a little embarrassed.

Ok, I am just a wee bit embarrassed that I haven't written a post since October. But I'm stuck here in Nairobi--Jillian is asleep and Nate and Zoe got on a plane earlier today headed back to Dar. So I have no excuse not to at least catch up on the past few monthly updates for J-pop. And by the time another week rolls around, I may be so bored that I post just about anything just to give myself something to do. But for now, let's get down to business. The last month I posted about was when she turned 7 months...and she is about to be 11 months (how can that be?) So I've got 3 months of baby girl to catch up on. I realize nobody (except maybe grandparents) care what Jillian was doing 3 months ago, but this is more for myself so I can look back at her first year...which is passing oh-so-quickly! Here we go...

8 months
-She finally got her first tooth...and then her second. Her two front bottom teeth came in one right after the other. She was a little fussy, but did pretty well.
-She now has two words...dada and MAMA! Yay yay yay!
-She is loving to play with her big sister...especially in the kiddie pool...whether it has water in it or not!
-She is still a fabulous eater...will try anything and likes almost everything! She still gets super upset when the food is gone; I'm not sure if that is gonna go away!
-She is still nursing...hates formula and bottles...not sure what happened there?
-She is sleeping through the night! We are welcoming our full nights sleep with open arms!
-She is pulling up!

9 months

-She celebrated her very first Thanksgiving and was given the honor of playing the turkey in the Thanksgiving Day Play (picture below!)

-She's picked up a third word, "hi." It's precious beyond belief when she crawls over, pulls up on one of us and says it in the sweetest little voice ever.

-She is becoming more and more fun for Zoe as she learns how to play with her and interact. I must say, she is a pretty good sport!

-She is scaling the sides of the furniture and getting more and more confident with standing and walking with some help!

-She is still eating like a champ and nursing about 4 times a day.

(this picture makes me laugh because she is only milliseconds from being hit in the head with the beach ball)

10 months

-She celebrated her first Christmas and loved our little tree, the lights, and of course, the wrapping paper! She had more Christmas presents from her grandparents than she knew what to do with!!

-She is starting to stand all by herself! She will be holding onto us or furniture and briefly let go to test her balance. Usually it's only a few seconds before she plops down on her bottom or grabs ahold of something, but she is getting closer!

-She now has 4 teeth! Bottom two and top two.

-Her newest word is "uh-oh!" and she uses it correctly. You know...when she knocks my water glass off the table, or spills her carrot mush all over the floor, or drops her puffs in the cracks of the couch.

-We have attempted to begin to ween her by using formula or pumped milk. She wants nothing to do with it! She batts the sippy cup across the room and yells at us for even trying to fool her!