I had every intention of taking a week-long break from the blog to spend all my time with my friends here…but then…it happened.  TODAY.  A TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!

This is so special because she seems to learn all the major mobility things from her buddy M.  The first time we went to NC to visit M, he was crawling & A wasn’t.  When we got home, A crawled.  The 2nd time we went to NC to visit M, M was cruising, A wasn’t.  The last day we were there, A pulled herself right up on their coffee table and started cruising up a storm!  M starting walking about a week ago.  He’s been walking all over our house….so it is only natural that A would take her first steps NOW!!!

She definitely doesn’t have the confidence to just let go & walk yet, but she’s really getting close!

Here’s a teaser photo from all the fun we’e been having!

I never want them to leave!!!!

A took her first bubble bath on Friday.  I can’t take the cuteness.  She’s the only thing that can make this awful bathroom fade into the background!

"huh...something's different about this baño Mommy"

"I'm not quite sure what to do..."

"I can pick up the soap...weird!"

"Ahhhhhh I GOT IT!!!"

"I'm so happy! I never want to take a bath without bubbles again!!"

When I’m having a bad day from now on…forget giving myself a bubble bath…I’m giving HER one!  That freaking SMILE!!!!!!

OK, A is really 10 months old now…but I’m slow with uploading and choosing a photo so here is her 9 month pic!  This was the most difficult month to shoot so far because she refuses to sit still.  I’m sure 10 months will be harder, and 11 and 12 months will never happen, but I’m going to do my best!

"You want to photograph me Mommy???? No shot!"

I’ve tried to keep the monthly photos prop-free, but it is not possible anymore.  If I want her to stop moving, she needs to be holding something!

New things in 9 months…lots of teething.  Teething was the theme of her 9th month.  She eats everything…loves strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe the most now.  Peach puffs are still her crack.  She crawls at lightning speeds.  My favorite thing she started during her 9th month is chasing T.  See….T chases M all the time.  When he can’t get her to chase him, he pounces on her until she’s so annoyed that she chases him, inevitably ending in him being beat on his head by her paws!  A learned this.  She crawls over to him, when he ignores her, she jumps on him and he comes running after her as she crawls away.  He always ends up licking her face, then she gets annoyed and shoos him away.  I always thought this was great when T & M played….its even better with A & T.  (And I totally just typed “T & A” but that sounded inappropriate so I changed it!!)

To end her 9th month, we went on a trip to Chicago with Auntie E!  It was Auntie E’s birthday yesterday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE EEEEEEE!!!!!!!!  Thanks for playing with A on the airplane & in the wee hours of the morning when she got kicked out of Mommy and Daddy’s room!  We love you very much and hope you had a great birthday!

Wishing everyone a Happy Tuesday!

A had her first swim lesson on Wednesday!  She came home from Gramma’s house with 2 new front top teeth poking through and I was hoping that she’d be in a decent mood for the swim instructor instead of the cranky pants she was before those 2 little teeth decided that Wednesday was the day!  For the record, she has gotten ALL 4 teeth she has, while at Gramma’s house.  Must be some tooth magnet in there somewhere!

So A and her friend PD were signed up for lessons together that started Wednesday @ 6pm!  We loaded the girls up with leche, bundled them up and brought them over to the Safe T Swim.  We then got them all dressed in their bathing suits!  How adorable are these girls???

A in her butterfly bathing suit!

What a face! This is A's friend PD...she's beautiful!

Is there anything better than baby girl tushies?!?!

"K Moms....we're ready to go swimming now!!"

At this point, we unhooked the bobo’s and brought the girls in to meet their instructors.  We were really hoping we didn’t have to poop in the pool!  Their instructors are 2 young guys who handled these girls and their screaming so well!  We had them singing, googoogaagaa-ing, and who knows what else, because after we hung out for a little and watched them for about 5 minutes, we went back to the parent’s viewing room to cool off!  They keep it 90 degrees in the pool area so sweaters is really overkill!

He's singing the ABC's to PD 🙂

A got right to kicking! She seems to remember a lot from last summer!

PD got to have her pick of the pool toys!

A doing the backstroke!

I picture this convo going: "PD: Where the hell did our mothers go? A: I don't know...if we start screaming maybe they'll come back PD: OK lets try..."

"I am not sure about this water splashing in my face thing!"

"OK Mom....its time to get out....kthx"

They were really good though.  We totally dropped them in a pool with strange  men and then left the room.  Considering the circumstances, these girls were rockstars!  We did pretty good too, as we sat there giggling about the girls screaming their heads off!  Great parents 🙂  Gramma was there to help out with everything this time, next week we hope to have the Dads!

We are hoping all this exercise only tires them out and is not enough to get rid of those smushy baby thighs because I love those!

We hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day!  We spent it inside mostly, then we took a walk with our friends E & little PD on the boardwalk.  We called it “resistance training”, I think G-d calls it tornado winds 😉  Either way, A wasn’t happy sitting in the stroller facing me, so with a little coordination, I switched the stroller to front facing & she enjoyed the ride!

Daddy came home early to give A a bath & put her to bed.  She loves when he surprises her and does that!

Here’s a little sweetness to end your V-day 🙂

A fed herself her bottle twice today!

She still likes us to hold it for her in the morning & before bed, which is FINE by us.  We still want to be needed, and its even better to be wanted!, but when she’s feeding herself all the other foods at lunchtime….she can hold her bottle!  I knew she could do it, and when left alone to sink or swim…she DID GREAT!

ok – thats enough excitement for tonight – goodnight!