First Day?

Of autumn....really?

Also today is the first day of her 10th month of life. WHAT!?

I sorta don't remember where the time went... I'll have to recap my blog and see if I've enjoyed the year so far. We've definitely had our share of trips and plane rides. Thinking back, I've taken more "vacations" this year than ever before. I need to start enjoying the freedom to travel around with my daughter while I don't have to account for a "boss" and "vacation time". Anyone have any suggestions??

The cooler weather we've been having (65-75) means no a/c, so lower electric bill. It also means no heat, so lower gas bill. I'm not looking forward to seeing those gas bills in a few months...thank God we have individual heating units in the bedrooms so we won't have to keep the whole house too warm! It'll be just like this summer...we'll lock ourselves in Q's room because it's the easiest to climate control!

There are actually a few indoor gyms I've been researching and we'll have to try those out sometime. It would still be nice to have another mom to go with....we'll have to work on that. Maybe the mom's in this semester's music class will be more social (we start Wednesday!). I'm also researching swim classes/open pool hours in the 'nicer' areas of Brooklyn. It would be nice to get out and about. I'd LOVE to get Q on ice skates this year too...but with her hatred of shoes and her not walking yet...not sure that'll go so well.

Mike (Mikey per Claire K) comes home today! Q misses him. She's been fighting bedtime and that's not something that she usually does. He's been getting home close to her bedtime the last few weeks, and almost always sees her in the morning. So "only" seeing me the last few days has been hard on her, I think. She has been saying "mama" more than "dada" though, so I'm okay with it.

She's really starting to look at books and enjoy story time now (versus eating books and fighting with me to not read to her...I've made up how most of her stories end until recently...). It's still a struggle to get her to sit on my lap and read to her, but we look at books and read on the ground. She's not really one to cuddle much unless she's nursing or eating. Hopefully as she masters her sippy cup she'll sit next to me and drink while we read storeis. I guess she enjoys the books, so that's all that matters.

She's furniture walking and climbing on or over anything that is in her path. She uses her toys and covers as a way to crawl faster (she doesn't have to move her hands, just her feet). This is pretty much the stage Seth was at when we met him a few weeks ago. And he's a few weeks older! So, it's nice to know that her development isn't dragging despite the fact that she rarely spends much social time with other kids (Seth is at day care a few hours a week with other kids). It's also nice to know my daily activities seem to be helping her with her development and social interactions. I'm really excited to see how she enjoys music classes this semester as they are "all ages" above 6 months old. It's school time now, so most of the other kids should be under 5, and I'm assuming under 4 as there are tons of preschools in this area. From previous visits home, she has really enjoyed time observing and interacting with "older" kids too...not just other kids who stare at her and smile, but interact.

We have a busy 9 days planned for Minnesota, too, so just as we're getting into sleeping, eating, and napping schedules....she'll be all sorts of messed up. My sister has offered to take her home early from the wedding on Friday if she is cranky and I want to hang out with the gang...I may just have to take her up on that! I'm excited to see how she interacts with her cousins Abbie and WiNi, too as we'll be spending Saturday night and Sunday with them.

I'm just a proud mommy who wants to see her kid have fun.

Can't wait to see most of you so soon!! Q's growing up too quickly....will have a more 'official' 10 month update soon (again, for scrapbooking purposes if I ever get that started....).