The Jane: Ten Months Old

Today is the photo shoot day for our Girl in residence, aka M.I.P. (That's either Most Important Person or Monkey in Pink. We're trying to decide.) She is 10 months old, and this month has flown. First, a few things about Jane, for grandparents and posterity:

Among her first ever smiles, I noticed that she did a distinctly girly thing: she grinned and then added just a smidgeon of a twinkly squint at the end. This month, the squinty smile has become exaggerated and she bestows it on anyone who makes her laugh. My favorite, though is when we all start laughing and she squints and courtesy laughs with us. She is social,. and she has social "skills" that my boys still don't have didn't have at this age. Don't think that doesn't scare the pee (and maybe a tiny bit of the introvert) right out of me.

In fact, because of her social skills, we had to move her crib out of our room to the room down the hall because she would wake so frequently in the night and want to snuggle and "talk" and generally waller with me. I would try to nurse and she mostly just wanted to "hang." She learned really quickly (with not too much crying at all!) about just sleeping at night once there wasn't Mommy right in the room to chat with or screech at, and we are all better rested.

And because she has her own room now, our bedtime ritual has gotten a little more structured and I spend some concentrated time with her before putting her down, singing and rocking. She sings along! I love it! She will lay on my chest and hum herself to sleep while I sing. She really likes singing and last week also started humming really loud when we sing hymns in church. It's truly delightful.

One thing I haven't documented before about Jane, is that a big eye watering yawn or a big sneeze make her smile and give a little sighing laugh when she finished with them. It's like she's proud of it, or it cleared her head or something. Also hilarious to see and I hope to catch it sometime on video.

Another interesting thing about her is her propensity for chewing on furniture. It's a little like the little girl in Series of Unfortunate Events - biting is her talent. One of her favorite methods is to pull one of the kitchen chairs around to the front of her high chair and just chew. She also likes the corner of one of the drawers on our coffee table. Um, yeah...



She continues to be a real Mama's girl, but will now play and love on Dad, which is very cute, and rather savvy, of her. Although she very clearly has moments when she only wants Mom, and she calls me by name in a low repetition: "Momomomomomomomomomomo..."

She has a definite screech button and knows how to use it. She knows how to get someone to come running to put her brothers in check. This morning she did it and as soon as she was in my arms, she leaned forward a bit and started yelling at Charlie (the offender) right along with me.

Jane and Charlie have a bit of a love-hate relationship, usually love, sometimes very, er, fierce love. I like to watch them together. It's going to be a fun dynamic in our house...



Yesterday, we received a great package from Aunt Joeli that included the most precious assortment of tiny bows and barrettes and headbands, so Jane is now accessorized. Boy, are we going to have fun!

So without further ado, here are the official tutu-fied pictures of Jane at 10 months old:

(First, not wanting to look at me or leave the curtain alone...)

(The next one is unfortunately without Grandma's quilt in it because Jane crawled off, but the look on her face is how she stopped and looked at Charlie, who was throwing a fit because he "never gets to be in pictures!"...Classic.)

(Her arms flap when her brothers come around to play and talk...)

(Serious...)

My housekeeper calls Jane "hitrulya," which, roughly translated, is "clever/sly little girl." It fits. Jane has this whole world figured out and she's taking it by storm!