Ashlyn

Our little Ashlyn is 10 months old. Time is flying by so fast. A few days ago, Jason and I were laying on our bed playing with her her and he looked at me and said, "Hon, how can we just freeze her right where she is? I don't want her to change!." She makes us so happy!

She loves to snuggle and wrestle! She growls when she pretends she is "getting" us and squeals when we tickle her or wrestle her back.

She loves to play peek- a- boo.

She loves music! As soon as she hears any music, she grins and starts bobbing her head and moving her body! It is adorable!

She can walk with her walker or holding onto our fingers.

She loves the stairs! We bought gates for the top and bottom so she wouldn't get hurt. Sometimes she stands at the top and calls for the kids if they are down stairs.

She has four teeth and puts everything in her mouth! It's almost like she has a routine when she sees something new. She will pick it up, and then using only her wrist, twirl it around in the air, taste it, twirl it some more and then throw in back down.

She loves to eat, but she doesn't like anything sweet. She decided watermelon is okay and yesterday I was able to convince her to eat some pears. She loves "real" food. When we give her baby food, she just spits it out. We have a food grinder, so she pretty much eats whatever we are having. Barbecue chicken and green beans are her favorite. Here she is eating some Cheerios. Somehow she is the only one who doesn't get in trouble for eating in the living room!

She understands 4 signs (Baby Signs)! If she ever starts to fuss and I can guess using the signs what she wants, she will smile and stop crying because she knows I understand what she wants. It has been so helpful! She just started doing 2 of the signs back to us. A few days ago, I was at the grocery store with her. Her eyes were so big as we passed all of the food. Within a few minutes, she was doing the sign for bite and saying, "bu! bu!". I was so proud of her! I grabbed a box of Gerber Banana Cookies and gave her one before I checked out! She also does the sign for up when she wants me to pick her up.

She babbles a ton, but I am convinced that she knows what she is saying. She says "Mama", "Dada"- that always melts Jason, "Uh!Uh!" for up, "Bu!Bu!" for bite, and she very clearly said "hi" a few days ago after we said it to her. She can copy sounds and noises really well. It is fun to play with her and see what we can get her to do!

The kids still adore her and can't seem to be close enough to her. She is pretty patient. Lauren has a very close connection with Ashlyn. She truly loves her little sister. She isn't always as gentle as I would like, but there is nothing Lauren loves to do more than play with "Bun". Here they are in Ashlyn's room. Lauren was reading her a book.

She loves the water! If she hears the shower running, she crawls into my bathroom so fast and tries to get in. She loves to swim even more. She kicks her legs and moves her arms like she is really swimming! She could splash around in the water all day.

She hates to be hot and loves the cold wind on her face.

She loves electronics like her dad. Jason's l

aptop would be the toy of choice, followed closely by my cell phone. Both things we try to keep out of her reach! She loves the remote control and Austin's XBox controllers. She like to hear the beeps the telephone makes when she pushes all of the buttons. Her eyes get big and she starts to babble excitedly when the operator say "if you'd like to make a call..." This is what she looks like when we take any one of those things away!