Violet at 10 Months

Violet has grown so much this past month!  The above picture shows how much her foot has grown since we had her footprints painted on a ceramic tile when she was just a couple of days old.   The below picture is an inspired idea I had for feeding and teething pain relief - Violet enjoys gnawing on mango pits. 

Her first two teeth popped through, thankfully at the same time, but oddly they are the top front teeth.  Lucy and Emma popped their bottom two teeth well before their top teeth came in.  Violet needs to assert herself as an individual I suppose, with two older sisters to compare her with.  It's a good thing her older sisters absolutely adore her.  In clockwise from top left, Lucy has taken it upon herself to clean out the toe jam between Violet's toes, Emma is keeping Violet safe while she plays the piano, Emma keeps Violet happy with wagon rides while I make meals, and Lucy has found a solution with tape and felt to quiet the clacking push toy that Violet loves to make noise with.  The middle picture is of both big sisters giving Violet laundry basket rides.

All is not rainbows and smiley faces though between the sisters, as Violet has earned the name The Destroyer.  She has shown her individuality in her height when compared to her sisters as well, and can reach heights that her sisters never could at this age.

 She loves the girls water bottles, and covertly sneaks a sip in whenever we aren't looking.

Lucy has gotten into the habit of dragging Violet under her arms and backwards to a safer place but that really only buys seconds of diversion.

Probably the most nerve wracking abilities she has learned this past month include lifting the toilet lid and climbing the stairs.  It is a full time job keeping Violet safe and the contents of the house from being completely dumped upside down or submerged in toilet water.

Violet now crawls on her hands and knees, as opposed to sliding around on her stomach and has even learned how to walk by pushing movable objects around the floor.

She is unstoppable, unless of course I put her in the crib.  Fortunately she hasn't figured out how to climb out of her bed yet.  Unfortunately, she doesn't sleep in there well at all.  It does provide safety however if I need to run downstairs for something, clean up a mess she needs to stay out of (think poop or puke) or take a shower.  Sometimes I come back to retrieve her and find Emma playing in the crib with her.

This little girl is not shy and has already shown us that she has quite a sense of humor.  The people behind us in church one Sunday kept smiling and laughing at Violet.  I assumed as any proud mom would that they were adoring my beautiful baby.  When I finally turned around to flash them a proud mom smile, I realized that Violet was chain blowing spit bubbles.  Violet also has perfected spit raspberries when eating which her older sisters never did.  I would like to personally thank a friend of our's mother-in-law for teaching Violet that lovely skill.  She takes the raspberry and spit bubbles to yet another level though, and will make a farting sound with her mouth if she hears any of her beloved family members pass gas.  The clowning around doesn't stop there.  She loves to initiate games of peek a boo with a scarf the person holding her may happen to be wearing, or a nearby blanket or even underwear from a basket of laundry.  She loves clapping her hands to encourage you to sing Pat a Cake, and will even clap her hands after one of her big sisters put on a performance.

She definitely has grasped the art of communication this past month and shows us the sign for more, milk, and all done as well as "read a book".  She even will sit still and allow us to read a page or two from her books before she has had enough and decides she wants to eat the book instead.  She will go to her high chair when she wants to eat, and freaks out with excitement when she sees the little red wagon that her big sisters take her for rides in.  She says oooooh and uh-oh at appropriate times and best of all, sings the Oompa Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I can't make this stuff up - she sings "oompa loompa" over and over again in tune and there is no mistaking it.

She finally enjoys her bath, I think sparked by her new found love of how the water splashes in the toilet.  Even when I found her eating used toilet paper, dripping from the toilet or licking the crumbs off the floor from an empty graham cracker sleeve she pulled from the garbage can - I can't help but laugh. Her sense of humor, intelligence and cuteness fuels me enough to be able to have the energy to keep her safe!  Violet, I am a proud and exhausted mama and am grateful for you and all of the laughs!