10 Months?!?!?!

Wow! Brooklynn turned 10 months (almost 3 weeks ago--which is when I started this post!) and we celebrated by going to the Doctor where she was lucky enough to get only one shot! Brooklynn is now 18 lbs 10.5 oz (48th percentile....she's put on some weight! She went up 3%), 28 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile), and her head circumference is 17.3 inches (48th percentile). Her head size is definitely the most notable growth as she has never really been above the 20th percentile for that. Her brain must be growing really well inside that pretty little head of hers!
I was just looking at some pictures of Brooklynn from our first few weeks home. I cannot believe that she was ever that tiny (and immobile). In some ways I miss that sweet little thing that we could love on and snuggle with, but I absolutely love the stages that we are in right now and watching Brooklynn explore and develop her skills and personality. She is such a smart cookie and amazes me pretty much every day with what she is able to do and all that she figures out.

Helping mommy get ready.

I have to say that the best new development in our little girl's life is her cuddliness! She really hasn't been a cuddly baby, but a few weeks ago she started hugging! She gives the sweetest hugs. I LOVE it when she wraps her little arms around my neck. She also will spend more time just sitting in my lap, which is really nice, and occasionally will climb into my lap for some good quality cuddle time. All I have to say is: FINALLY!!!!

Putting on daddy's shoe

 We have had some pretty nice days the last month and we have taken advantage of the nice weather to go to the park. Brooklynn absolutely loves the park! We have a pretty cool park by the library which is just perfect for her! It has awesome toys that are her size and I love that the ground surrounding the toys is soft (I have no idea what that material is, but I love it!). Brooklynn loves the merry-go-round! She is a stand-up rider (she will actually only sit if she falls) and walks off and on at will. She also loves to slide and will go over and over again. But her most favorite park activity, by far, is picking up pine cones. This little girl LOVES her some pine cones. She will often have 3-4 in her hand and will still try to pick more up!!

Swinging with Grandma Compton and cousin Bryson

Teeter-tottering with cousin Evan

Oh, the excitement! A rare moment with her actually holding on!

I am convinced that Brooklynn thinks she is 2. She thinks that she can do anything and go anywhere! She discovered stairs last weekend and climbed up them on her own like she had been doing it her whole life. She doesn't take the stairs one at a time bringing both feet onto one step before moving on the next. She takes them just like you or I would take them. And when it comes to going down she doesn't want to face backwards and climb down feet first, she thinks that if she is going down she should be facing down. Aside from stairs she climbs anything and everything that she possibly can (including me!).

Brooklynn also has a newfound love for dancing. Her version is to bob her head and if she is really getting into it then her head bobbing will continue down her torso and sometimes her dancing might be a little quick step with her feet. This past weekend she also started turning in circles, which is pretty cute to watch. She apparently is unable to turn in circles unless her head is turned to the side and looking down!

Brooklynn has an obsession with carrying around clothes. Her pants are always strewn around the house because she takes them out of her drawer as soon as I put them away! (For some reason she only gets into and takes out her pants, weird!) Her favorite day of the week is laundry day when a magical fairy leaves piles of clothes for her to play with when she wakes up. She is OBSESSED!!!

She loves drinking out of a straw and will pretty much take over my water bottle when she sees me drinking out of it. I think it might be time to get her one of her own!

Obviously, she stopped drinking but was still enjoying sucking up the water!

Brooklynn has had 5 teeth for quite a while, 3 on bottom and 2 on top. The top teeth that came in first were her lateral incisors, so we have had a little fang baby! We are finally able to say goodbye to her fangs because her middle teeth are moving in!

Look at those fangs!!  

A few weeks ago Brooklynn started making dog sounds, pretty much out of the blue. She has a counting book that has dogs in it and it has barking sounds in it that we read, but other than that we haven't been working on animal sounds so it completely shocked us. Her barking sounds like "woof" without the "f" sound at the end. So it's "wooh, wooh".

(Last week's picture....yesterday was a crazy day and we didn't get around to taking her weekly pic yet)