Here are some pics from this week of our little monkey. We're settling back into our normal routine (sort of). I think she's forgotten how to play by herself in the last few weeks. Zach has been on vacation a lot lately and she's not sure what to do now that there's just me at home giving her attention. She is following me everywhere and constantly pulling on my pants trying to get me to pick her up. She's our little cling-on.
We puppy sat for my parents this month and so Wallace became a permanent fixture around our house. I'm sure he's glad to be home and with Mom and Dad now though. Amelia is way into Wallace, but the feeling definitely is not mutual. Wallace isn't known for his sweet spirit so I've had to keep them separate as much as possible. Wallace spends time in our bedroom separated from the group by a baby gate. Amelia enjoys tormenting Wallace through the gate. This includes climbing the gate trying to get to the other side, sticking various body parts through the gate, and launching toys over the gate. Poor Wallace can't get any rest. In the pics below Wallace is having a meltdown because Amelia want stop teasing him. She thinks it's great, but you can see him howling in the background.
We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed every minute of it (except the part where our car was broken into, but that's another story).
We had a great visit from Joyce and Tara a few weeks ago. Amelia finally got to meet her Aunt Tara. We had such a good time and did a ton of shopping. With Joyce and Tara came lots of gifts for Amelia. Here are some pics of Amelia in her giant tutu from Joyce. It's super soft and bigger than she is! Thanks for making the trip out! We love you guys!!
Amelia turned 10 months old this month and decided to take her first steps. Crawling is still her first choice in getting around, but she will occasionally get brave and use her feet instead. We have her first steps on video and hopefully Zach will get them up soon. Here is a pic of her cruising around.
I'm not sure why but Amelia is obsessed with rearranging the furniture. Here are some pics of her in action. I would move them back so she finally decided that they all belonged in the other room. I hope that this isn't a sign of OCD.
I'm not sure how I could forget but Amelia also got her first tooth in November. I was never able to snap a picture of it. Every time I would get close she would clamp her mouth super tight. She's not a big fan of flashing her snaggle tooth. So far we only have one (thank goodness)... her first tooth involved a few late nights including one night where she stayed up until 3am. It was horrible. It only lasted a few days, but I'm hoping that she doesn't get her next tooth until she's 15. My first clue that she was teething was the fact that she was chewing on everything in our house... the blinds, her baskets, anything.
Where does the time go?? Amelia turned 9 months old in November. Things have been pretty quiet this fall, but we did sneak in a trip to Chicago at the end of October for Nicole's baby shower. We had a great trip and Amelia seems to still enjoy traveling. We also took a visit to see Connie, Mitch, and Ella (hence pictures of babies in the bath). We had a great time and the girls seemed to enjoy each other. Amelia was in heaven with all of Ella's toys. We came home and ran to the toy store to get some of her favorites from Ella's house.
This was Amelia's first Halloween and she was the cutest monkey ever! We only went to a couple of houses, but she did love the Milk Duds she received at Miss Grendel's house. They were the perfect size for little hands and sounded a lot like little rattles.
Amelia's favorite book is Little Hands Love. It's a touch and feel book that her Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Phil gave her. I was in the kitchen and Amelia went silent on me, which is never a good I went into the living room to find her quietly "reading" her favorite book. I thought it was pretty cute. She can now locate her favorite page in the book when you ask her to show you the teddy bear. Of course we think she's the smartest baby on the planet when she does this. Ha! Parent goggles are great.
