El, 10 Months Old

Wow, double digits.

She's dying to walk - has the cruising thing down pat, and has the bumps and bruises to prove it.  Makes a bee-line to the most dangerous thing she can find, whenever possible.  That means if someone has left a toilet lid up, she rushes in to go "potty-diving" as Av calls it.  If the toilet lid is down but the bathroom door is open, it's the next best thing as far as El is concerned.  She can still get in there and fish in the trash can  or at the very least, unwind a roll of toilet paper.  God help you if you've left a space heater on in a cold room somewhere - she can smell it.  She can hear a piece of hard candy drop from the kitchen table, from upstairs on the opposite end of the house.  Her head whiplashes around and she hits the floor to run-crawl toward it.  She can psychically divine where the dirtiest corner of any floor is.  Her favorite cabinet to try to open is the one under the sink where all the cleaning stuff is.  Dead bugs within her reach call out to her like she's Jennifer Love-Hewitt.

I read recently that you can tell how smart a baby is by how exhausted the parents are.  I think El might be a genius, judging by that.  She is one tough kid to keep up with.

Other little things are changing, too.  She still loves to unload stuff out of a container or drawer, but recently she figured out that if she puts it back in, she can have the thrill of taking it out again.  She has started to imitate words and sounds she hears more often.  The funniest example is when she emits a deep, grunting "Aaaaahhh" of satisfaction after nursing, the way a person might after downing a refreshing glass of ice water on a hot day.  She gets that from her father.  She's learned what "no" means, and like most kids her age she finds it hilarious.  She's very social, loves people.  Even the crappiest of her moods can be fixed by a trip to the store, where she can smile and play peek-a-boo with everyone, or by a few minutes at Av's school when we drop her off in the morning and El gets fawned over by kids and parents alike. 

She's got four teeth - the top two just came in and it looks like two more are on deck (the top eye teeth).  She's eating a little more food now with less gastric upset.

I'll think of more later and continue this, with pictures.