A Fine Mess: 9 months

Wow. I can't believe we're here. I know I say that every month but it seems like each month passes more quickly. I am so scared I will miss something! My baby will be one year old before I know it. I also apologize that my blog has basically boiled down to monthly posts. I always mean to write more but it's so hard to find time. I am hoping to write more this summer.

Age: 9 Months

Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz (they weighed her fully clothed this time so I'm guessing it's more around 18.2 or so)

Length: 27 inches

Size: she can still wear her 9 month onesies and some 9 month pants, but she fits into her 12 month stuff too. She was in her 9 month size the longest. All the other sizes I felt like she barely wore anything. I was actually getting tired of her 9 month clothes and was glad to put some new ones in the rotation.

Hair: brown, with maybe a few hints of red. My hair is auburn, and I'm hoping she takes after me. She still has her side wings, but the rest of her hair is catching up. Soon we can do some barrettes or pigtails!

Eyes: big, brown, and full of awareness!

Teeth: she has 2 bottom teeth now. She's had a mystery fever now for 2 days- I'm hoping it means more teeth are coming rather than another cold or virus.

Sleeping: She is doing really well! We still have nights here and there where she wakes up 3-4 times, but for the most part she wakes up once to nurse and that's it. Last night she went to bed later than usual because we had company, and she slept straight through from 9 pm- 7:15 am. Naps are hit or miss. She will nap in her crib sometimes but her naps are still short. The only time she has a long nap is after her swim class (too bad it's over!)

Eating: Still nursing regularly, and eating pretty much anything. At her 9 month appointment the pediatrician said she can eat whatever we are having (within reason) except for peanuts and shellfish. She had scrambled eggs and loved them. So far she is showing no signs of food sensitivities or allergies. I'm so relieved! She loves to eat. In fact, it's the only time she gets really fussy because if we don't keep the food coming, it makes her mad! Last night she had her first whole piece of pizza (a little square). She's had bites of mine here and there but my mom just gave her the entire square and she loved it. She also loves hummus and pita, any kind of fruit, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash fries, etc. Squash fries are delicious! It's a pain to cut the squash but once you bake it the edges become caramelized and it's so good. I had to stop myself from eating them. I've been experimenting with different recipes from a baby food website. I make large batches and freeze them so I can just grab things to pack for the sitter. I made these veggie "nuggets" with chicken, broccoli, and cheese and they are so good. She eats better than we do at this point.

Movement: She can roll anywhere, and can easily get from a laying to sitting position. It's so strange to come get her from her crib and see her sitting up. What happened to my little baby?! A few times I've found her sleeping in a half laying, half sitting position. It's so hard not to want to move her, but I know she has to figure out how to get herself comfortable. No crawling yet, but it will be any day now. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. She does a very cool roll, sit up, roll, sit up, roll, sit up, find a cord or something else she's not supposed to get, rinse/repeat when mommy moves her away from it. She is already trouble- so I'm afraid we are in for it when she does crawl! It's funny because she has been somewhat "late" on her movement milestones (based on averages) but early on her verbal ones and she's always been so aware. I'm not worried at.all. that she isn't crawling- she has the rest of her life to be mobile!

Milestones: Spending her first whole night away from home. Dave and I went to an adult "prom" and Sadie stayed with my mom. She did great and surprisingly I was fine too. I plan to let my mom take her more often after she's a year old and can having regular milk. Right now it's stressful for me when she spends long periods away because my freezer stash is basically gone and I have to make sure I have enough milk. I don't plan to wean her at 1 year, but I will no longer pump and she will have whole milk when not with me. I've been very lucky to pump as much milk as I do. It's definitely a chore (she's worth it) and I can't wait until school is out and I can kiss my pump goodbye. I plan to do an entire post on breastfeeding soon. Other milestones: we took a parent/child swim class (which she loved!) and she got her second tooth. She is also starting to clap, and we think she's made the sign for more once or twice (although this could be our imaginations!). We also put away all of her pacifiers this month. She was losing interest in them and would just pull them out and chew on the nipples, so we put them up before she could become attached. She hasn't missed them at all!

Favorite Toys/Activities: Now that she can sit up and play by herself, we just surround her with bins of toys. She will dump them out and play. She plays with everything, but loves her remote control, her shape sorter (she takes the lid off and dumps it, no sorting yet) and she LOVES books. This makes me really happy because I am a big reader. She will study each page while we read to her. Right now she really likes Five Little Ladybugs and any touch and feel book. She also likes balls and will roll them back and forth with us. She loves when people cheer and clap for her (not that my whole family has done this), and she loves walks in the stroller and being outside.

Dislikes: She still hates waiting for food, and she's not a huge fan of diaper/clothes changes anymore because she doesn't like being still. She also hates being strapped into her car seat. Once we're moving she's usually okay. She is very laid back and we are grateful! Her pediatrician said, "It's amazing how babies already have such personalities. I've always thought parents take too much credit for their babies' behavior, good or bad." He's right. Fussy baby parents feel like they are doing something wrong and laid back baby parents want to pat themselves on the back! I do think it's helped her that we are laid back too- but I won't take too much credit for her being so content. We are just LUCKY!

Words & Sounds: She still says dadadada all the time, but she also throws in some babababa and mamamama. She will just jabber to herself over and over. It's adorable. Most mornings she wakes up and just talks to herself in her crib for awhile. I can't wait until I hear real words!