Rolling in style

Today Piper got a ten monthday present,  her big girl stroller!

Also, to mark her ten months- a brand new tooth poking through, her very first top tooth. I could cry just thinking about how many more teeth she’s going to get. Especially since this most recent tooth was preceded by an hour and a half long wake up Wednesday night.

Her sleep is still super wonky, and she has slept through the night ONCE since she was eight months. It’s not THAT bad, though, but it sucks. :)

The reason we finally bit the bullet and got her big girl stroller is because we are going to the L.A. county fair tomorrow (of course, when it hits the 80s for the first time in months) and A.) I want her to be able to look around B.) Her car seat is too hot for her to sit in all day C.) That snap n go is a pain in the ass to steer. So, I purchased a shade extender and a cup holder/organizer (the Maclaren one doesn’t have decent cup holders and this one got rave reviews), and we are set!

So far, in ten months, Piper can say “Hi”, “Bye”, “Bird” (although “bird” is missing the “D”, sounding like “burr”) and “Dada” and can pick out Woofie when asked where he is, as well as picking out Daddy in a picture. She pulls up on things, and uses them to “cruise” around (to hold onto while moving around), and attempts to stand up unassisted all the time. She’s eating chicken, and has begun to eat bites of what we’re eating (within reason). While still crammed into her 9 month sized jammies, she is obviously ready for 12 months. When that happens, she’ll become a toddler (in the store sizes).

She’s wearing size 4 diapers, nursing four times a day and drinking excellently out of a sippy cup. She still refuses to wear shoes of any kind (even the soft-soled Robeez), and has taken to climbing all over us to pretend “get away” from Woofie. Piper zooms all around while crawling, and constantly gets into screaming matches with that odd mirror baby.

While life (and work) with a ten month old is hectic and sometimes sleep deprived (yes, while my baby is “good”, she’s not a good sleeper), I wouldn’t have wished for anything different. Piper wakes with a grin every morning (and every night- sigh), and gives us so much love. With each new day she does something surprising, whether it’s pointing to the crow outside and saying, “Bir!” or slapping Paul in the face and yelling, “DADAAAAA” when I pull her into bed with us when it’s still a tad bit too early to get up.

I do not claim Piper is gifted (no matter how hard I wish I could, Paul would blast me right down- he’s so tired of the parents at school claiming their average child is gifted and deserves special treatment), I know our daughter is well within the range of all milestones- the scale is so varied at this age that it’s ridiculous to claim higher intelligence for an infant. I just know that every day is something wonderful, something frustrating, and something that makes me grin.

I’m a mama of a ten month old. Sweet lord.