Show and Tell with the Takalas: Ten Months

Our baby girl is ten months old! She has officially been alive longer on the outside than she was on the inside! These ten months have flown by. I guess that's what happens when your life is just full of joy day in and day out. Of course, we've had our moments, and our hours, too, to be honest, but life has truly been amazing since this little girl has been alive. We didn't get a good picture with Papagator this month because Miss Emily is just too on the go. I did well just to get this picture and it was only after bribing her with the July 4th sunglasses I got her at the Target Dollar Spot. :) Regardless, she was happy, and that smile was what I wanted to see most! Things have just been trucking along through month ten. Here are a few of the highlights:

The End of Nursing: This month marked the official end of nursing. My plan all along had been to nurse her as long as she wanted to nurse up to a year or so. She lost interest for the most part last month, but this month she even stopped her morning nursing. I also decided to quit pumping because it is just too difficult to pump and chase her around at the same time. We made it through ten months of breast milk and I am thrilled with that! She takes about four bottles each day.
Eating: Our little girl is eating all kinds of things now. I wish I had written everything down that she has eaten, but that would be a pretty long list. Her favorite food seems to be blueberries. The only things we've given her that she repeatedly spits out are rice and refried beans. I think it's a texture thing. She eats three meals a day in addition to her bottles. She also learned how to drink through a straw this month.
New carseat: This month, we moved Emmy from her carrier car seat to a big girl car seat! This car seat will stay with her until she is at least three years old. She is still facing backwards, but seems to be much happier now. She was becoming difficult when we were in the car, which had never been the case before.
Waving: Emily learned to wave on command this month. She has gotten pretty good at it, but still mostly only does it if she wants to. I'm pretty sure we have a strong-willed child on our hands. Fortunately, she's a SWEET strong-willed child! Let's hope she stays that way!
First plane ride: Emily took her first plane ride this month to visit her grandparents in Ohio. She did pretty well. Only a few minutes of crying at the start of the first ride and no crying at all on the way back!
First Summer vacation: We also took our first real family vacation this month. We made the 12 hour car ride to Destin, Florida with Mimi and Papa. She did great in the car thanks to her backyard friends, The Backyardigans and lots of entertainment from Mimi. We had a great time!
More Mobility: Still no standing or walking, but this girl is a speed crawler! She can get wherever she wants to go in no time. She spends a LOT of time on her feet and is cruising all over the place.
Another tooth: Tooth number eight came in this month. Our girl has pretty much all of her first year teeth in, so we may be good for awhile. We shall see!
Swimming: She started "swimming" this month and has had a great time! Her favorite thing to do is play on the steps with her toys. Next month, we take swimming lessons!
Home with mommy: The most exciting thing that happened this month is mommy quitting her job to stay home with Emily! It has already been a wonderful experience!

We didn't get good measurements this month due to the fact that we were on vacation on her ten month birthday. However, she is around 20 lbs and 31 inches. She wears 9 month clothing, size 2 or 3 shoes, and size 3 diapers.

Although she doesn't use this carseat anymore, we had to have her picture in it for comparison's sake.

And of course, the faces of the photoshoot. The majority of this shoot consisted of her crawling away from me. She almost fell off the couch four times. Good thing mommy caught her! Silly girl.

Little girl,
We love you more today than we did the day before. Which is nearly impossible, because we loved you so much yesterday! You are our sunshine and nothing is better than your smiling face. Love you forever.