Obviously, I don't write here like I was once able to do. Though I'd love to share more often, I suppose life just gets in the way a bit. Esther is now, today, ten months old!
The last time I "officially"
updated on Esther was when she was six months.
~ At 6 months (May 5th) Esther had her
first tooth. This was a record breaker for our family. Meghan was 13 or 14 months. Evan was 10 months. Esther's second tooth came shortly after the first.
~ At 7 months she began to
cruise along the furniture. This really scared us, but I am thankful to say that though she is fast, she has no desire to walk. (I have only recently approved of Derek's efforts to encourage her to walk...and only because she is not responding. Much.)
~ At 9 months Esther began to enjoy the
stairs. She can crawl up the stairs rather quickly...until she gets distracted and tries to sit.
~ Also at 9 months Esther began to
give kisses, prompted by
just the word! There is an adorable video here. It's totally worth the 19 seconds to watch it. Her kisses can be in the form of "fish lips," smacking of lips, or sticking the tongue out and smacking the tongue.
~ Her
third tooth popped through without fanfare and crying, but the next day the
fourth tooth must have been more painful because she didn't sleep well that night... at 9 months, too.
~ At 9 months she began to
stand for just a couple of seconds without holding on.
~ She also began to walk behind a push toy once in a while at 9 months.
~ Finally, she began to
sleep through the night, most nights at nearly 10 months.
Esther is a good eater of food. She eats baby food and cereal pretty well, but she loves table food. She eats meat, veggies, and whatever else we give to her. She is also super easy to distract. As in...if she hears a page of a book turning in the living room she thinks she has to turn around to see it instead of eat. Fun.
For several months now she has not been great at taking a bottle. It wasn't a huge concern, but now that she is taking a few more ounces every day, I am much more happy. (This might also be why she is willing to sleep through the night?) I have learned to give her every bottle in her bedroom. She drinks a bottle much better there (even if the kids are in their bedroom, she still needs to be in her own room).
Esther had a rather rough summer for sleeping. Possibly we went away too much? Actually, she wasn't really phased when she awoke many times during the night, but I was! I'm still tired, though she has recently started some much improved sleeping habits. She has just started sleeping till 5 AM or later. Oh, happy days!
Some people say that Esther looks just like me, (and some say just like my dad). Maybe it's the tired eyes?
One thing that is the same about Esther and me...when we are not smiling we look unhappy. It doesn't mean that we
are unhappy. It just means we are not smiling.
I know this picture, below, is a bit blurry, but I think it is cute. I was going to crop it, but then realized it shows Esther's height nicely compared to our sofa table.
Look closely. Can you see all four teeth?
They can all enjoy the swing set now. (We bought the baby swing for Evan when we built the swing set, but he never liked it.)
I suspect in the next month she might be responding, consistently, to, "How big? So big!" and putting her arms in the air. We'll work on giving "five" too. I do hope she will not be walking.
