left. We came home and I sorted through over 200 pictures. Yes, you read that right! Here are the best of the best, and a slideshow of the slightly less best of the best, and I'll leave all the rest of the pictures tucked away in my ever growing external hard drive!