Nine Months Old!

Elisabeth Kae, you are nine months old!
You  got pretty sick right after you turned 8 months old with an extremely high fever. You were such a trooper through it all and were back to normal after a few days. I could tell you still weren't feeling great when I caught you sleeping in your high chair :)

The biggest accomplishment this month is that you are officially a crawler! You started hand/knee crawling on 4/16 and have been going everywhere ever since! Your poor brothers (especially Samuel) get frustrated with you often because you like to get into their toys and mess up whatever they are playing, but you are so happy to be mobile and to get where you want to go.

This video was taken on 4/16


And this one on 5/9. 

You've definitely picked up speed in the last few weeks!

You give me some difficulties with eating, Little Girl. You do great with your bottles (most of the time), but solids have been another story. You're not a fan of solids unless you can feed yourself. I don't know if you don't like to be spoon fed or if you don't like purees but it is a battle almost every meal time to spoon feed you. You bat the spoon away and usually end up making a huge mess. I'm doing as many finger foods as I can think of that you can eat, but I still feel like you're not getting enough nutrition (especially fruits and veggies). I usually try a jar or pouch of baby food at every meal. Sometimes you'll eat all of it, sometimes half and sometimes only a bite or two. For breakfast I also usually give you a piece of toast with jelly and pieces of banana. At lunch and dinner you usually get some combination of frozen vegetables, pieces of apple, cheese, chicken nuggets, pieces of grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. You're not a fan of grapes or blueberries (texture I think), which is frustrating because grapes are a staple in our house for your brothers' lunches and would be an easy finger food for you. I'm pretty sure your favorite food right now is cheese quesadilla. I gave you some and you gobbled it up so quickly! You really love any cheese. I'll put lots of different foods on your tray at lunch, and you always eat the cheese before you reach for anything else. I've been trying the baby food pouches recently to avoid a spoon, and you seem to do a little better with those.

Your typical feeding schedule is similar to last month (and I think will be your schedule for awhile)

7:00-7:30: 6oz bottle
7:30-8:00: breakfast
11:00-11:30am: 6oz bottle
11:30: Lunch
3:00: 60z bottle
5:30: Dinner
7:30- 6-8oz bottle and bed

You take two naps per day usually around 9:30am and 1:00pm and are ready for bed by 7:30 every night. Occasionally you still take a short evening nap, but you've mostly outgrown that. You usually sleep until around 7:00 each morning. Recently I've been hearing you earlier (closer to 6:00am), and you'll fuss for a bit and fall back asleep. You are sleeping really good at night! We had a few bad nights this month and I was worried you were regressing, but I guess it was just a growth spurt because you are back to sleeping all night.

You got your two top teeth this month (4/10 and 4/17), but you are still showing a lot of teething symptoms, so maybe more will be popping through soon.

You are saying "Mama" now too and I just melt when I hear you say it even though you're normally whining or crying when you say it. It's funny that you laugh and clap whenever you say "dada" and cry when you say "mama." It's a pretty good description of our roles with you though I guess.

You are still super clingy with me and have a hard time with strangers. I don't mind too much though. It's sweet how much you like me :).

You are wearing 6-9 month and 9month clothes, a size 3 diaper and size 3 shoe. You weigh 19lbs 3oz (50%) and are 27.25 inches long (50%)

You started clapping the day after you turned eight months old. Your big brother taught you. He was so excited that he taught you and you were so excited to learn. You clapped about everything for a week or so, and you still do it pretty regularly.  You've also perfected waving "bye bye."



You've also been pulling up on everything. Your daddy had to lower your crib because you've been pulling up so often. You still prefer standing to most other positions.

Your favorite toys are the play kitchen dishes and food, blocks (you like to knock down towers and then clap for yourself), your picnic basket, music table and our big red climb around car.

You're a pretty dramatic and demanding girl some of the time, and you always want to be the center of attention. You're squirmy and a mess for diaper changes, but you can bring the biggest smiles to anyone in our family with your sweet laugh and baby chatter, and we all adore you.