10 Months {Jessica}

Here comes the overload of cute Christmas photos of Jessica! This girl is just so precious... I can't help myself! I set up a holiday themed backdrop in front of our big window in our front living room, made Jessica a cute tutu, laid down some discount wood flooring pieces from IKEA, and had so much fun in the process. Jessica was the perfect "Santa Baby" as we like to call her! I wish some of the picture quality didn't get lost in blogger, because they are all so much brighter in the editing program. But, you can still get the picture!

I can't believe that it's coming up on a year since she joined our family! This past month has shown us just how much she can grow in a short period of time. Jessica has really started to blossom in personality and has almost exploded in accomplishments. It's true that people say children do things when they are ready, and Jessica is the perfect example of that. She always takes her time, and then all of a sudden, she learns (and shows off) new things all at once! We are so proud of her.

 My current desktop background. Pretty sure I'm not going to change it for a while, even once Christmas is over.

 She's thinking, "What IS this frilly thing around my waist?"

 This girl loves her "Mr. Bear", who used to belong to Michael when he was a child.

My favorite picture. You can just see the wonder in her eyes. What a perfect Christmas photo!

Exciting updates:

Jessica is officially a pro at pushing herself up from stomach to sitting and is using this skill to reach and play with anything in sight.

She also likes to pull herself up onto her knees to reach things. It won't be long before she figures out how to pull herself to standing!

Jessica has been experiencing her first real cold and it's been a big one. We've all had it in our household, so it was only a matter of time before she got it. I just wish I could explain to her how all this discomfort will be gone soon, but, alas, we just have to "ride it out"!

She is able to stay awake for longer and longer periods of time during the day. We are on the verge of transitioning from 2 naps to 1 during the day. How did that happen so quickly?!?

Our girl has gained such an understanding of things around her. She still knows how to shake her head when I say "no", she has learned how to click her tongue, she will go "la la la" and stick her tongue out really far when she does it, she knows how to make the "Indian" sound of putting her hand up to her mouth and going "ahhh". Also, she can make this bird-type sound that I think is trilling her tongue, but I can't quite tell which part of the tongue she's using to do it.

Jessica is now learning how to fold her arms when we pray. It's so cute. We will tell her to fold her arms and then we give her an example by folding our arms. She then does her own version, by putting her hands together on top of each other in front of her. Oh...my...cuteness. So proud of this reverent little girl.

She likes to cross her ankles when she's sitting down. It's such a dainty thing to do. We think she's trying to imitate us and how we sit "Indian style" on the floor to play with her.

Jessica is all about sorting, stacking, and moving things. Blocks, rings, and anything she can get her hands on. They go from one place to the next, and back again. She'll also hide things in the space between Mommy's legs when I'm sitting on the floor, then come back in a few minutes and pull them back out. This child has a good memory!

Our girl also knows how to give kisses. All we have to do is say "kiss", point to our cheek, and she will lean in with mouth wide open and tongue out. Nice and slobbery, just how we like it.

We're pretty sure she said her first intentional "Dada" to her daddy the other day. He came in the room while she was eating and she turned to him and said it, with a big smile. She's done it many times since. That girl sure loves him!

Jessica is scared of household items that have motors in them. Such as my hairdryer, the vacuum, a bubble blower bath toy, our blender. Poor thing, even when these items aren't that loud, she puts on a very sad face and then cries. She's always had sensitive ears!

Jessica also is very good at emulating Mommy playing the piano. She'll sit on my lap, hit the keys back and forth, then reach up to turn the pages of music, then hit the keys again, turn the pages, and thus the cycle continues. She sure is smart and super duper cute!

The "End"!