So, Bree turned 10 months old on.....well, I don't know when. I've never had a situation where a birthday doesn't always exist in every month. With her birthday being the 29th, and February having no 29, I decided she turned 10 months old on March 1st. But it was funny to think that she was turning 10 months in March and then 12 months in April. So.....yeah, decide what you'd like. I have no idea how moms with babies born on a 31st do it!
Anyway, the time between 9 and 10 months was great for Bree. At her 9 month well-check, she had a complete oral aversion. She would not allow anything to go near her mouth AT ALL. And she would not babble or make any sounds other than coos or squeals. I debated on the feeding and speech therapy and when the hospital called to set up the evaluation I told them that I was hesitant. So, the scheduler had me talk with the head therapist. We decided that Bree's oral issues very likely could be related to an episode of constipation that she experienced in early December after she had really started to take to solid foods and do well with them. But it was hard to say for sure. The therapist talked me into scheduling an evaluation and my thought was that it was so far out that if things got better I could cancel beforehand. Well, about mid-way through the month we started making some really good progress. I dropped one nursing session and my supply tanked (again!) and she finally started taking food again. By the end of the month she was eating two solid meals a day. As much as I would love to be able to let her take it at her own pace, my body just can't keep nursing her and so I'm glad she's finally willing to accept solids again. Of course, by solids I mean stage 2 or stage 1 baby food. But hey, it's progress. She still won't accept bites of table food, but we are working on that. The longest my body has been able to nurse was with Kai and I made it until he was about 10 1/2 months old. So, we will see what happens and just keep plugging along. With all of the pumping that I have done since August (and I still pump twice a day) I have enough milk stored that I just might make it until her 1st birthday. I had extra milk and was putting it away in the freezer up until about Christmas, and since then I've been slowly using up the supply. It's going to be close, but I just might have enough. So, that's great that is working out, too.
And as for speech, someone "flipped her switch". She is babbling up a storm and imitating sounds. It's so cute to hear her little voice finally. She still has times where she is quite quiet but there are times when she just talks and babbles and it's adorable. Her very first word was "Hi!" said with only an exhale of air and she started that quiet young (around 7 months or so) as it seems we all say "Hi" to her when we go to see her and pick her up. Her second word, though, has been "Dada" which made Reid super happy. It kind of sounds more like "Zaah Zaah" to me, but she definitely uses it for Reid.
As for her weight, according to my scale she did not gain a single ounce between 9 and 10 months old. So, we have some work to do there. She continues to eat one time a night (sometimes two) and she takes two naps a day (normally at least an hour and half each). She crawls everywhere! (as you can tell from the pictures she is in constant motion) And she can pull herself up to a stand on just about anything. She loves watching her brothers take baths and would crawl right into the tub with them if she could.
Oh, and I almost forgot, she learned to wave this month. That has to be one of my most favorite things. She did it the first time while we were playing on the XBox. To get the Kinect started you have to wave at it, and she heard me tell the boys to wave and watched them do it so many times that one time she crawled right over next to Kai and just started doing it, too. It's adorable because she does a full arm wave. I've tried to get a video but she won't stay on the other side of the camera!
Anyway, it's been a great month for Bree. I did end up canceling her evaluation as she is doing so well. Now we just need to work on that weight issue. At this rate, it's going to be difficult to get her to 16.5 pounds before her birthday. Eeekkkkk!
