A Milestone...9 Months!

Precious Little Q,

I always thought of nine months as a huge milestone for some reason and here we are! You amaze me every day with how quickly you learn and the joy you bring. Here are some fun things about you this month:

Stats: 
Weight: 19 lb. 12 oz. (65%)
Height: 29.5 inches (95%)
Tall, skinny girl!

Poor baby...you had to get shots.

 Our tradition is to take your photo on the longhorn rocker at the doctor's office...look how much you've grown!

Food and Drink
You are eating so well (when you aren't sick). I rarely feed you with a spoon any more because you are so good w/ your dexterity and those sweet little pincher fingers. At daycare, we have started giving you cold breastmilk in a sippy cup to get you used to drinking cold milk. You love it and seem to do just fine. (You still take three warm bottles a day and I nurse you in the mornings.) Here are a few things you love to eat:

-Mama's oatmeal and spinach pancakes (just oatmeal pancake mix with pureed spinach)
-Whole wheat bagels or tortillas
-Chicken and beef fajita meat
-Any kind of beans (kidney, black, chickpeas, edamame)
-Quinoa, plum, spinach mix (you love this...you open your mouth really wide for this meal)
-Little chunks of ground turkey
-Pasta
-Any fruit

You also figured out how to drink out of a straw. It was the most amazing thing! I held it up to your mouth and you just sort of chewed on it. Then I took a drink to show you how and you did it too! It's so fun to see you learn so quickly!

 Enjoying your oatmeal/spinach pancakes.

Wiggle Worm
You have gotten SO wiggly on the changing table that it's like wrestling an alligator to change your diaper or get you dressed. Daddy finally gave up the other day and just got down on the floor. You are just so very busy and you don't have time to be up on a changing table. You have a whole world to explore!

 Daddy gave up and got you dressed on the floor one day.

 Rocking Chair Discovery
You recently discovered your rocking chair. It was Mama's when she was a little girl and Nannie Mae painted your name on it and now it's yours! I thought it was so cool that you knew exactly what to do when I sat you down in the rocker...you immediately started to rock! It wasn't necessarily a gentle rock...more spastic. But hey, you knew what to do and you have your own special way of doing it! You also figured out how to push your rocker around on the carpet and you even have your own way of getting out. Pawpaw and I were in tears laughing at you getting out of your rocker because you have no fear...you just face plant and then crawl away to get on with your playing. I feel like a horrible mother, but that's how you like to do it. I am in the process of teaching you a more graceful way, but right now, it's pretty funny!

 Dancing to Music

I think you must have learned this at daycare from your crazy, energetic Cuban teacher, but you have started doing a little bouncy dance any time your toys play music. So precious!

Running from Daddy

One of your new favorite games is to get away from Daddy when he's saying "I'm gonna get you!" You are so cute especially when I am holding you and you bury your head in my shoulder and latch on like I'm going to save you. You also crawl and laugh when Daddy is chasing you on the floor. Your laugh is the best sound in the world!

Interesting Faces

You still look pretty much exactly like Daddy. Maybe one day you will get some of Mama's features, but for now, you are Daddy's little mini-me. You also give some pretty interesting looks like Daddy. Some of them honestly say "go to h-e-double hockey sticks" but some of them are just stoic like you are concentrating very hard. One face/gesture you are doing lately is just hilarious. It's not like Mama or Daddy, but it makes us laugh. Sometimes when you get excited you hold your arms up, point your fingers and open your mouth in an "o" while you kick your legs and sort of tremble. Yeah...weird. But, it always makes us laugh!

 

Obsession with Books

Let's hope this continues into your adult years like Mama and Daddy. You are obsessed with books. You would rather play with a book of any size more than any toy in the world. You can be freaking out throwing a fit and I can give you a book and it provides at least 20 minutes of entertainment. This came in handy when we drove from Denver to Winter Park and per usual, you hated being in the car seat. Thank the Lord for that Elmo book from the dollar bins at Target.

Just brushing up on your farm animal knowledge.

"Hmm...what should I read next?"

Drama Queen

You can imitate us pretty well now, so you favorite thing to do is a fake laugh or cough. Oh dear...do we have a drama queen on our hands?

Baby Proofing

Well, the time has come. I did a little baby proofing a while back by covering the outlets and installing baby gates at the top and bottom of our stairs, but it's time for the cabinets. You found them and you love opening and closing them and pulling everything out that you can find. You get mad when something gets stuck so you just close the cabinet. I'll probably have to create your own cabinet w/ some Tupperware or something that you can pull out and spread all over the kitchen. The funny thing is that you will probably want to get in every cabinet but yours. Silly, smart little girl!

"Ooohh what's in there?"

Clothes/Diapers

You are wearing a lot of 9-12 month clothes and we switched you to size four diapers. You hadn't completely outgrown the size three, but we knew it was coming soon, so we moved up. You wear size one shoes, but we are probably about to move to size two. You still look cute in everything you wear and I continue to put headbands on you when we go in public. Daddy even learned and put a headband on when I met you two downtown for lunch last Saturday after I got my hair done! I recently bought a REALLY cute headband from one of our friends who just started Gingerpop Boutique! She is your friend, Harper's, mom and she makes really cute stuff!

Your Gingerpop headband is so cute!

Napping (or the lack of)

Oh dear. I don't even want to talk about it! You, little missy, are having a hard time napping. Some of that has been ear infections (more about that later), but a lot of it is just your headstrong personality. You don't want to miss a thing. I get excited if you take two 40 min. naps at school. That's a good day. But, lately you have been taking one 20 min. nap and that's it. Oh. My. Goodness. When I pick you up from school you are just playing and having a grand old time, but then you fall asleep on the way home, wake up at home and you are overtired and grumpy in the evenings. I hope and pray that when you start moving around more that you will nap better. But, you could just be a non-napper. Watch out preschool teachers...I have a feeling this little girl will be the one who doesn't stay on her mat during nap time.

Teeth

You got another tooth! Holy cow! You officially have eight teeth now so you have a cute little toothy grin. You also chew very well with those little chompers and you have a tendency to bite Mama and Daddy's shoulders.

 You can see your teeth pretty well in this photo.

Rough Week(s)

Well, we had a couple of rough weeks. Daddy went to a conference in San Antonio and left Mama all by herself to take care of Baby Quinn. I love spending time with you, but it made me realize I am VERY lucky to have your Daddy to help me. What made it a little harder was that you had a double ear infection. Poor baby! I couldn't tell what was wrong with you because you are teething so much and I thought that's what it was. You had a very low-grade fever but you never pulled at your ears. Honestly, when I took you to the doctor, I thought you had hand/foot/mouth. But, lo and behold, it was your ears. We got some antibiotics and ear drops and you seemed to feel better....BUT...About a week later the fussiness and sleeplessness was back. That's when you really started not napping and I knew something wasn't right. Luckily your 9 month appointment was last week and you still had the double ear infection. The doctor said sometimes they just don't go away the first time. I really hope it goes away this time!! It's odd...usually breastfed babies don't get ear infections much, but I think yours was a cold turned ear infection.

I don't want to end on a negative note, so here are a few more photos just because you are so dang cute! :)

You love baths and getting out to dry off. (Pay no attention to the collection of shampoo and whatnot in your bathroom that doubles as a guest bathroom.)

 Playing with Declan.

 Little sassy face, visiting Mama at work.