The Richardsons: Ryleigh is Ten Months!!!!!!!!!!

Ryleigh at 10 months (August 15, 2011)

Okay...the exclamation points are really rackin' up and getting ridiculous! Ten! Ten of 'em up there! In the months Ryleigh has been alive, I could have had another baby. How crazy is that?! My little muffinhead cannot be that old!

But she is. sigh....

She has had a busy month filled with lots of visitors. We started out (literally the day after we turned 9 months) with a visit from Uncle Dave, Aunt Cristin, Tyler and Kylie. We had lots of fun with them and Ryleigh really enjoyed getting to play with her cousins. You can check out the pictures and videos HERE. Two weeks later we had a visit from Gammy and Grandad. They made a stop at our house for a couple days during their week-long road trip vacation. You can read all about it and look at the pictures and videos from that visit HERE.

This month has also been pretty full of new things for Ryleigh as well. I mentioned last month that she began to cut tooth #3 & #4...well literally days later she began cutting tooth #5, #6, #7, AND #8! It was amazing. Aunt Cristin actually discovered our protruding toofers and Mommy couldn't believe it. Six teeth all cutting at pretty much the same time! Lucky for us, only #3 & #4 resulted in a cranky baby. They've been growing and growing this past month and are almost completely through. She looks soooo adorable when she gives that toothy grin now : ) But watch out, Mommy learned the hard way that those teeth are vicious...just ask my shoulder.

She has continued to master her waving, except for now she has discovered her wrist and instead of flailing her arms around to wave she simply raises her arm and flicks her wrist (you'll see it in an adorable video). It's the cutest thing ever. She will also give you an example of how big she is by raising both arms in the air when you ask "Ryleigh, how big are you?" Just be sure to say "Sooooooo big!" in a high-pitched voice when she does it.

Another skill she mastered this month is how to crawl up the stairs. We were so proud of our little munchkin when she first did it...then it just became annoying. At first she just liked to crawl up to the landing and sit there. I guess she thought it was a nice place to watch TV. Then she started venturing up the big set of stairs and if you weren't watching, she'd be half way up those stairs before you knew it! We have since invested in a baby gate to keep her from venturing upstairs, but she cries every time we put it up (she gets over it pretty quickly though).

She is trying to sound out words a lot now...when you say bottle she will respond with "bahhh", but "bahhh" is also what she says when you tell her it's bath time. She continues to say "Mama" and "Dada" and she will let out the occasional "Yaya" when she sees my Mom on skype or hears her voice on the speakerphone. You can sometimes get an "up" out of her, but only if you say it first. I can swear almost every day that she says some new word...one day I said Lucy and I think she said "Ucy", then another day I said nap and she responded with "ap"...so I think she's working on it. She most definitely knows words though...you say breakfast and she immediately crawls to the pantry where her food is, you say puffs and she claps her hands (because they are her favorite) and crawls to her highchair, you say bath time and she crawls to the stairs (and if you let her crawl up the stairs she will continue on to the bathroom). Sooo...needless to say we have started repeating things a lot around here. She also knows when Mommy is getting a bottle ready because once she hears the microwave start she stops crying or fussing, and if she's on the floor, she crawls into the kitchen, pulls herself up with the cabinets and stands directly under where the microwave is and points at it. So smart : )

She has also started pointing at things a lot now. Like my eyeball (ouch!), nose and mouth. Actually, she jams her finger in my mouth. So when she does it we've started saying "eye...that's Mommy's eye...where's Ryleigh's eye", then I'll point to her eye and so on. One day we were playing this game with our noses and after a few times she actually pointed to my nose on her own when I asked her where mine was. It might be coincidence, but whatever, I think she's smart : ) She also likes to mimic me when I try to pick boogies out of her nose. She has started sticking her finger in my nose when I do it to her...it's not so fun...for me at least.

Another skill she has managed to master this month is getting off the sofa by herself, which I think is pretty amazing for a 10 month old. If she wants down, she simply lays on her belly, scooches backwards to the edge of the sofa and works her way down feet first until they touch the floor. I mean, that's pretty logical thinking, right?! I've yet to capture it on video, but I'm trying!

Sooo...we're growing up and learning new things and starting to put things together, which is amazing to watch. But her feisty days are becoming more frequent which means she's becoming a lot more exhausting. But it's all worth it when she looks at you, says "Mama" then dives in and gives you that slobbery, open-mouthed "kiss" : ) sigh....

caught!

Mommy puts rattles on Ryleighs ankles...Ryleigh doesn't like it

trying to crawl through a tiny passage while a bulldog is trying to = tears

Lucy makes sure Ryleigh isn't getting into trouble

look at my chompers!

trying to figure out the sippy cup, in a...different way

made it to the stairs

"don't worry Mommy, I won't go up them...while you're looking"

waving

crazy Mommy is always putting things on my head!

snack time, juice and puffs

Ryleigh's famous laugh-cry

trying on one of my birthday picture outfits...and eating white out, whatever

eating chicken like a big girl

Ryleigh spends some time on the landing and tries to break down the barrier

Finally! The time has come!

"hmmm, this blankie is laying on the back of this chair, what should I do with? I know! Snuggle with it!"

playing peek-a-boo with the blankies

justing standing up, holding my own bottle, no biggie

Nothing says "I live in the south" like a baby drinking a beer shirtless

(it was empty, don't worry!)

cuddling her snuggle guy

Mommy's love bite from Ryleigh

seriously Mommy, stop putting things on my head (but isn't it cute?!)

playing in Mommy's closet

(for some reason, the second I open my closet door she goes crawling in, pulls herself up using my shirts then uses them to sway around...she usually pulls 10 of them off of the hangers. It's like her own little playground in there apparently)