Nadezda At 10 Months

Another month (and 2 weeks) passed quickly in the Slawson home, and Nadia is now 10 months (and 2 weeks).  

At 10 months, sweet daughter, your personality is really starting to come through!  You are somewhere between 16 and 17 pounds, but without a baby wellness checkup, I don't have the regular measurements and such from the same sources for accuracy.  However, with all the eating that you do, you must be bigger!

You are doing great with self-feeding, and so far we have learned that when you are hungry enough you will even eat things that you don't care for as much, though there isn't much that you don't care for.

You get so excited about so many things, and you have the clapping to prove it!  You scrunch up your face in the biggest grin and clap your hands and sometimes even knock yourself over with all your appendages moving at the same time in who-knows-what direction.

And speaking of appendages, I really thought you would be crawling by now because you have been getting on all fours and rocking back and forth for several weeks.  But alas, the closest you have come to crawling is what has been dubbed "The Nadia Hop".  You hop up on your knees, or sometimes your toes, and then you lunge forward with all the length you can possibly stretch out of your adorable arms as you reach for the toy.  If you don't succeed on that first hop-lunge maneuver, you start the process all over again, which I must say, is quite entertaining.

 The Hop

The Lunge

You have managed to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, which I've been told is another step in the right direction for crawling.

The beginning of March you enjoyed your first family vacation.  We stayed a week in Oregon enjoying hiking almost every day.  (Eventually I might make time to post about that amazing week, but don't hold your breath!)  You were a great traveler, which gave us great hope for our long flights back to Russia in May.

By the end of this 10th month you have popped out 4 teeth, though the distribution was a little unexpected with 3 on the bottom and 1 on the top.  You look so much older to me with that top tooth poking out.

One aspect of your new development, my dear, I must admit I could do without.  You have an ear-piercing scream, and I am not exaggerating with a worn out phrase when I say Ear. Piercing.  Wow.  God gave you a great set of pipes.  Now, I do love that you are trying to communicate to me, but we'll have to work on something a little less painful.

You like to play games and often initiate them yourself.  For instance, I love how you hold your cup above your head for peek-a-boo, waiting for me to ask, "Where's Nadia?" before pulling it down again and flashing me a stop-my-heart grin.

And you are definitely an explorer.  Unlike your brother you explore with your mouth.  As you become more mobile (the Nadia Hop only gets you so far these days), I am really going to have to watch what comes near your mouth!  So far you've decided that mulch is good and used tires are bad from a recent trip to the zoo.

 You also enjoyed your first carousel ride at the zoo

You also branched out to pine cones, yummy

What else do you have in store for me?

Well, whatever it is, my dear lovely, I will gladly take it!