Lifestyle portraits: Piper's highchair antics at 10 months

I get teary thinking about Piper's 1st birthday in April. Some parents just want to survive the chaos and sleeplessness of the first year, but I've actually found nurturing babies to be my strong suit. And since we expect Piper to be our last child...Wow. It hits me like a ton of bricks to think my baby-mama days are drawing to a close. The older women who stop you in the grocery store to tell you the days are long but the years are too short know what they're talking about. Expectant parents, take note! 

Now for Piper's 10-month photos. This month she became an expert eater of Puffs, so I wanted to showcase the newfound skill in her session. I also wanted the session to take place on the back porch, since we were able to spend most of this warm, climate changey February outside in short sleeves.

In these photos, you'll see how proud Piper is to feed herself with that tiny pincer grasp. This stage could be summed up as " development at 100 miles per hour." Every day brings new motor skills, language and teething. She's getting dangerously close to walking. (Please, let us have a couple more months before she makes it official...) Her babbling is producing more words. For example, she loves to pull up at the window and watch our sweet yellow lab, Finn, while screaming, "Dog! Dog!" (Which sounds more like, "Daw! Daw!") She's also taken to calling Cricket "Kick" and Nora "Girl." I have no idea why she calls Nora "Girl," but it's hilarious. Her third tooth arrived painfully, and her fourth is about to cut through. Nights are always interesting and lively around here. Mornings, not so much.

The full weight of having three kids didn't hit me until Piper became mobile. My mom always says that's the case with a new baby, and she's right. I haven't accomplished much creatively over the last few months, but now I'm an experienced enough parent to know that another thing those older women in the grocery store say is also true: there is a season for everything. Right now, my season is raising three girls to be strong and good. Lord knows the world needs them to turn out that way.

More of Piper's portraits: arrival, formal birth announcement, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months and 9 months.