Ten Months of Mabel

...And what a month it has been.

So, currently, at this very moment, on the 10 month anniversary of her birth, our little bean has a fever and is cuddling with her Momma. It's awful. She also almost definitely got whatever she has from me, since I'm trying to get over a cold myself, so that makes me feel even worse. Long story short, sick baby is the saddest thing in the history of history, but she's still adorable.

This last month has been all about leaps and bounds. Sometimes literally. She is getting very brave with her standing. She is always up and about and has taken to letting go and just standing there and hanging out. When she is particularly brave she not only lets go, but throws herself toward wherever she is going. We're going to have a walker on our hands before we know it.

The biggest leap has been with language. She has been mimicking sounds and responding to certain cues for a while (Cow says... mmmmmm, doggies pant and grunt, froggies open their mouth over and over), but her first confirmed word is also her new favorite toy. She recognizes, says, and has so much fun with the word "ball". This happens to have been her cousin Elijah's first word four and a half years ago as well.

Signing has come a long way too. Milk (milky as we say) and please are regulars. A lot of her new language comes from a new adoration with books. She used to just rip them off the shelves because it was fun, but now she rips them off the shelves, brings them over to us and makes us read the same books over and over again. It's the best. She tries to turn the pages sometimes, but just as often that turns into trying to rip the pages out.

The balance hasn't been easy this last month. Jenna is insanely busy with school and work combo and I seem to never stop being busy at work. They're great problems to have, we know. It's moving so quickly and she's getting so big. She's the best baby and I think she knows it. She always seems to smile and get excited at just the right time. She really loves us... which I know isn't a big deal, it's our baby and we give her so much love, so of course she will love us back, but it feels like a big deal. She is this little thing and she is excited about seeing us and about new experiences and about life. She loves her friends (she plays with the baby Jenna nannies for and gives him kisses), she loves her family, and gets so excited to see people.

Two more months until the big birthday... we'll be doing something, but who knows what that is. We'll keep you posted.