Ten Months

Yes, I am a slacker. Little One's big double-digit birthday
was 5 days ago. Double digits! Whew. It's not that I've been too lazy. It's that 10-month-old Little One is keeping me frenetically ballet dancing through the days- always on my toes. Just look at what She's been up to and you'll see why my caffeine intake has increased so dramatically over the last month:

First of all. Little One is crawling. In honor of Her military dad, She does it commando-style, with Her belly mopping the floor for me everywhere She goes. Do not for an instant think that slows Her down. She is fast. She is nimble. She is all. over. the. place. ALL the time. Leaving swaths of destruction in Her wake. Hunting the dogs like a famished lion- creep, sprint, spring, grab! engulf, devour.
She is leading expeditions of discovery through the far corners of the house. Leaving no minutia unexplored, no moveable objects unturned-over, no substance un-tasted.
The properties of all things must be investigated and cataloged. Does it rattle? Does it bang? Can it be pulled apart? Does it open? Does it close? How many times can it do so? Can things go into it? Can it be thrown? Can I go through it? Over? Under? What will happen if I smash it with a wooden block? How does it respond to gravity?
Oh yes. We are learning.
Not just about the world, about Her Self, and what She is capable of. Little One has learned that She can do all of these things now that She's in the double-digits:

Hold Her own cup to take a drink

Baby-sign to ask for "more" or tell us she's had "enough"

Crash towers of blocks like a chubby little Godzilla

Eat soft chunks of food instead of mush- all by Herself thank you. Do NOT try to help, thank you.

Go from lying down to sitting up, reverse, rinse, repeat.

Stand up!!!
Sit down.
Repeat. Repeat. REPEAT. During nap time. In the bath tub. At 3 am. Whenever the mood so strikes Her.

Help Herself to toys from baskets, books from shelves, contents of cabinets, and so forth.

Carry things from one place to another. The dogs are no longer taking blame when spoons show up under the sofa and shoes are torn from their mates and must be plastered on milk cartons to be re-united.

Make not only Her own vast and varied repertoire of sounds, but also copy others. This pertains to voice inflection, sneezes, gum-chewing, and- dog barking. Some are cuter in public than others.

Use the potty.

Yep. Little One recently made it clear that She is aware of needing to, you know, go. We introduced Her to the potty, and it's very nice how well they are getting along. Little One has successfully used Her potty dozens of times now. I stopped counting in the teens. She uses it regularly in the morning, and sometimes "asks" for it by fussing or crawling over to it. In the PM, much depends (hee hee, depends) on whether we are home, how closely parents are paying attention, and whether She is having too much fun to be bothered with it, and peeing is hit or miss right now (hee hee, hit or miss). But it's a good start and has made laudering diapers MUCH easier and less smelly. And She gets very proud of Herself when She's done, giving Herself a hearty round of applause.

Other things get applause, too. Like strangers, which are no longer scary, thank goodness. Peek-a-boo. Playground swings. Getting out and seeing the world. She also enjoys climbing up and all over Her parents and the doggies as if they are nothing more than custom-made jungle gyms.

We are accepting this in Lieu of cuddles. Because Little One still loves Her cuddles- but She finds that now She's a big 10 month old, She just doesn't have that much time for them. For instance. Rather than getting all cozy and sleepy in our arms before bed, She'd rather be plunked in Her crib to do pull-ups, downfacing-dog yoga stretches, sit-ups, yodeling, and other exercises until She- rather than being gently lulled to sleep- collapses into a heap of exhaustion after burning every last milli-ounce of energy Her little body can muster. Then She wakes up like a properly re-charged battery, raring to go some more.

The last month seems to have been a turning point. Little One is now quite sure of a sneaking suspicion She had been forming. Which is that She is Little One- Her own distinct and separate self, and that rather than being a little cuddly bit of something in our world, we are supporting characters in Hers. She is becoming more independent and confident by the second, and it has been amazing to watch our little baby sort of coalesce into Her very own person. It's a bit sad, because we know. We know where this is all leading. It's leading to saying "no", to breaking rules, to questioning us, rebelling against us....leaving us. But its very happy for all those same reasons.

Little One, we are proud of you for being You the way only you ever can. Being supporting characters in Your world is the best role we've ever had. We love it, and we love you. In fact, we rate it a 10!