10 and 11 months!

Time is flying by so fast that it's been hard for us to keep up! April 9th marked 10 months with our precious girl and May 9th snuck up on us so fast that I didn't even get the 10 month post done. So, I decided to combine them this month, which of course means double the pictures :) Please forgive me sweet girl for falling behind!

Busy would be the word that I'd use to describe you these last couple of months baby girl, you are one busy kiddo! From nearly the moment you get up in the morning until the moment you go to bed, you keep Daddy and I on are toes. You are such a little explorer and are grabbing, touching, tasting, climbing and pulling yourself up on everything. It's so fun to watch you embrace the world around you and take in new things. You sometimes get these really serious looks on your face (I think you get them from Mommy and Nana) as you are investigating something. It's a look of incredible concentration and we find it adorable!

At about 10 months (April 17 to be exact) you started to stand up unassisted, you'd stand in the middle of the kitchen and look at us with the biggest smile on your face. And then you'd giggle and squat back down. You were so proud of yourself and we were super proud of you too! We thought after that you'd just take off and walk, but you've yet to do that.

You've taken a couple of steps and we know you have the strength and balance, we just think that you honestly just prefer crawling right now so even though you might be standing, you will squat back down and take off. The exception is when you are walking along holding onto furniture, or holding on to Mommy and Daddy's hand. Just this morning we were walking around in a circle from the kitchen to the living room and you were holding our hands. By the end though you were pulling us along, clearly not needing our hands for support. Any day now we expect you to just get up and run!

In other big news, you got 3 new teeth (May 7 and 8)! Actually, you got all three of these teeth in one week, but you now have your two front teeth and 4 little teeth on the bottom. Your smile is looking less like a baby's smile and more like a little girl!

It's been a bit of a rough couple of months for sickness and unfortunately you haven't been immune. Both Mommy and Daddy have had nasty viruses lately and we've given a couple of them to you. Sorry baby : ( With the first one you had a very stuffy nose, fever and were just not yourself. You didn't sleep very well for a couple of nights and we were giving you lots of cuddles. But just when it looked like you were over that, you came down with an even worse runny nose and green goopies in your eyes. We had to take you to the doctor for the first time due to illness and he thought you had strep since your throat looked really sore. Mommy and Daddy felt so bad cause we had no idea your throat was sore and you couldn't tell us. Even though the strep test was negative, the doctor still gave us an antibiotic (your first since birth) and you must have had something bacterial because within 24 hours you were MUCH better. And you love the antibiotic. You suck it right out of the dropper and cry because you want more! It was so hard to see you so sick, honey, but we are so glad that you are back to your old self!

Your sweet little personality has been coming out in full force these last couple of months and it looks like we've got a bit of a stinker on our hands! You are incredibly energetic and happy, but we have noticed that if you don't get your way you can throw a bit of a fit. Also, you are not shy in the least and also pretty fearless. We think you are learning to be a bit defiant as well and when we tell you "no" you sometimes look right at us and do it anyway! I think we might be in for a battle of wills in the future...

We adore your fiestiness though and wouldn't have it any other way. God had great plans for you sweet girl and I know he will use that wonderful personality of yours to bring Him glory!

Your verbal skills are also improving a ton and you have repeated "mommy" and "daddy" to us on several different occasions. On April 3, right before 10 months, you said "mama" for the first time directly to me and it felt like the words literally pierced my heart. I had such a shocked reaction that I think I scared you and you started to cry. :( Then right before Mother's day you were super sleepy as I was getting you into your pjs before bed and you crawled up into my lap and I asked if you loved your mama and you said "mama" while laying your head on my chest. It was the most tender moment and one that I will cherish forever. And just this morning you said "dada" to Daddy when he came in to get you out of your crib.

You are also babbling a ton and make so many noises from giggling shrieks to quiet whispers. We love to hear you talk and are constantly pulling the paci out of your mouth so we can hear you more. You have also started to do your first baby sign. You wave your hands for "all done" when we ask you if you are done eating? It's really cute to see the light bulb turn on in your head when we ask you if you're done and then you start doing the sign. I think you are really excited to be able to communicate!

We've taken you to the park a bunch these past couple of months as well and you absolutely love the swings. You get mad when we have to leave!

