Oh hi, cutest girl in the world! Seriously, my face often hurts from smiling too big cause she just does the CUTEST THINGS! Obviously she makes you work for her smiles but those little suckers never disappoint. Greg said this has been his favorite stage yet so here we go – 10 months!

Umm I suppose I should mention those pearly whites finally made their grand debut. Two on the top, two on the bottom. Bam. It’s like she was thinking, oh, you thought I couldn’t produce teeth? ya, here’s four.

She loves dancing, she loves piggy back rides, she loves to walk around the room with you and hang on mommy’s legs during dishes. She points at everything. She doesn’t talk yet but she has said what sounds like “dog” at very convincing moments – like when pointing at Bentley… except when I ask “dog?”, she just stares at me as if to say, that’s what I just said, woman. I’m pretending her real attitude isn’t what I’m making up these looks to mean. Otherwise HELLO.

She’s been sleeping with us about half the night and has learned the best way to wake mom up in the morning is to hurl herself through the air and onto mom’s head. I’ve seen her! She just sits up and free dives backwards onto my face on purpose. Head butts first thing in the morning are not my favorite but once the collision has ended, there is a moment she’ll nuzzle right in there and give big open mouth sloppy kisses before getting up to repeat the process. And that moment is the sweetest.

We’ve been watching Suits pretty frequently and my goodness she loves the theme song. She will stop whatever she’s doing to sit up and flap those arms. It’s mighty adorable. She really loves music – I’m pretty certain she’s gunna be a drummer. Greg refuses to get her a drum set yet but come next Christmas…. ;)

She’s ticklish under her chin, giggles whenever mom and dad kiss, and has the most adorable head shake. That head shake. It’s the best.

She’s also been fine tuning the adorable new skill of backing off of furniture – she turns and holds on before sliding off and everything! I was so proud… except the last couple of days she’s reverted back to her former ways of just bolting off head first. Luckily I think she inherited her momma’s hard head.

She’s the best little eater, loves her touch and feel books, and LOVES her grammy. She’s so close to walking and would spend all day going up and down the stairs if I would let her. Ten month Abbie, you’re the best! We love you little girl!

This feels like a big deal. Is it a big deal? My baby girl is nine months old tomorrow! She’s basically like a little person! …that has opinions and screams and throws tantrums! (she obviously got that from her father… everyone knows I’ve never spoken above a whisper…) She’s a master of fighting sleep and if you dare to pick her up, she has no intention of EVER being put down. This is my nine month old and ohmygoodness do I love her.

She’s developed this wonderful new habit of pinching you while falling asleep. This is basically my worst nightmare. I’m terrified of creepy small children during sleeping hours. Just throw in some dark water and you’ll have all my greatest fears in one place.  Many a night have been spent trying to fall asleep to being pinched repeatedly with those strong baby hands. Not kidding. She’s got a death grip.

Speaking of death grip, she has learned skin is a completely appropriate material to cling to while being carried. And don’t let go. Don’t ever let go. She holds on like it’s nobody’s business.

I mentioned tantrums have started. Those are fun.

She waved for like a day, learned to clap (but ha! how did you guess?… not on command) and has caused her parents to revisit sleep training google searches. Saddest. Day. She was the best sleeper – like since the beginning she’s been awesome. And then her mom thought, my poor baby is teething! I will comfort her so she knows she’s always safe with me. And now we have a thrashing baby that no longer sleeps through the night but most certainly has mastered taking up an entire king size bed. Oh ya, and no teeth. We are on our way to summoning the good sleeper within her so stay tuned! ;)

Ya, those teeth… I’m convinced they are in there snickering at me.

She will go out of her way just to crawl over Bentley (who is being the BEST big brother in the whole entire world). And can I just mention this crawling…. oh my. There is so much purpose behind it. I just love watching her crawl all around lifting those arms SO high and straight, babbling to herself as she goes. She’s on a mission guys and it is adorable.

Also, she’s just started lifting her arms up to be carried. Umm, so that doesn’t get any cuter. Sure, I’ll carry you foreverandeverandever!

