9 months!

Clara Jane,

I seriously cannot wrap my mind around the fact that you are 9 months old! That's 3/4 of a year.  I say this every month but weren't you just my tiny newborn baby blob? But I must say, as much as I do miss your newborn snuggles I actually love watching you grow and become more and more interactive with the world around me. Sometimes I just stop and simply observe you because I can't get over how much you've grown and developed in just 9 short months. So let's talk about what's new with you!

Stats: We just went to the pediatrician today, so I know the particulars this time. You are 24 lbs (above the 95th percentile), 28.5 inches (75th percentile) and your head circumference is 17.5 (50th percentile). You're still my big girl! But actually this is your smallest ever weight gain in between appointments (and this is the longest gap between appointments), you gained less than 2 lbs in 3 months. But considering you were off the charts for weight before you're still pretty big! But the doctor seemed happy to hear that you're hitting all your milestones and trying lots of new foods.

You're now wearing anywhere from 12-24 months in clothes, though most typically 18 months. The sleeves and pant legs are a tiny bit long but I figure you'll get more wear out of these clothes if I buy a little bigger than needed. I have a feeling you'll be in 18 months clothes for a while because you're slowing down a little in growth (and you're bound to thin out as you learn to walk!)

Eating: You still love mama's milk and nurse anywhere from 4-6 times a day. But you now eat just about anything and like to feed yourself. You eat lots of black beans, cheese, pasta, broccoli, peppers, chicken, pork and steak. Basically whatever mom and dad eat you get little pieces of. And of course puffs and your organic veggie/cheese curls. You're a pretty big fan of food in general. We tried sprouted flour pancakes the other day and you seemed to be a fan of those as well! I love introducing you to new foods :)

Sleep: Oh sleep, you're a fickle mistress. Someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas the other day and I said "a full night's sleep"! Somedays are fine, you go down between 7-8pm and wake up once between 4-5am for a feeding and then go back down until 7:30-8am. That's just fine with me! But other days you wake up (but only seem somewhat awake) whimpering and thrashing around and need your pacifier to go back down. And then sometimes (like last night) you're inconsolable and need to be nursed to go back down. Last night was the latter. We have figured out that we need to put you into warmer PJs now that it's getting cold. So we've invested in some fleece footed one piece sleepers and that seemed to help. But the doctor confirmed today that you're trying to pop 4 teeth so that explains why sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night really uncomfortable :( I hope sleep improves/becomes more consistent because I'm tired (and hate seeing you unhappy at night) and I miss sleeping through the night!

Development: As I said earlier your development is crazy these days. You now crawl faster than the speed of lightning, can pull yourself to stand, can take small steps when holding on to furniture, and the other day you pulled yourself up on daddy's leg and then stood unassisted! (though daddy said you kind of looked like a drunken sailor, haha!)

You also are getting to be so curious. Whenever I walk away from you, even for a moment, you follow me. You love to pull your toys out of the toy box and pulling everything out of laundry baskets or diaper bags is a favorite activity of yours! Socks never stay on your feet long, you love to pull them off and eat them, silly girl.

You're very chatty. You now say "dada" on a regular basis an "nanana" which may be a form of ,ama, though you do occasionally actually say "mama" (sadly "dada" is much more common). You also say a word that sounds like "dowg" which we think is your version of dog or doggie. You love that voice of yours and tend to chat to yourself or anyone who will listen! 

You clap all the time now and wave quite frequently as well. Daddy also started teaching you how to shake your head "no" (I told him that's a dangerous skill to teach!).

Favorites: You love, love, love books. Clearly you're the daughter of an English major. Last month I got you a board book with flaps called "Trick or Treat" and you are obsessed. So obsessed that some days you will bat away all other books. You really like flap books. We got you a few more including "Peekaboo Sophie" and "Where is Baby's Pumpkin?" you can lift the flaps yourself and love to do so!

Other things that you enjoy--well your Rusty Red is probably #1. He makes you coo, laugh and smile. When you hear the jingle of his tags you practically jump out of my arms! I love seeing the two of you together. You're learning to be a little more gentle with him so he's tolerating your "pets" a little bit more. He loves you during your meal time because you frequently drop food and sometimes you even intentionally give him your food! 

As for toys you really enjoy the Leap Frog "Ages and Stages" activity bar we bought for $2 at a garage sale! You like the Fisher Price walker as well. But more than anything you like to play with everything you're not supposed to (like Rusty's water bowls, cords, laundry, keys, etc). As I said you are SUPER curious.

TV doesn't really hold your interest long but you will occasionally cuddle with me and watch Peter Rabbit, Bubble Guppies, and Sophia the 1st. 

Overall, I think that you are just about the cutest, sweetest, craziest, most fun baby ever. I love you so, so, much. I am so blessed to be your mama. 

Oh, and I also think you're just about the cutest little mousling ever! I love dressing up my beautiful babe!

Love you to the moon and back,
Mama