Lesson Learned

Avery is now 9 1/2 months old. (On a slight tangent, she just had her 9m appointment a couple of days ago and weighed in at 21 1/2 lbs and 29 3/4" - for those of you interested in stats, she falls within the 75-90th percentile for weight and 97th percentile for height! (Apparently, she inherited her father's genes as there's no evidence - I mean NO evidence - whatsoever that she got her height from me.))

Ok, now back to the lesson plan....I've found that although each passing hour seems to go SO slowly ("has it really only been 10 minutes?"), the days go by surprisingly quickly ("I can't believe she's almost a year old!"). These last several months have been chock full of lessons....often learned the hard way:

1. Never leave a baby who has mastered rolling alone on an elevated surface.

2. Never take anything away from a baby without something better to replace it.

3. Anything, let me repeat, anything can be a potentially deadly self-mutilating weapon.

4. Anything, let me repeat, anything can be a potential choking hazard.

5. Things that you thought were permanent or unbreakable can be removed and broken.

6. Baby teeth are sharp.

7. If they become desperate enough for attention, cats will hang out in the same room as a baby.

8. If a baby has enough fat on his/her thighs, s/he won't even notice a needle going in for her shot.

9. Puffs taste good...even to adults.

10. Yogurt melts taste even better.

11. Babies are damn smart - and they'll outsmart you more often than you'd like.

12. If a piece of clothing says that it fits babies 26-29" long, it means it.

13. Never try to stuff a baby into a piece of clothing that is too small for him/her.