10.5 Months

I was looking at Paige today in disbelief. She is going to be a year old in March. I cannot believe how fast the last year has flown by. Paige is developing into such a funny and self-assured human being. She has a wonderful sense of curiosity, and is extremely social. If we walk into a restaurant or new home, as soon as I let her walk around she will systematically work the entire room, walking up to each person waiting for them to react to her.

As she approaches the one year mark, she has a few "words" although I use the word loosely. She says "bye bye," "hi," "mama," "dada," and "uh oh," but none of them are used exclusively for their correct meaning. For example, she does say uh oh when she drops something (on purpose) but she also says it when she wakes up from her nap or at other seemingly random times. I would say that "mama" is the word she uses most sparingly. She clearly uses it for me, as well as when she wants to nurse and when she wakes up at night and is upset.

She now has two teeth. They are coming in SO SLOWLY. I think it will be a while before she has anymore. Paige is continuing to work on walking and continuing to refuse to crawl. She can walk holding on to just one of my hands now, although she will not do it unless she has something else in her hand. She is very cautious and hates falling or being surprised in some way by her motion. She can balance for about 30 seconds or more standing, but again, will only do it if she doesn't notice. She has to be distracted, or she gets nervous and just sits down. She has now been walking using our fingers since November. I see definite progress, her balance is much improved, but I don't think she is that interested in walking independently. She does not pull up on things, and cannot get into a standing position herself. I suspect Paige will not be a super early walker. Who knows, she may eventually crawl first. I continue to give her as much "tummy time" as she will tolerate. All I can say about that is thank God I was a late walker and didn't crawl first, otherwise I might be a little more concerned about seeming disinterest in independent movement.

In this post is a picture of Paige showing off her first tooth as well as a video of her pushing around a toy at the Upper Noe Valley Rec Center, or as we call it the Day Park. Its an amazing place for the babies to play. I am so thrilled its in such close proximity.

Happy New Year

2008 was a dichotomy. As Dickens would say, "[i]t was the best of times, it was the worst of times." After eight years of feeling shame and disgust with our government, my spirits were lifted when our country elected Barak Obama. His message of change and hope resonated with so many who, until now, felt that our government could and would not represent them. Then, of course there was the crash of the housing market and the recession that followed. For much of the year, we felt pretty insulated here in San Francisco, but as the year drew to a close, the job security both Dave and I had taken for granted suddenly seemed less, well, secure. We watched on helplessly as our own retirement accounts, and more frighteningly those of our parents plummeted in value. Poor Paige's 529 plan is now worth less than our initial deposit into it despite our continued deposits.

Despite all of the chaos that seems to best describe the year, 2008 will always be one of the happiest years of my life. Paige has brought us more joy and happiness than I ever knew was possible. She is an amazing person, and I cannot wait to see what the coming year has in store for all of us

On the Paige front, my very big girl decided that she could not end the year without a single tooth; and so, I am pleased to announce, that at 9.5 months old, Paige cut her first tooth. The timing wasn't great. We were in Maine, and after spending three days with my family where Paige (for the most part) was her funny and charming self, she started to be fussy and cranky just in time to spend the last couple of days of our trip with Dave's family.

Paige continues to work on walking. She now virtually runs when she is holding onto our fingers. She can stand unassisted for a second or two before beginning to wobble. She also will balance herself on furniture. A month ago, Paige would fall to one side or another within a few moments of me taking my hands away. Now, she stands holding on to the couch or other pieces of furniture for several minutes before losing her balance.

She is beginning to "jabber" and imitate our vocal inflections as well. It seems her first words may be right around the corner...