Even though this picture is kind of blurry and weird, it instantly reminded me of something.


Can you see it?

walking

Don't get too excited, it's not real walking. She's pushing her walker toy and going pretty fast!

waving

10 months

Happy 10 months, sweet baby girl!

Best things (so far) about 10 months:
-after her first steps last week, lots more walking to come this month
-quickly growing hair
-showing independence
-able to follow simple commands (give mommy your paci, etc.)
-LOTS of hugs and big open mouth kisses
-the dreaded top teeth are coming through and should ease the teething pain
-so far, better nighttime sleeping and 2 solid daytime naps
-more experimental with food (she loved salmon!)
-can go up stairs and is working on going down

Hard things about 10 months:
-mini tantrums complete with back arching and flailing
-throwing food
-showing independence (see also best things)
-really seriously getting into everything

backpack

I've been wanting to try this out for a long time. This way she can stay close to me while I do important things like the dishes, laundry, and getting ready. I figured out how to put her in it myself and it's not so hard - hooray!

Oh, daddy!

more videos!

In this 30 second video see if you can spot all of the following:
jibberish, a big cheese smile, pooping (sorry), a hiccup, two bottom teeth, crazy hair, sticking her tongue out, and biting my knee?



We've been working on clapping for a long time and I think she's starting to get the hang of it!


Man does this girl love clementines!

reason #45 not to let your baby play in the bathroom

videos!

Stacking and shaking


She thinks it's pretty funny to play "night night" and she will lay down and crack up! This isn't the best example, but she was pretty into her nesting cups.

vacation!

Last weekend we packed the Blazer to the brim and headed to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells for some indoor waterpark fun. We've been planning this trip with the Steffey family for months but I don't think any of us were prepared for how much fun we would have. The indoor theme park was fun with lots of arcade games (Grammy is a Deal or No Deal addict), an indoor ferris wheel, laser tag (SO FUN!), a small rock climbing wall (Nate and Grammy raced to the top), a ropes course, and much more. Our huge suite style room was awesome and we all had plenty of space to hang out. The restaurants were great and we had lots of tasty meals. But you guys, the indoor waterpark was AMAZING. There were several awesome water rides with little or no lines to ride them, plenty of areas for babies and little ones, the most amazing lazy river ever, hot tubs, smoothie bars, bars with tropical drinks, and towel warmers in the locker room! I'm already nostalgic about this trip and we just got home. We're thinking of making this an annual tradition and we cannot wait for next year!

All packed up and on the road.


We split the drive and stopped a night in Bloomington, IL to see some great friends. I felt so special that everyone could all take a night and come together to catch up. And between us we have 5 kiddos - how did that happen??


I'm always surprised at how fearless my mom is. I know that waterpark rides don't really scare a woman who has jumped out of an airplane several hundred times, but it was so fun to see her enjoy the rides so much. Everywhere we went she made friends and managed to collect an audience of encouraging fans. When she climbed the rock wall she had about 10 strangers turned into friends and supporters instantly. They were all cheering for her and it was so fun to see my mom in her element just having fun!

This is what we called the "flusher." You dropped down a straight tube and got swirled around a few times before you got dumped into the drop zone. It just looked like a big toilet bowl!

Waiting for the big splash...


She made it!!! This picture just cracks me up.



While Grammy got flushed, Vi and I took a long ride on the lazy river. She actually took a couple of naps this way! We both love the water and I was so proud of her for being so fearless about so many new environments.



She loved to kick her legs in the water in the coconut swings.


Water + swings = ultimate baby happy time!!



I love these gals!



And this gal!


One of the neatest parts about this trip was that the waterpark had all glass walls so that we could see right out into the snowy frigid Wisconsin weather. It was pretty awesome to be enclosed in the 84 degree climate controlled waterpark and look out into the snow!




On the way home we stopped in Madison, Wisconsin for lunch. We've always heard that it is a really cool city. It has lots of greenspace, cool breweries and restaurants, walking trails, and an interesting downtown. It was a super snowy day and the roads were pretty bad but we made it to the Great Dane brewpub and had a very tasty lunch before embarking on the long drive home.

Beer sampler!


What a cute baby just drinking her juice sampler


Best vacation ever? YES!

Say mama

Visitor

One day last week we got to have baby Gavyn at our house for a couple of hours. Vi loves to play with other babies and they had fun together!

Giving both babies some lunch


They even shared toys!

New things

You guys, these kleenexes are so fun!!


But we don't eat them...


We got the all clear for eggs at the 9 month check up. YUM!


We're so organized even the babies go in bins.

New Year

We spent New Year's Even with the DiMartinis and had a blast! We played games, Theresa schooled everyone in Scattergories, and we all stayed up much too late. Since we can't get enough Tenholder/DiMartini time, we headed to their new apartment on New Year's Day for a late lunch. Violet loves her some Theresa time and she even loved their dog Bella!

Thanks for the cute pictures, T!


Big kisses for mommy!


Eating a snack like a big girl


Big kisses from Bella


What a cutie!


Big smiles for Theresa

The Magic House!

During the day on New Year's Eve we all took a trip to The Magic House. Our year long membership is awesome because even though it was super fun, we know it will be even more fun when she's a little bit bigger. It was also crazy busy so it will be nice to go during the week when kids are back in school so we can have a little bit more space to move around. Hopefully this time there won't be any tornado sirens going off, either!

Looking at the shapes and colors


Bubble tubes


Crawling through the tunnel (love that you can see mom and dad in the mirror!)


Loving the ball pit


By far, her favorite place to be was the little kitchen area. She could open the refrigerator, put a bundt cake in the oven, and steam up some broccoli on the stovetop. Here she was washing the dishes.


Hmm....what should we have tonight?


Using our hands to move the electrical currant