At ten months … (A day late since we got home late from Vancouver yesterday!)

She:
– Weighs 20.6lbs

– Waves “Bye-bye!” It’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. She’s always just stuck her hand in the air, but a couple weeks ago she actually started making the waving motion when someone says “Bye” and waves to her. She actually waved to my Grandpa as he was leaving, which made me feel great because she was pretty apprehensive about him since she hadn’t seen him in so long.

– Is stranger shy. This actually started about a month or so ago; there’s this front-end assistant at Costco who has made her cry twice just by talking to her, and now she’s really freaked out by most men. At her 9-month check up at the doctors? Total meltdown. He’s tall, loud and got into her personal space, and that didn’t go over well at all. She’s OK with most women, but prefers her mom, dad or grandma. I figured it would happen eventually, she was just too friendly for so long!

– Is on a bottle exclusively now. I’m certainly enjoying the freedom a bit more, and she’s enjoying the “control” she has over the bottle. (Playing with it, taking it in her hands and drinking from it without my help.)

– Walks along everything! She’s not walking on her own, or while holding my hands, but she’s walking along the furniture, walls, whatever she can lean her weight onto. It’s amazing and terrifying to see how far she moves in a short time frame. She’s definitely keeping Kyle & I busy!

– Has two more teeth – her two front teeth! We’ve been battling these two for the past couple weeks now, and I’m so glad they’ve finally popped through!

I:
– Like I said, am enjoying the freedom of not breastfeeding anymore. My boobs are grateful, and my milk is slowly but surely drying up. The toughest part was the first couple days after I stopped pumping to bottle feed. The engorgement was so painful and it was hard not to pump too much and only to do enough to relieve the pressure. But, I did it, and with the help of some cabbage, I’m getting there. (Yes, cabbage!)

– Am also mourning the loss of my boobs. They’ve gone all sad and small since they’re no longer producing milk. I’m going to have to invest in a good quality push-up bra. Hell, maybe I’ll just get a boob job when I’m done having kids. (I kid. Kind of. No really, I kid.)

– Am trying to decide what I want to do career-wise. Since I’m no longer going back to work in June, I’m  reassessing what I really want to do with my life. Journalism, as much as I love writing, is fizzling as a viable career. I’d love to keep freelance writing, but I need a more reliable career that isn’t going to crap out due to the economy. I have a couple ideas in mind, so we’ll see what happens.

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

At nine months …

She:
– Weighs 20.8lbs. She’s not gaining as much, but she’s getting taller and thinning out a bit. Her legs aren’t quite as chunky anymore, but they’re still deliciously rolly.

– Crawls! She’s become a champion crawler and the baby gate across the top of the stairs must now stay closed at all times since she motors everywhere. It’s amazing to watch her independence as she explores the house.

– Climbs. This does not sit well with me as she’s pulling herself up on everything and anything she can. We have a bookcase in our living room and her toys sit on the bottom shelf; she decided she wanted the books on the next shelf up, so she pulled herself up there, and as she was pulling a book down, she fell backwards and bonked her head pretty good on the floor. After a snuggle, she was just fine and right back to it. Ugh.

– Is now being bottle-fed breast milk. Let me tell you – it wasn’t easy getting her to drink from a bottle, and it took a LOT of patience and willpower to get her going on it. But, we’ve finally found success and I’m soooo glad. It’s not necessarily the freedom for me, but it will make the process of going to breast milk to cow’s milk a lot easier.

– Eats meat! We started introducing her to meat on a regular basis last week. So far she’s having chicken that’s been poached and she really likes it! I’m happy to see that she’s taking to new textures and flavours relatively well.

I:
– Am waiting to hear back the results of the MRI I had on my liver on Monday. It was a follow-up scan from one I had a couple years ago (before I got pregnant) to check on some nodes that were spotted on my liver. I’m sure they are nothing, but there’s always that little hint of doubt in the back of your mind.

– Both hate and like pumping milk for Isla. Hate it because it’s time consuming (I use a manual pump) and like it because Isla drinks a bottle way faster than she nurses. My ultimate goal is to feed her breast milk until she’s a year old, so we’ll see how this goes. Since I started pumping my supply has been noticeably lower some days, and others it’s ridiculous. I just don’t understand it.

– Think I need to start making lists of questions to ask the doctor during Isla’s 9 month check up next week because I just cannot keep track of them all.

– Seriously miss sports. I ended up not signing up for soccer because I realized that large amount of cardio vascular activity will probably kill me. Running around for 90 minutes straight? Not a chance. I could do it in high school, but these days I can barely walk up the hill near my house without passing out. Pathetic.

– Have come to realize that I don’t like holding other people’s babies. I’m not saying I have anything against babies, because I obviously don’t, but I feel awkward around other babies. For example – I went to a baby shower on Sunday and didn’t hold the baby once. I stood next to her, played with her feet a little, but didn’t ask to hold her and didn’t jump up when someone asked “Who wants to hold her next?” Am I weird? I have no idea why I don’t like to hold babies, because I love cuddling my own. :P

Photo:

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

At eight months …

She:
– Weighs 20.4lbs and is about 28″ tall!

– Has two teeth! Her bottom two chompers have come in and it’s a wonderful thing! She looks so cute with her little teeth, and so far, she’s only bitten me twice. (To which I screamed “Ouch!” and Isla stopped, looked at me, and proceeded to cry.)

– Wiggles EVERYWHERE. She’s not crawling, but she wiggles, twists and turns her way around the room. It’s SOOO cute to watch her, and then I have to run and grab her before she grabs/destroys/eats/whatevers something. Some baby proofing has been done, but there’s room for improvement. She just loves to explore!

– Loves to make noise, whether it’s yelling, talking to herself, smashing blocks on the ground, playing with the grating on the fireplace (not while it’s on, obviously!) or playing with her musical toys. She’s starting to understand “cause and effect” and while it’s super cute to watch, not not necessarily fun to listen to.

– Is a chatterbox, kind of. She’s figured out “Mamamamamama,” “Dadadadadada,” “Bababababababa,” and is making “Ssssssss” noises. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t associated “Mama” or “Dada” with Kyle or I, and I’m pretty sure “Bababa” will turn out to be Campbell since we’re always yelling at him for some reason or another. She’s also getting the hang of waving “Goodbye” by just sticking her hand up in the air. It’s pretty stinkin’ cute. Proof:

– Blows raspberries! And as a side effect, also blows spit everywhere.

I:
– Am mentally preparing myself for the weaning process. I have an MRI at the end of this month and am not allow to nurse her for 24hrs afterwards, so I figure it will be a good time to start. This way, we’ll be good by the time I have to go back to work. And not to sound selfish or anything, but I can’t wait to get my boobs back to myself and sleep bra-less.

– Will be travelling to Vancouver at the end of April with my mom and Isla for some girl time and shopping! I’m super excited for this trip and the hotel has been booked, so there’s no stopping now! Plans include lunch with friends, visiting my brother, Ikea and the lululemon factory outlet. I’ve already programmed my GPS – this is how excited I am.

– Am trying to decide if I want to join a women’s recreational soccer league. I was going to play slo-pitch again, but since the games are back-to-back double headers, it will be too much work trying to juggle playing and finding someone to watch Isla for 4 hours. Soccer sounds like it’s just once or twice a week, and it will be great cardio! I haven’t played in YEARS, so we’ll see what happens!

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One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months
Six months
Seven months