Tooth!

We have a tooth!  We were at a friend's house on Friday when I rudely halted the conversation we were having by shrieking, "She's got a tooth!" after doing my daily feel around Zoë's gums for one.  So exciting!  It was so sharp and I didn't end up seeing it until Saturday, but it's definitely there.  I'm both thrilled and sad that her gummy baby smile is changing.  She was oh-so-cranky on Sunday through about Tuesday mid-day and we were really having a hard time with our new fussy girl.  I thought babies were supposed to have a hard time BEFORE the tooth broke through the gums?  Hmmm...an anomaly as always.

Also, Zoë is definitely close to officially crawling.  She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth often and there are no boundaries for where she goes now.  And she's quick!  We're working on getting a gate for the stairs, and we have to cover the outlets and do other baby proofing tasks within the next few days.  Crazy!

I've had a lot more of the moments lately, vacillating between feeling so excited for the newest milestone and sad that she's growing so fast.  I just can't believe that we're so close to her first birthday and she's hitting so many big milestones.

Her favorite position, hanging out on her side.  Chris calls it her "Jane Fonda".

And, to swing in the opposite direction, Zoë hasn't been sleeping very well for the past two months.  Since about mid-September, she's been waking up once or twice in the middle of the night and needing some middle-of-the-night consoling.  Until very recently (about the last week and a half), we were able to put her pacifier back in her mouth and she'd go back to sleep.  Now, she won't take the pacifier and swats it out of our hands.  She'll cry until we pick her up.  We can sit with her in the glider until she falls asleep again, but the moment we set her back in her crib she's awake and crying.  If we bring her in to sleep with us she falls fast asleep until morning.  So frustrating!  We thought at first it was related to all of the new growing she's doing, but we are pretty sure we're being played now.  We can add even more evidence to the fact she's learned how to play us.  She's now crying and fussing if we leave her for too long playing by herself.  The minute we pick her up she's fine.  :)  It's been quite a frustrating week, but we're sure glad we get lots of smiles still in between the fussing and not sleeping.  She's still a pretty cute little girl!  At least the crying and fussing is accompanied by the arms up gesture she makes when we come to pick her up.  I love that!

Having fun with mashed potatoes

One more week until her 10 month birthday, I can't believe it.