Keeping it real with the photos this month – these were taken after daycare, so her shirt is dirty, hair is crazy, and her mood was happy one second, crying the next. 

She:

>Kind of says “hi” now. Sometimes I’m convinced she knows what she’s saying, other times I’m not so sure.

>Had some erratic sleep patterns this month for the first time. There were three nights in a row of no sleep, and some extremely early mornings. In addition, she regularly resists going to sleep and we’ve had to rely on the “night-night drive.” The past week, however, has been great – so who knows what it is.

>Is very into cabinets right now. Her favorites are in my bathroom where all my travel-sized toiletries are, and in the living room where we have a basket of knick-knacks.

>Learned how to climb on top of things. I love to just lie on the floor and let her use me as a jungle gym. She’s also figured out how to lower herself down to the floor off a chair or couch.

>Points at everything, and if she has anything in her hand she’ll hold it out to show us. She also loves to bang on any nearby surface with her open hand.

>Drinks water from a sippy cup, although sometimes it’s still just a chew toy to her. Her appetite has been low, but I’m not worried about it. Maybe it’s another teething thing.

>Still doesn’t have any kind of schedule with anything – eating, sleeping, napping, nursing, etc. We just respond to how she acts and go from there.

>No bedtime routine either. Every few nights we’ll have a bath, some nights we nurse in the rocking chair and she goes down in the crib, other nights we go to sleep together in my bed. Sometimes I try to read to her, but only ONCE has she actually sat and let me do that.

>Has been such a delight lately. Not that she wasn’t before, but these days her personality is really coming out. She interacts so much more, and we can start to see what it’ll be like to have a little girl around. And it’s kind of fantastic.

Happy! (I could not get her to let go of my keys.)

Crying. Boo.

I:

>Am at the point in breastfeeding where I can pretty much eat whatever I want and not gain weight, and OH I am abusing this privilege. I am going to have a seriously rude awakening when Meredith weans. So…yay for extended breastfeeding!

>Still haven’t babyproofed, so lots of times I’ll just follow M. around the house while I read a book or magazine, let her get into whatever she wants (unless it’s dangerous or breakable), and then I’ll just follow behind picking things up.

>Have an incredibly hard time dropping Meredith off at daycare now because the lady who was with her since she started retired last week. New lady is nice and all, but she and Meredith don’t know and love each other yet so M. cries every day now, and so far it’s only gotten worse. I know she’s fine once I leave, but the process of leaving is terrible.

>Swear I saw a tooth poking through Meredith’s gums the other day. It was a little white nub, and my mom saw it too. But the next day it had disappeared. So still no teeth.

>Really want to make over our bedroom…and the craft room, and the library, and the dining room, and the backyard. It’s not the lack of time or money that inhibits me, it’s the lack of time AND money.

>Go running maybe once a week right now, if I’m motivated on the weekends. I was doing great until it became oppressively hot here. I need to figure out a way to incorporate yoga back into my routine.

>Have been having a lot of fun buying craft supplies. I really wish I had time to expand my ventures, but for now I’m just barely keeping up with Project Life and cross stitching when I can.

>Love love love seeing Meredith interact with her cousins. I’m so glad our family lives nearby. I’m looking forward to giving her a sibling one day, but no idea when that day will be.

>Have to stop myself every night when I’m writing down my good thing of the day from writing “playing with Meredith” or “making Meredith laugh” or “time with Meredith” because that’s boring, but honestly – it’s the best part of my day, almost every day. And that is a wonderful thing.

For reference:

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One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months
Six months
Seven months
Eight months
Nine months
Ten months