And then she took me up on that statement. There was a solid two weeks this month where you could not put her down without her screaming her head off. Go ahead, sit right next to her. It means NOTHING. She must be held and that is FINAL. And people ask me why I’m still not finished painting…

She will eat anything! And that makes this foodie momma sooooo happpyyyy…… until I caught her eating rocks, handfuls of dirt, dog food, and mmm dog poop. Let’s rein in this adventurous palate of yours, sweetie.

Bentley’s water bowl is a treasure trove of fun!

Writing this all down, it’s starting to sink in why I’m so tired all the time ;) She’s a little handful but boy do we have fun together! I seriously cannot imagine better days or a more fulfilling day job. She’s a snuggler, a sloppy kisser, a massive giggler and will sit quietly contemplating the biggest thoughts. She’s the most special creature I’ve ever known and I know I say this every time but I feel so freakin blessed to be her momma. Sweet Abbie, I hope you know how much your daddy and I love you. I hope you never lose this curiosity for the world around you and never ever stop exploring. Happy nine months sweet girl!!

^^a little Abbie in action to brighten your day ;) ^^

Hi, remember us? I’ve been majorly failing at keeping track of our going ons… in my mind I’ve been painting, painting, and painting some more but my phone suggests otherwise… obviously there was that one time where Abbie was a baseball rockstar and stormed the field (pictured above)… there was a dreamy breakfast date with my husband that I’m still in a hubby haze over… there were lots of meltdowns and giggles and hand holding and snuggles and MY this month has seemed abnormally long but boy has it been fun :)

She crawls. I’m so proud. We tried pushing her down to slow such development but she kept keeping on. Just kidding, but seriously, she’s one determined little cookie and has got this mobility thing down.

She’s found her tongue in a real way. I can’t take her anywhere anymore. Let’s just remember this little outing where the people behind me wouldn’t stop laughing and I tried oh so tactfully to push that little sucker back into it’s home. …ya… fun stuff. This. At everyone. 

She also loves to play with the teeth she still does not have. I guess the last seven months of swollen gums, ear pulling and looks of pain were just…. oh who knows. TEETH! BLAST YOU AND YOUR STUBBORN POWERS!

She loves to eat paper.

Her favorite toys are tools. Like real tools. She obviously has Roth woman in her.

She loves when you make her animals talk to her. Her whole face lights up and she gives you the biggest smiles.

Still flaps those little arms when she’s excited. There is a lot of flapping going on in her room cause she loves it so. Yes, that makes me unbelievably happy/proud. Hence why I am mentioning it yet again. ShelikessomethingIdid! ShelikessomethingIdid!

This is really the first month where we’ve been able to play with her and she shows an appropriate reaction. And it. is. awesome! I really can’t get enough.

She LOVES to watch herself in videos. She laughs at all the parts of her laughing and has singlehandedly made narcissism adorable.

Bedtime. HA! I’d like to blame teething but it’s making a fool out of me.

She’s a little climber. Preferably over your legs or Bentley. He’s a trooper. BEST DOG.

She loves dancing with her dad. Umm ya. Heart, obviously, melt.

Despite all the falls, bumps, bruises and the countless times her head has come into contact with hard objects, this month has been such fun. She’s seriously become my favorite little buddy and can blast away the saddest of sad moments with just a flicker of that smile. It has special powers. I’m in awe. Little eight month Abbie, you are so loved.

We made it! Let’s just break this month up into the two parts it really was.

