10 months old and summer catch up post

It has been awhile since I've posted so I'm going to attempt to catch up. The last few weekends we have had friends out to the cabin which is always a lot of fun. We had Dan's friends from Mankato there one weekend - usually we go up to the Gjovik's north of Brainerd but this year it worked out better to come to our cabin. It was fun to go boating and for Bethany to meet Asa who is a few weeks younger than her.

Climbing the stairs together.
Here they are playing on the musical table together

Then we had my sister and her family and my parents over. We actually took Charlie on Friday while Amber and Brent went to a wedding and so Bethany and Charlie had some cousin time. Here are some cute pictures from bath time. I was very wet sitting there watching them because they splashed so much!

We went to the State Fair this past week and enjoyed cheese curds, endless cups of milk, Sweet Martha's cookies and Australian battered potatoes. Bethany grabbed one of the cookies while we were darting under cover from a pop up storm and had chocolate everywhere! We also visited the Miracle of Birth center where Bethany got to come face to face with some of the animals we read about in one of her books. She loved seeing the little pigs, sheep and calves.

Labor Day weekend we finally had our Bethel friends out to the cabin. We'd been planning it since before Memorial Day trying to find a weekend where everyone could come. It was a blast! Kevin and Jon both brought their cameras to take some pictures of Bethany and we got a few cute ones I think. When they send them to me I'll be sure to post a few.

I'll do another post of some other pictures over the past month as well, but in the meantime Bethany turned 10 months old! She is learning so many new things like raising her hands by her head when we say How big is Bethany? She claps a lot and sometimes waves too. She definitely knows the meaning of "no" but usually does the no thing and looks at us to see what we will do. I thought we were going to get by, but Bethany has learned to drop things over the edge of her high chair. She eats 3 solid food meals a day and loves to try everything we give her. We play hide and seek and peek-a-boo around corners a lot and she loves it! She loves to be chased too if we crawl after her but usually stops and turns around to try to have us pick her up after awhile. She is standing on her own for longer periods of time and goes between pieces of furniture by taking a step sometimes. I think she'll walk by her 11 month birthday....

She gets sooo excited when she sees people she recognizes, especially us when she hasn't seen us all day or for a few hours. When she is interested in something she'll get quiet and look at it with her big eyes and sometimes make high-pitched noises or squeaks with her mouth slightly open while switching between looking at us and the item of interest. She sleeps very well with 2 solid naps during the day and between 11-12 hours of sleep at night. Very few times does she wake up and need us - mostly she can put herself back to sleep. She loves her books - especially the animal book when we make the sounds. We read a Bible story every night before bed and I can tell she knows its bedtime when she sits on dad's lap in the rocking chair while I read the story. Dan prays and then I cuddle her for a minute or two while she lays her head on my shoulder. Then she lays down in her crib and usually doesn't cry before drifting off to sleep.

Bethany you are at such a fun age where you love mommy and daddy and others too! We love your sweet personality and how you comfort others when they are sad like the kids at daycare or friends at home. We hope you continue to display empathy for those around you. We can't believe that you are standing on your own and feel a little sad that you may be walking soon! That means you are becoming more of a little girl than the tiny baby that we took home from the hospital last fall. We love you so much!
Here are some fun 10 month pictures of Bethany by her monkey:

She looks like a little girl instead of a baby in this picture I think