Her Tenth Month

Naomi just wrapped up her 10th month of life here on Earth - here's how she spent it:

Eating. She's quite the little eater. Right now, cucumbers are among her favorite things to gnaw on, along with strawberries, peanut butter sandwiches, cheese, and most of all, pasta, particularly lasagna. Smoothies are another hit, and this mama likes that they get lots of hidden spinach into her. She's as adventurous with textures as she is with tastes and will try just about anything, with the caveat typically being that she wants to feed herself. The problem is that she's often more curious about how foods feel smashed between her fingers than she is about how they taste... Oh well. In her fancy (but not really, it was a Craigslist find) new high chair, there's nothing a little soap and water (on both her and the chair) can't fix.  

But sometimes not eating. She loves food and all, but she's kind of moody about it and not interested when she's not interested. There's no tricking or scheming her; she sees right through airplane-spoons and us faking a bite. I figure her body knows best, and she'll eat if she's hungry. Besides, her strikes usually indicate the emergence of new teeth or that she's not feeling so hot, so, being the fan of nursing that she is, she spends those days getting her calories from me. I've been asked a few times lately how long I'll keep breastfeeding her; Idunno. The goal is at least a year, but we'll keep it up as long as it's working for both of us. And it's still working for both of us.

Jamming. Playing the piano has been and is still one of her very favorite things to do. She got her own little red, wooden piano for Christmas; she rediscovers it every few days and plays happily on it, but she much prefers the many keys and sounds of Drew's keyboard. Her independence is beginning to manifest itself here, just like in the kitchen. She prefers to sit by herself, thank-you-very-much, and if Drew tries to play with her, she'll grab his hand and push it aside. She plays the range of keys and often plays one at a time. I, in my admitted piano-ignorance and Naomi-bias, think she's actually quite good!

Splish-splashing. Naomi's increasing mobility is making bathtime increasingly interesting (and challenging). She enjoys the water and the bubbles well enough, but she really just wants to stand up, which is more than mildly dangerous for a wobbly baby in a hard tub. She loves playing with the spigot; we got a rubber whale to cover it up, in order to protect her noggin from its sharp edges, but the shower pull is still accessible, constantly enticing her. Even though controlling, much less cleaning, a tired, slippery baby is hard work, judging from the splashing and giggling emanating from the bathroom every evening, I think these are good, happy moments for Drew (who does 98% of the nighttime bathing) and Naomi (who sometimes bathes her dad instead).

Brushing. In other hygiene news, Naomi started brushing her chompers this month! Well, we mostly started brushing them for her. Her first encounter with a toothbrush was really quite sad. It does look an awful lot like a spoon, after all, so I understand feeling rather tricked when it didn't deliver anything other than a morsel of toothpaste. She's all about brushing her teeth (all four of them!) now; it's a part of her nighttime routine - after bath, before books - that she expects and kind of enjoys.

Hanging with Izzy. We spent Valentine's weekend in Charlottesville with Aaron, Jaimie, and Izzy - it was very romantic. It was a really short trip - there on Saturday and back on Sunday - but definitely worth it to get out of dodge for a little while and see some great friends. I fully expect that some day, Naomi and Izzy will have as much fun together as we have with Aaron and Jaimie, but for now, they're solid frienemies - they're curious about each other and make each other laugh, but they're also curious about the same toys and the same mama's lap, at the same moment. Sharing is hard.

Adapting to the backseat. Sometimes. Naomi has never ever been one of those babies who will just chill in her carseat. I see them. At restaurants, at church, in stores. This baby of mine wants to see and touch and know what's going on around her, and she hates being confined, so, naturally, the carseat I spent many hours researching and selecting is one of her very least favorite places to be. But practice, in the form of a few long trips to Georgia and Virginia, have, I think, taught her that all roadtrips end and that her carseat really isn't such a bad place to be. Still, on those long trips, one of us sometimes ends up in the backseat with her, trying to turn her frown upside down until we arrive at our destination.   

Chilling in the sunshine. We've had a few springy days this month to balance out the snow and ice. For some reason, all of the lovely days seem to fall on Sundays, so Naomi and I have taken a few time-outs during the third hour at church to have a little snack in the sunshine in the field behind the building. She typically goes down for a morning nap between 9:30 and 10am and sleeps for close to two hours; so basically, the whole time we're at church, she should be snoozing in her bed. Like I said before, she's not one of those babies who will doze in her carseat while everyone else goes about their business, so Sundays equate to three good hours of baby-wrangling for us. By 11am, she's awfully squirmy and hard-to-please; a little break in the backyard is usually enough to get her through the last hour. After church on one particularly nice Sunday, Naomi and I walked to the park in our neighborhood while Drew had a meeting (a two-mile walk); we got home as he was driving up, and all three of us turned right back around and headed back to the park. Between laps around the church and our trips to the park, we probably walked 5 miles that day. We don't waste sunny Sundays around here.

And hopping on Pop. 5:45pm is one of Naomi's favorite times each day - that's when Daddy comes home. As soon as she hears the door unlock and open, she starts smiling and wiggling like a little puppy and heads for the door and the dad behind it. It has to make Drew feel like the most valuable person in the universe. Their reunion is usually followed by some romping on the floor, with Naomi smothering Drew's face with all kinds of love he missed out on all day. She's so used to this routine that she knew something wasn't quite right the night of Dan Ryan Builders' annual meeting, when Drew didn't come home until after she was asleep. While I was getting her ready for bed (usually Daddy's job...), she kept looking toward the door, wondering where her playmate was. The day just wasn't complete without him.

This little girl of ours has never been short on personality and spunk, and she's developing more and more of both of those things each month. It's so fun to watch her grow up and grow into herself, and it's quite the privilege, too.