First we have a new baby – one I’ve never met before. She doesn’t have the capacity in her sad, tormented life to muster up a smile or any sort of resemblance of a giggle for the endless amounts of entertainment her mother provides her with, in the form of extreme facial distortion, dangerously good dancing skills, or the ongoing comedy show that has infiltrated her speech. You toss her in the air – her favorite thing in the world! – and, no reaction. Boy does that just send you into the am I an abusive pervert? train of thought when you nom on her legs and she just looks at you like, are you finished? I try to get along with most people but man, serious people… I’m stumped. I have no idea how to relate to them. This month we had serious Abbie and I was utterly perplexed. Where did my ray of giggling sunshine go? The lady at the store even said woah, that is one serious baby. I just hung my head and wept inside. But now she’s kicking happily next to me so DON’T GIVE UP ON ME YET! This month gets better. Anyways, for most of it we had a VERY serious, VERY whiny, VERY hold-me-or-else-I-will-make-you-contemplate-dark-scary-things girl. She has mastered gagging herself with her own fingers, chokes constantly on the copious amounts of drool she can now effortlessly produce, and no she doesn’t have any teeth to prove the culprit of this newfound baby. Also, she bites. Hard. She fell off the couch for the first time …aaaand the bed for the first time. I’m basically racking up my awesome mother points over here. I’ve really loved figuring things out on my own so far, and will of course, welcome the help that people offer, but really, I love being alone with her, even when it’s hard and I have a lot to do…. until now. There’s been several times I’ve found myself in a corner in the fetal position, rocking and whispering for help. My aunt was sweet enough to come over for a WHOLE DAY!!! and watch her so I could find just one shirt to wear in the mounds of piles that have accumulated around our house. I’m a dumper. I like to dump, then organize. Greg will never understand me. Getting rid of the bag or box that was so nicely housing our belongings makes me feel productive at the moment, then depressed the next as I live in a mess for the weeks to come. So the perfect storm of moving, dumping, and sad, teething baby has been quite the challenge but we are starting to get in a routine again and EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS because she’s back to being a joy ;) …for the time being.

She went to her first bridal shower this weekend which was beyond adorable because it’s like she knew this was a special girls day just for the ladies, and she just seemed to settle in and be so content and happy. She didn’t cry or fuss once, and when she seemed tired I just tucked her into her sling and she fell right asleep… she was kind of freakishly good which, you know, made me so proud. Yes, she’s always like this. I am a perfect mother.

HA!

She got to experience her first thunderstorm and did a fabulous bouncy thunder dance each time it boomed. Seriously adorable. She’s basically going above and beyond to win back all those points lost recently.

She graduated to a crib this month!!! She’s such a big girl. And I win 2015 mom points here too because I let her sleep with a pillow AND bumpers… tisk tisk. It’s just that we tried it without and I kept hearing BONG….WHAAAAAAAA! in the middle of the night when she’d cozy up to the side and hit her head in the midst of her nighttime thrashing. We all get better sleep with the soft sides :) She’s such a cuddler and let’s face it, wooden slats never did it for me either.

Speaking of cuddles and wood and such, they said she’d love stuffed animals by now. I laid them all out for her (and there are many) so she can pick the one she wanted to play with and what does she choose every time? The wooden toys. She’s serious and she likes hard, wooden toys. What have I raised?!

They also said you’ll know she has a favorite toy when you take it away from her and she cries. If this is true, her favorite toy is an iPhone. She cannot get enough of that neutral colored, hard object. Ok I’m a little proud she appears to prefer neutral colors and Greg’s a little proud it’s electronic, but still. At least we don’t have to bring 30 toys with us wherever we go!

She loves to stand and hold herself up on the table. Seriously, how old is this child? She’s not crawling yet but she does know how to get in position and then whine/ cry/ grunt from frustration. It’s cute. No, obnoxious. No, cute…. Although she’s not technically crawling yet, she does know how to get from one place to another. And she can do a mean circle. These are her skills.

Her hair is always in a mad scientist mess in the back, complete with multiple knots no matter how much I try to keep it brushed, she definitely knows her name and will turn her head whenever you call her, drinks out of a cup, loves sweet potato the most, and is trying so hard to say words. The other day she fell asleep on my lap, and I was looking down at her, crusty face from ALL THESE FLUIDS COMING OUT OF EACH AREA, messy hair, stained clothes – just gross – but I sat there and thought, I’ve never seen such a beautiful, special little creature. I feel so incredibly blessed that she is ours and I get to be her momma – constant crying, grunting, whining and all. I’ll take you any way you come, little girl. You are so loved.