Lil' Miss Independent

So Ashley is really becoming independent. When it comes to eating, she loves feeding herself. It's even getting to the point where she doesn't want other food that she cannot feed herself. I've had to feed her something at the same that she's feeding herself something else. Lol. I'm proud of her! She's been enjoying new things like eggs, french toast, different veggies, pastas, meats, etc. Basically she likes to sample everything we're having, with the exception of the foods that they shouldn't eat until later. Also, on the rare occasion that she has bottles (like when I'm out or at work), she is now drinking it out of her sippy cup (she has been drinking water out of it for a while though).

She is majorly into exploring things. She has started climbing up on the fireplace, although she hasn't quite figured out how to get down yet. The other day she was hanging halfway off, kicking her legs. It was funny. I am of course always nearby to make sure she is safe. She also was learning to climb up the stairs tonight with daddy's assistance.

She started pulling up on her bathtub, I think she is ready for the regular bathtub now!

Ashley has been talking a lot lately. She really mimics a lot of things we say, it's so cute. One day I was coming downstairs for the morning, and the heat wasn't on yet so I said "brr". She copied me. She also tries to call our dog Maddie, and sometimes it really sounds like she's saying Maddie. My favorite is that she is saying mama a lot!!! I just love it!

She also likes to turn the pages when we're reading. Another cute thing she does now is gives "eskimo kisses" where we rub noses together.

She's been doing lots of fun things. She LOVES being on the floor crawling and exploring. She still plays with toys, but she's more interested in scoping out every inch of the house. She's had play dates with friends. On daddy's 1/2 days when he watches Ashley while I'm at work, he recently took her for a hike, then another time to the park. We always do lots of fun things too. Today we went to the bookstore to the play area, and then they had story time.

Ashley is lots of fun, and again we are so proud of her.

Here are some recent pics of Ashley, including her Christmas pics that we took the other day. I know it's early, but we had a coupon that expired in Nov, and I wanted to beat the holiday rush. Ashley was so cute!

10 Months Old!!!

My baby is 10 months old!!! Where is the time going? It's going so fast!!! I can't believe my "baby" is already 10 months!!! She's no longer a little baby, she's turning into a sweet little girl! She's already wearing 12 month clothing since she's so tall, she's feeding herself a lot, on the move and exploring. It won't be long before she's turning one...crazy....

Correction...make that 8

So I was wrong. This morning I was changing Ashley's diaper, and she smiled and I was able to see her top teeth, and apparently she's got not one but two more teeth that have come through. That makes a total of 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. Oh my!

Also, today we had some fun family time. Matt had to work part of the day, but in between we went out for bagels this morning, then tonight we went for a walk around the lake then came home and carved pumpkins and made pumpkin seeds.

Ashley wasn't too excited. She's been a little fussy the past couple of days between having shots and all those teeth coming in at the same time (now I see why, poor girl), and she hasn't grasped the concept yet. But we let her play with the pulp, and feel inside the pumpkin. She also drew on her pumpkin (with mommy's help). She also had fun entertainment--daddy was dancing to "their song"--Everybody's Shuffling (Party Rock Anthem). Either he dances for her while Ashley laughs and kicks her feet to the beat, or daddy helps Ashley "dance" to it, and they have lots of fun.

6 Chompers!

So Ashley's tooth finally popped through...that makes a total of 6 teeth now, 4 on the bottom, 2 on the top. Thank goodness she stopped biting! Lol.

Also, yesterday Ashley started waving/saying "bye bye" in the mirror.

9 Month Doctor Appt

So Ashley had her nine month doctor appointment today at 9 months, 22 days. Unfortunately, I had to miss. I missed last time due to needing to go to a continuing education course, so this time I made sure I could go and arranged my work schedule to be there (I work Wednesdays). However, I got horribly sick last night and was still sick today. First Matt was sick (and he NEVER gets sick, I think I've seen him sick like 2-3 times in the 9 1/2 years we've been together). We even went to the Urgent Care with him. They thought it was food poisoning since he had had a burger cooked medium just a few hours before. But apparently it was a virus, because I got it shortly after he did. I am praying poor Ashley doesn't get it.

So anyway, sadly I had to miss it again! I feel bad because I haven't been able to be around her all day, and now I can't comfort her if she is feeling bad after her shots. But she's got a great daddy whose on top of things, so that's good.

Anyway, everything went great. Matt said she did great and barely cried. Her weight is 19.33, which puts her in the 49th percentile. She is now 29 inches, which puts here in the 84th percentile. She's tall like her mama.

She is right on track with her motor skills, language and development, and emotional/behavioral development. Everyone is always commenting on what a happy, good baby she is. We are so proud of the little girl that she is becoming!

On a deeper note

I wanted to switch gears and and blog about God. Right now I am doing a bible study called Ezer. It is for women, and it teaches us about our purpose and calling in life. It's been a great study so far. It talks about how our roles as women continually change throughout life--how life is fleeting, and nothing is permanent. Even our roles as wives and mothers change, and could even be gone in an instant. The purpose is to teach us that our identity is not in what we do, not defined by our roles, but by who we are on the inside and to God.

The study explores what we are called to do. One thing is nurturing. It does a great job at looking how nurturing can be corrupted (intentionally or unintentionally), and what the real goal of nurturing is and what it looks like.

Moving on up...

It's funny that the last blog has a picture of Ashley in her car seat, because that is the last time you'll see her in it. She has officially moved up to the "big girl" car seat!! We had moved the seat belt straps up to the last top slats in the infant carrier a little while ago. When we did, it made it very snug and hard to buckle. Now with it being fall and her needing to wear a jacket from time to time, we knew it wouldn't work anymore so we just switched it over to the big car seat. Still can't believe it.