It is time to add another picture to the First Year Frame for Afton. She turned 10 months old today. Every time she turns another month older I say that it is hard to believe she has. What I can't believe now is that in two months she will be 1 year old! I really think this year has been the fastest year of my life, where has it gone? I thought today would be a good opportunity to update the blog while Matt is working downstairs and Afton is taking her morning nap. I have a few minutes of alone time (and I have already taken a shower! woohoo!)
About a week after my last update post, Afton started crawling. It didn't take her long to figure out how! She never had a weird crawl, she always seemed to know what she was doing. It was always on all fours and she gets around now! Nothing is safe. We really have tried not to rearrange things, but some stuff we had to put out of reach and now all our outlets have covers. Those were the first things she went for! I am not really sure why...
She is also a pro at pulling up now. Anything she can pull herself up with she tries. She is starting to climb on things too, mainly me or Daddy, but the other day she was standing on some toys to get something off the coffee table. It was not placed there intentionally just for that, but I don't think that is far off.
"NO" has become the dreaded word in our house, not just for Afton but for Mommy and Daddy too. Most times when she is told no her face crumples and she cries like we have crushed her or she lays on the floor and screams (literally). I hate when she cries, but she is getting better at dealing with being told no. I guess it really depends on the day. The main "no"s are banging on the computer and pulling cords, pulling books off the shelf, cell phones, the remote, pulling magazines out of the magazine basket and wall outlets. She has plenty of toys to occupy her, and normally they do, but those things listed are the ones she gets busted for over and over. The computer is the main no-no. She can't seem to stop though, so I am sure we will get to be pros at telling her no. It doesn't make it any easier.
Afton will point at things now. Usually only with her right hand, with her thumb sticking up like a gun. When she is "reading" to herself or to us, she will point at pictures and jabber. She can point to her nose and to Mommy and Daddy's noses. Just in the last week we have added mouth to the list. She is starting to point at things, but I am not sure she fully understands what pointing means yet.
She also loves to play with my hair. She is usually pretty good about not yanking handfulls out (I really don't have much to spare) and I love for my hair to be played with, so as long as she isn't pulling, I let her play. She does like to pull on Daddy's beard now that it is grown out a little : )
She has also gotten her top two teeth in! They came in within a day of each other and they still aren't fully in, but every day I can tell they are a little bigger. I wondered when she would be getting more teeth and so far it is just the top two and the bottom two. She has a little gap between the top, which I think is cute. (we aren't sure where that came from though...)
Several things we have not yet gotten a picture of are the elusive kiss and playing Peek-a-boo. Daddy gets way more kisses than I do, but she will give Daddy a big, wet, open mouthed kiss with tongue. It's pretty cute (not sure how cute it would be for anyone else) and Matt seems to enjoy the attention. : ) She has also started playing Peek-a-boo when we say "where is Afton?" or just "peek-a-boo!" She will cover her eyes and laugh, it is her new favorite game! (we did get the game and where is your nose on film though, finally, but a video) She also lets us know she likes food (or pretty much anything she puts in her mouth) by saying "mmmmm" whenever she eats it. I think I started that. I am trying to get her to say "ahhh" after she takes a drink, but we haven't accomplished that yet. Also, she loves to clap her hands when we say "Good job" or "yea!". When she sees other people clapping or hears it on tv, she will clap along with it, too.
Afton also celebrated her first Halloween. She got her first pumpkin that was just her size. She also got to help with Trunk or Treat at our church. She loved watching the kids and enjoyed the sucker she got (even though by the end her face and hands were sticky and she had fuzz and hair all over the sucker and herself). I made her costume this year. She was a tree. Brown pants as a trunk, I glued leaves to her shirt, she had a birds nest with a bird in it on her shoulder and a bird in her hair. I really thought she would be pulling leaves off, but she was more interested in what was going on around her than her costume. It didn't get to be out much because it got pretty cold, so it was covered up with blankets and a jacket. Oh well. : )
Afton still loves books. She will sit and read to herself for long periods of time and she plays with her books more than the toys. She has several little baskets of books upstairs and it is a great game to pull them all out one by one, read them and then leave them laying everywhere. I hope she continues her love for books, we try to read to her every day in some form or another.
Afton has grown physically so much in 10 short months, but I think this month has been the one with the most growth. Not just physically (she was 29 inches long and weighed 21 lbs 6 oz at her 9 month check up), but I really think this month Afton started understanding what we are saying. If we tell her to do something or ask her something, she seems to know what we are talking about. Matt and I are both amazed at each milestone that she has achieved. It is so exciting for us to watch her grow and learn with her. I know it won't be long and she will be walking! Maybe that will be the update for next month!
