Long Time, No Write

Dad got behind in keeping up with his Esther blog while he tried out a new job from May - September. His new job didn't work out, so he is back at Raytheon again.

In the meantime, Esther learned to crawl (about 9 months), learned to wave "bye-bye" (about 10 months) and sprouted the start of 2 teeth (10 months). She is 10 1/2 months old now. Esther can nearly walk on her own, she has been walking with help since she was less than 6 months old, but now she takes about 6 steps on her own before falling down. She doesn't seem to be too interested in walking most of the time, she is happy being carried around or crawling, since she knows she is good at crawling.
Esther had her first cold around 9 months too, that was probably brought about by the teeth she was growing. She has had a rough time with her teeth. She gets really irritable during the daytime, and then sometimes wakes up screaming during the night. That isn't like Esther at all, since she is always such a sweet girl during the daytime (although she still wakes up 2-3 times per night to get some milk from Mommy). Esther likes to suck and chew on her fingers while playing with her new teeth. It hurts when she bites my finger with her sharp teeth!

Daddy loves to spend time with Esther - he can't seem to get enough of his little girl! (except for at night-time, when Daddy likes to sleep).
Last Friday night Esther was not tired at all. After falling asleep on the way home from her cousin Mallory's 3rd birthday party, Esther woke up at home and would not go back to sleep. Daddy read her books again with the light on and then tried to rock her back to sleep. Didn't happen. So, Daddy let Esther stay up until about 2:00 a.m. playing with books, and she didn't yawn even once. Mommy eventually intervened and fed Esther, which calmed her down and put her to bed!

Esther loves to point!!! She sticks out her little pointer finger and babbles words at anything moving or interesting. She started doing this around 8 months I think. Daddy likes to tell Esther what she is pointing at, so hopefully she will learn new words. Esther has already learned the word "button" this way. Now you can ask Esther, "Where is Daddy's button?" and she will point right to it.
Esther loves to be praised too. She gets really excited when people clap and say "Yeah!" for her. She will wave her arms and squeal.

Mommy and Daddy are buying a new house to move into on November 21. The new house will have 4 bedrooms, so there will be room for a new brother or sister for Esther maybe sometime next year (2009)...