Where We Are

I owe it to Chappell and the online Baby Book (AKA the blog) to list what she's doing at 9 months and 30 days of age.
Tomorrow (or tonight at 1:07 am), Chappell will be 10 months old... and I can't believe everything that has changed in such a short amount of time.
Infant no more.
This initial stage of parenthood has officially come and gone... in the blink of an eye.
Only months ago, my baby was the fragile little one that people "oooohed" and "ahhhed" over, and now, new babies have been born and I'm constantly frazzled chasing the Chapster all over the place. {Run on sentence? Think so.}

In the past few days, I've noticed some changes around here.
Although Chappell has been physically able to pull up for a while (and would, on occasion), she never seemed interested until now.
I haven't exactly encouraged it.
I should feel bad, I suppose, for purposely inhibiting my child's physical development.
But I don't. I knew it would happen at some point.
...
I guess nature finally won. The kid wants to walk. What can I do?
So in only a few days, we have gone from super crawler to captain cruiser. She's pulling up on everything.
For all of you normal, kid-free folks out there, cruising is when a baby (toddler/child?) stands while holding on to a piece of furniture. They move their teeny-tiny feet around to get to a desirable destination... or object on the table/ottoman/whatever.

Moving on.

I make a conscious effort to keep Chappellina on an organic diet. I really do.
However, if any of you remember the formula debacle... the only formula Chappell can/will drink is Enfamil Lacto-Free Lipil... and it's not organic.
So, one could say that I bend here and there.
But why not try to keep your precious baybay away from preservatives, hormones, antibiotics and pesticides? Like I said, I try.
Tonight we made an exception. Did any of you grow up gnawing on Gerber Vienna sausage?
I think we called them meat sticks. Well I snuck them into the grocery cart until I was far too old... I think around 9 or 10... and I LOVED them!
I would/could never deprive my child of such goodness... even if it's made from the worst parts of a pig.
Anywho, she loved them. Hooray for protein.

Stranger Anxiety.
Not cool.
And it's set in. This started a week or so ago and it's pretty embarrassing. I am really hoping this is a short lil' phase, because, to be honest-- it makes me uncomfortable.
I don't want her to be scared of people! It's so sad!
It seems to come and go. Luckily it's not all the time.
I've noticed that she is more uncomfortable around male strangers than female. Our pediatrician said that this is perfectly normal for her age, and that it happens to most babies. My mom assured me that I was the same way... and it means that she's smart.
Gotta love mom advice, huh??

Chappell is waving, giving high fives, clapping when she is excited/proud and saying "mama," "dada," & "baba" discriminently (with intent).
Still only two teeth...
Wearing size 4 diapers...
Nutrition: four bottles & four solid meals each day...

That's all I can think of for now.
Reed's grillin' up some chicken. Yumbo.
Peace Out.