10 Months Old

Happy 10 months to the sweetest girl in the world! Even though Kate will be 11 months old very soon, I couldn't let this 10th month go by with out a post. It has been challenging and sweet. Challenging because she has been so sick all month. We have prayed over this little girl so much this month. We have prayed for complete healing just to have something else come and take the place of the last illness. But I believe that the challenges of this month have been far outweighed by the sweetness. Our beautiful girl's personality is really showing. She is feminine and dainty. She is flirty (she kept waving at the little boy ahead of us in the line at Target until he noticed her :) ) and gregarious. She loves to be around people. Her favorite places to people watch are the mall and Target. She squeals with delight when we walk in either place. As the days go by I am becoming more and more convinced that she will skip crawling and go right to walking. She does crawl a little bit (a modified version) in short distances. But what she is really doing right now is transferring. For example she will be standing by our couch and turn around to stand by her activity table. She uses our legs as her go between. Her verbal skills are growing everyday. She definitely says, "Daddy", "Mama"(Although a lot less than Daddy), "Oh No!" "Two", "Dog", "Nana" and a cute little saying we like to call "Ah Hoo". We're not really sure what that one means yet but we love to repeat it back to her and she loves to repeat it back to us. I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but she loves to pat my belly and put her head there to rest. I tell her that that is where Carson is. I think she just likes the fact that it is a raised place to put her head.:) Waving is her back up to any situation. We call it her awkward pause gesture. I guess if she feels like things have been too quiet for awhile she will break out in a wave. She is already learning how to keep a conversation moving. What I have loved watching this month is the special relationship between Kate and her Daddy. They play and laugh and seem to carry on this special mutual admiration society. It is absolutely precious to watch as a wife and Mom. Because Jared's job affords him two weeks off every month we get him all to ourselves for those two weeks. We are so truly blessed to have him for that long. We both love it. Her smiles and giggles are our entertainment. I heard that Alan Jackson song the other day on the radio. "Remember When." That line in the song reflects our life right now, "Remember when...the sound of little feet...was the music....we danced to week to week." We are in some unique and special times in our lives and we are savoring every moment.