Haven at 10 Months

Hi all,

Well, Haven turned 10 months on Saturday and is just plain getting really big. I noticed her 6th tooth just starting to poke through on top this morning. So the final count for now is 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. She's waving "Bye Bye" really well, has said "Papa" for Grandpa and "Nana" for Grandma. She says "Ba" for bottle. She's also quite comical as she's gotten really good at "fishy lips". She had been pulling herself up to a kneeling position, but has also pulled herself up to a standing position a couple of times. She's pretty fast at crawling,more regular crawling now and less army crawling, which means she's keeping us busy keeping her out of trouble. She's discovered the Fridge Phonics Magnets on the fridge (not chokeable) and thinks they're great. However, I think the Little People collection is still her favorite toy. She has discovered that the Ball Popper (both boys' favorite toy at about 1 year) is extremely fun, but can't make it go by herself yet.

She's had quite a few table foods now (especially over Easter--LOL) like: bananas, rice, plain pasta, chicken, ham, hamburger, carrots, muffin, etc. Of course everything was soft and chopped into miniscule little bits for her. She even grabbed a bit of my cookie at church on Easter morning when I wasn't looking. She has definitely decided that she WILL be in her highchair at our mealtime pulled up to the table and fully participating. Haven continues to be pretty laid back with the one main exception having anything to do with FOOD. Then she lets her voice be heard...not always quietly. She also has her definite opinions (like most babies) about having her face washed and nose wiped. Haven can really turn on the drama for those situations creating a flood of giant tears; making it sound really, really, bad; and reminding you over the next few minutes of what an awful person you are to wipe her nose. Unfortunately for her, she's still stinking adorable and I'm not sure it conjures up the sympathy she's looking for. Overall Haven is a sweet, contented, baby. We're glad she has a little spunk. She needs it to survive around here. LOL! She's curious and will play nicely for quite a awhile. She still sleeps great, eats great, and brings joy to all of us.

It was so much fun to watch her this weekend for her 1st Easter. She had her first experience with crawling through the grass which was a funny sight. She didn't mind sitting in it(which she's also done before), but wasn't crazy about having to crawl through it. She made huge strokes with her arms pulling them way up high between "steps". It reminded me a little bit of when Ethan was a baby and learned to bear crawl to avoid having to have his knees touch the somewhat coarse sand/pebble beach on Lake Michigan.

Ethan seems to be having lots of firsts as well. We really hadn't worked with him on reading by himself yet, but had heard that the BOB Readers were a great first reader set. Well Ethan got those in his Easter basket and cracked into them today. He read 8 of the 12 while I made lunch sounding them out and mastering them. So I guess it could be said that he's reading. He will also be going off to Kindergarten in the Fall. We'll all miss him. He and Eric play a lot together and Ethan plays with Haven quite a bit whereas Eric mostly avoids her or is busy rescuing his toys from her. He's 3 after all and not sure about many of the toys he played with only a year or two ago now going to the baby. Both boys are so kind though to Haven...I've been amazed.

Well I'll try and get some pictures posted, but better run.

Shae