Fall = Fun and More Firsts!

October seemed to go by so much faster than September. This was partly because we went about 10 days without seeing the outside world as we all caught the dreaded H1N1. Putting that experience beside/behind us, we really did have a fantastic month.

It started off with Sophia visiting her first apple orchard/pumpkin patch with Aunt Rinnie, Mia and Pop Pop. She got a kick out of seeing the apple bushels and was in awe of the big orange objects that were all around her.

The fun activities continued and of course centered around our budding toddler. (Did I just use the word 'toddler'?) Like most babies her age, Sophia loves playing "So Big". We have tried to turn this into "Touchdown Wahoos". (See picture below in her Halloween costume practicing for the game against Duke.) She also loves peekaboo and continues to love razzing and babbling. Actually, most of our laughs have come with Sophia combining these tricks into her own interpretation of "Simon Says". The game goes like this. Sophia razzes. We razz. Sophia does So Big. We do So Big. Sophia does a razz and So Big simultaneously. We do a razz and So Big simultaneously. She then figures out a combination that is just too challenging for us to mirror and thus she wins the game. Laughter by all promptly follows.

She also cut her first tooth this month which means she is no longer "The Toothless Wonder". I was beginning to become concerned that she hadn't cut any of her teeth as a 9 month old. I'm still not quite sure why I wanted her to have teeth. As we're quickly learning, having teeth means she has to go through the "teething" ordeal... not a fun time for anyone...

She's taken her first independent steps this month too. She is cruising and transferring pretty steadily these days. Just today we watched stand on her own for a good 5 seconds.

Not really a first, but fun to watch, is Sophia surrounded by all of her books. She seems to be taking after her Aunt Rinnie as an avid reader. She often chooses to look through a book rather than playing with other toys. (See pics below).She loves being read to and has learned to turn the pages of all her books. She loves the classics "Go Dog, Go." and "Are you my mother?"

And the final obvious first you'll see is her first trip down a slide. She couldn't get enough!

We're looking forward to what firsts we get the joy of experiencing in November.