And speaking of getting mad, you still really hate getting dressed. You're a bit better about letting us change your diaper, but you hate getting your clothes on. I made a deal with you the other day that if you want to go live in a nudist colony when you grow up then that's fine with us, by while you are living in our house you will wear clothes. Sorry my little love! I hope you forgive us for the torture!

Mommy and Daddy went for a long weekend out of town this past month and you had your first overnight babysitters. Grandmas and Grandpa's helped out as well as Mom's friend Jeni and you had a great time with all of the attention! You slept like a champ for all of them which we were really grateful for! We've realized that you tend to sleep awesome at home, but not so awesome in hotels. We are going to try and work on that as we have lots of fun travel plans this summer and want you to be able to sleep well.

As for eating, you are still a really good eater and will try lots of things. In the last week or so though you've begun to be a bit of a stinker at meal times though and will throw your food around, smear it across your tray or spit it out. You have also gotten good at the sippy cup, too good in fact as one of your new favorite "games" is to "drink" the whole cup. (This really means sipping it and spitting out all of the water into your bib or on your shirt. You are soaked after meals and we have to change you a couple of times a day. See above paragraph for how much you like getting your clothes changed!)

In basic stats, you weighted about 19 1/2 lbs. when we were at the doctor when you were sick, but we won't know how long you are until our 12 month appointment. You moved up to size 4 diapers right at 10 months and you are still wearing 12-18 month clothing. I've begun to put a lot more dresses on you and we get warmer weather and you are too cute for words in some of the little outfits!

Oh Brinley Joy, what a joy you are. We have absolutely loved watching you grow over these past 11 months. We really cannot believe that in only a few weeks you will be turning 1 year old. We have already had so many wonderful moments with you and truly cherish every memory and we pray for many, many, many more to come!

And of course, LOTS of pictures. Starting with 10 months:

You began to sit forward facing in your new Bob stroller. It was a splurge for Mommy and Daddy but we LOVE it!

The weather started to get warm and we got to take you out for your first time on the swing. You loved it!

Happy girl

Just hangin around

Still like to take naps with Daddy on occassion

We took a trip down to Iowa so that Daddy could do some fire fighter testing. Here you and I are exploring the mall. Check out the cool fire truck strollers!

This photo is really blurry but I had to include it to mark the memory of our Iowa trip. This is where we discovered that you don't sleep well in hotel rooms. This was taken at 5:50 a.m. and you and Mommy sat out in the hallway waiting for breakfast to open. We left the room so we wouldn't wake Daddy. It was a bit of a rough weekend for all of us sleepwise but a family memory, for sure!

Cutest picture ever of my two favorite people!

Mirror selfie the day we learned that you are getting a new little BOY cousin!

10 months is where your eating really took off. Enjoying some pad thai. Yum!

First time riding like a big girl in the shopping cart. You were really proud of yourself!

Waving hi while enjoying some sheppard's pie

Messy girl!

Your first "fast food" experience eating chipotle!

Getting into everything, including the laundry basket! You tipped it over and were a bit surprised, it was really cute and funny! : )

Curious girl

What a doll!

And 11 months:

Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa B

Supporting the Wild in the playoffs 

Walking all over the place (still hanging on to stuff of course!)

Into everything. Including all of the paper products in our house!

Reading a story with Daddy (Mommy reads to you too but I'm the one taking most of the pictures! :))

Taking a walk down to the end of the road to see the little lambies at Easter with Daddy and Nana

Enjoying Easter dinner!

The fam for Easter

Minnie dress that ended up being your "Easter" dress this year. You never got a chance to wear the pretty frilly one!

Easter walk around the park, it was a beautiful day!

You got sleepy :)

Swingin at the park

What a happy girl!

Shopping with dada

This series of photos is too funny. Here you are just sitting and playing. 

Oooo, what is this?

I'm gonna grab it!

Brinley selfie :)

It's so tough being the baby :)

Fun with Kleenex!

You love the swing

And your bath, but unfortunately you also love to stand up in the tub. Stinker! :)

What a big girl!

Napping with Grandpa. Don't worry, he wasn't going to drop you ; )

Easter basket at Nana and Grandpa's  

It was so cute, you crawled into my suitcase as I was packing for my trip to New York. I think you wanted to come with Mommy : ) You put your little blue block in my bag too and I took it with me on my trip.

Passed out

Love this photo of you. You are quite a fiesty little girl and we adore you!