The Crandall News Update: Kayla 10 Months

Our big 10 month old!
(I didn't intend for this to be so patriotic!)

Well, it happened! Kayla reached the double digits. She continues to be such a joy in our lives. We're especially loving having Kayla with us as the holiday season begins. She gets so excited about new things. She loved Halloween and I can't wait to experience Thanksgiving and Christmas with her.

Kayla cut her 2 top teeth this month. The left one came in 3 weeks ago and the right came in 2 days ago.

Kayla will now walk along holding onto one of our hands but still isn't quite brave enough to take more than couple steps on her own. She will go from one piece of furniture to the next if they're close together.

Lately, Kayla really dislikes getting cleaned off during bath time. She loves the "playing" part of bathtime, but as soon as I start cleaning her off, she screams the whole time.

She also puts up quite a fight during meal time when we try to feed her. If we give her finger foods on her tray, she'll happily eat away, but when its coming from us on a spoon, she's not quite so easy going.

I think both of these things are stemming from a new-found independence. I think Kayla likes doing things on her time and when she wants to. If people try to pick her up (besides Brett and I), she'll scream. But 10 minutes later, she'll crawl right over to them, pull herself up to their lap, and be happy as a clam. Go figure.

Kayla puts EVERYTHING into her mouth. Everything from crumbs or rocks or flies on the floor, to the burrs on her stroller tires. Those things are sharp and when I get them out of her mouth, it cuts up her little tongue. Its so sad! And yes, I sweep my floor all the time, but she's like a white glove inspector the way she finds crumbs as soon as they fall. :)

She is such a cuddly little baby. If I'm sitting on the couch and she's walking along it, when she gets to my legs, she stops, lays her head down on my lap and sucks her thumb for about 3 seconds. Then she pops up, and continues along the couch. Anytime I pick her up, she cuddles in for a few seconds before popping her head up and looking around. I LOVE it!

Kayla is really easy going, schedule wise, which I'm really grateful for. I recently was called to be the Stake Young Women 1st Counselor, which is wonderful but means lots of meetings. Most of those meetings end up on Sunday while Brett is working, so I take Kayla with me. She'll sit contentedly on my lap through hours of meetings and everyone remarks at how good a baby she is.

We left Kayla alone with babysitters for an extended period of time for the first time this month. She didn't too so well and our friends that came had quite an interesting experience. She's going to have to get used to this.

Kayla recently discovered the joy of my kitchen cupboards. She's pulled lots of stuff out of them to play with. Thankfully, nothing has broken.

Kayla loves singing. During church hymns or here at home when the iPOD is playing, she's making singing noises. Its so precious!

She also loves to dance! She bounces her little bum anytime music is playing.

She's starting saying Dadada and Mama to me and Brett. She gets so excited when Brett comes home from work or even enters a room.

Kayla makes weird noises. For example, when she's nursing, she makes a strange groaning or grunting noise. I have no idea where she's learned these things.

She also will scrunch up her nose and breathe very loudly through her nose. We laugh so hard whenever she does it!

Kayla has busy little hands. When she nurses or cuddles, she has to be grabbing, pinching, or squeezing something on my face, neck or chest. I have the marks to prove it. Maybe its time I gave her a little lovie or something to carry with her for comfort.

My perfect little sleeper is no more. After sleeping 11-12 hours a night for a couple months, she now wakes up randomly anywhere from 4-6 am. Maybe its karma to me for bragging about her sleeping schedule. Either way, I'm perplexed. I try to feed her more during the day and it doesn't seem to help. We try to let her cry it out, and that doesn't work. I'll go in, comfort her, and lay her back down, and that doesn't work either. Oh well. If she's hungry, I'm here to feed her. :)

She's eaten all sort of new food this month. Pretty much anything we're eating, we chop up and give to her and she LOVES to eat!

Nothing melts my heart more than the smile that Kayla gives me when she sees me. It is pure joy on her sweet little face. She knows I love her and I have no doubt the love she has for me.

Motherhood is such a rewarding job!