10 months

All photos in this post are the beautiful work of Dac and Alisha Call over at http://dacandalisha.com/blog/. We have had 7 sessions with them over the past 4 years, and we have loved every single one! Not to mention they are also friends of ours. They always makes us feel relaxed and laid back, and they capture the most beautiful pictures. OK, now on to Sophie......

Oh my Little Sophie Lou Lou,
Happy 10 month birthday to you! (Ok, it was last week, but we are moving in 7 days and I've been neglecting my sit-on-couch-and-blog time, sorry dude). At your 9 month appointment you weighed 18 pounds and 8 ounces, and you were 26 inches long. Sometimes you are shy and somber-faced, and sometimes you cheeze it up with big grins. You still have bright blue eyes like your Daddy, and you give sweet, sloppy open-mouth kisses any chance you can get.

Every single day you amaze me with all that you are learning and doing. I went to Texas for 4 days earlier this month, and the day I left you were just starting to pull up on the furniture and stand. When I came home to you, you were pulling up like you had been doing it for months, cruising along the furniture, and even standing alone for a second or two. You are going to walk any day now, SLOW DOWN LOVE BUG!

You love upside-down time, playing patty-cake and peek-a-boo, and bath time is still a highlight of your day. You are officially the Splashing Princess of Cowley County! You also smile REALLY big when we sing songs to you. You can say mama and dada, and you point to Porkchop and say "dah!" so we think its dog. Now Porkchop has a new home, and you will sometimes look for him saying "Dah? Dah?" We are working on clapping and waving bye-bye.

My FAVORITE thing you do right now is "read" books to yourself. You pick a book (its usually upside down, but we can work on that later), and then you sit and turn the pages and babble a little for each page. "Bah da ma da be dah. Turn page. Do be dah ma ma. Turn page. Yah de urdle bah!" HILARIOUS. Trying SO HARD to catch this on video, but once I grab the camera you stop....I'll get you soon!

You have 5 teeth, and you are such a good little eater. You have never spit anything out and you love trying new foods. You do kind of hate baby food now; you have moved on the bigger and tastier things. Your favorite foods right now are toast, yogurt, carrots, mandarin oranges, pears, pasta, and chicken. You always want to eat what we are eating, and you also REALLY like to *share* and put your food in Mommy and Daddy's mouths (sometimes after its been in your mouth first, in which case we may exaggerate how yummy it is).

Mommy has let go a little and lets you hold your own bottle, which you are a pro at. (I know, I know, most babies do this MUCH earlier, but I couldn't let go!) I still love giving you your bottle; I miss nursing a little and crave that cuddly bonding time with my babe. So we compromise and I let you hold your own bottle except before bed. That's Mommy time :)
You also can drink with a straw and you are getting the hang of the sippy cup.

You are the very best thing I have ever made. I don't want to brag, but I made some STUNNING collages of magazine clippings while I was in high school, as well as a needlepoint of an angel....with the word ANGEL under it in case people couldn't figure it out. It's hard to beat those, but you my dear are the very best of your daddy and me.

We love you, we are so proud of you, and I can't wait to watch you grow more. You probably learned to walk or drive or speak Spanish or something while I was typing this, so I'd better go check out what you're up to. Love you to the moon and back.