Happy 10 Month Birthday!

Here I am, again, writing a monthly update post and this time it is double digits!  This is crazy-ness, I tell you!  What a fun month this has been with some BIG changes. My first Mother's day, Kate's first Memorial day, lots of family time, and the start of our first beach vacation.  But this post isn't about any of that stuff, it's about the little (or big) things that Kate is doing and I want to put them all down on paper screen so that I can remember them later.

Stats: 
Well, Kate went to the doctor for her 9 month checkup back on May 15th.  At the time she was around 21 lbs (86%) and i-can't-remember-how-many inches long (95%) so I'm guessing she's still somewhere around there.  They measure head circumference too but I don't remember the numbers- It was around the same percentiles. I guess that means she's pretty proportional, which is probably a good thing.

Sleeping:
Still great, like it has been for the past 7-8 months.  Yes, we realize how lucky we've been.  She has had a bit of a cold for the past 2 weeks and it bothers her some at night.  She's woken herself up 1-2 times coughing but will pretty much go back to sleep on her own.

Lately it seems like she gets tired earlier than she used to.  Normal bedtime used to be 8:30 and this was mostly for selfish reasons.  I don't get home from work until about 6, and Kate is usually napping when I get home.  She wakes up between 6:30 and 7 so that leave 1.5-2 hrs for me to feed her, bathe her and play!  The 8:30 bedtime works well for ME.  Lately she's been getting pretty tired by 7:30 even though she may have only been up from her nap for 30 min to an hour.  Maybe it's because of all of the developmental things she's going through or maybe this is going to be her new normal.  Who knows, but for the past week or so she's been going to bed between 7:30 and 8.  I miss my time with her!

Eating:
Well she WANTS anything and everything, but I'm a nervous Mama so she doesn't always get her way.  That's a good thing though, right?  She will eat and eat and eat and if you have something that you're eating, she'll want to eat some more.

Walking:
This is probably the biggest milestone that Kate reached this month!  She took her first steps around 9.5 months old.  Everyone kept saying that she was SO close to walking, but I really didn't think she actually was.  Sure she was standing really well on her own, but I really thought it would be a few more weeks or even months before she took steps.  Obviously she had other plans.  I think we're in trouble.  These two pictures were taken right after and while she was walking for the first time.  No video, but I did get a few pictures to remember the special night!  Can't you tell she was proud?

Getting Into Everything:

Kate already gets into everything (see the below picture of her getting into my shoes).  I've been told this gets worse when they start walking so let me re-iterate- we're in trouble.  Kate used to stay in whatever room we were in.  She would crawl around and explore, but wouldn't leave.  Not anymore.  I can turn around and she is GONE. 

Even when I'm standing right beside her, it doesn't take 2 seconds before she's doing something she's not supposed to. Just the other night I was unloading the dishwasher.  She pulled up and was standing beside the dishwasher, reaching up for something on the top rack.  She was too short and couldn't quite reach it but was trying with all she had.  I looked away to put up some bottles, and then looked back down and she had climbed up ON the dishwasher and was standing on the door, reaching for what she wanted that was on the top shelf.  Is she really supposed to be able to climb already?  I feel like this is WAY too early.

Disposition/Attitude:
For the most part, Kate is a happy, easy-going baby.  She smiles and laughs all the time.  I don't have much baby experience outside of her, but I don't think this is normal.  Maybe it is, but I feel lucky that she is this way regardless.  I love to hear her little laugh and it's so fun to find out the random things that make her smile.  Lately, she loves it when Kevin holds her and jumps up to touch the ceiling.  See, super random but she loves it!

She DOES have an attitude though! It doesn't come out too often but when it does, I have to try not to laugh at her.  And of course it mainly comes out when she doesn't get her way, or when I take away something that she's not supposed to have.  She'll cry out, shake her head back and forth, and try to head butt or bite me.  And then she will pitch a fit and cry like she just broke her arm.  I was SO surprised the first few times that she did this!  She doesn't go to daycare and she's the oldest of the 3 babies that are in the nursery on Sundays at church, so it's not like she picked it up from another kid.  She just KNOWS it.

Blinking:
For some reason, Kate has just realized what blinking is and that she can actually control it.  She'll "blink", which really means she closes her eyes really slowly and tightly and then opens them back up.  This is the funniest thing, except for the fact that she LOVES to do it when I'm trying to take her picture.

And now, pictures!  Look how much my little girl has changed in the past 10 months.  2 more months til the big O-N-E!  I hope these next 2 months slow down!

And here's the comparison from Month 1 through Month 10.