10 months

MJ  is ten months old, let's celebrate!!

Top 10 Accomplishments this month:

  
1. 1 more tooth on top is poking through.
2. Does an excellent job feeding herself.
3. Gets Jackie's attention by grunting at him.
4. Has been Ferberized, so she is a pleasant sleeper.
5. Visited the chiropractor.
6. Has less fluid in her ears so she passed her hearing test!
7. Has become picky about the toys she plays with, unless they are Jackie's trains.
8. Can blow kisses to say goodbye.
9. Began reaching for toys to begin her "crawling" phase of development.
10. Has become a nosey Nancy when we go out to eat.

 

Post Midnight Bonding

Dearest MJ,

You and I have had so many chances of the past 3 months to bond. With all sessions waking up at 2 am, really gotten to know each other well. I've learned that you like your bottle to be held tilted just a little bit to the right. It's as if you want to be able to look me directly in the eyes as you take your bottle.

Your little coos and ooo's have made me smile from ear to ear. I've even found myself looking forward to our 2 am bonding time together when everyone in England is awake and taking their morning tea and people in Las Vegas are just getting the party started. Meanwhile everyone in the states is fast asleep in the midst of their R.E.M. or just simply enjoying the rest and relaxation the earned from a hard day of work.

You've even become quite adept at scratching my face when I am not looking at you. You can tell when I am looking away at the computer or reading on my Kindle. Something about not making eye contact with gets under your skin. But, this time together in the middle of the night has come to an end. 

You have been Ferberized! 

Ferberized!

Yes, my dear, you have been trained to cry it out. Not because I don't love you, but because I need to sleep. Your poor mother needs to sleep. And Tank needs to sleep too! 

So that you know, since you've been Ferberized, you've been quite pleasant. You get to sleep within minutes of being put into your crib. You rarely cry and you sleep for a long time. One of the best things about you during the night is that when you wake up with a cough or sniffle, you go right back to sleep on your own. That means your mother and I don't actually have to wake up with you and rock you back to sleep. Sometimes rocking you back to sleep took minutes. Other times it took hours...which led to sleep depravation. Now you're capable of doing things on your own. 

What a big girl!

Christmas

I can say that your first Christmas was wild. Not that you were wild or anything like that, just that the day was quite a wild ride. With you staying up late the night before at GiGi and Poppa's house, then waking up early because your brother was bouncing off the walls, then opening presents with grandma and grandpa, and finally eating dinner with some surprise visitors. It was quit the wild say.

Top things MJ received for her first Christmas:

1. Sippy cups
2. Books (2 copies of The Girl that Lost her Name) 
3. Night light wave and music machine
4. Money in the college fund  
5. Cute clothes
6. Girl toys (no more playing with Jackie's trains)