Guys, my baby is 9 months old!! How is this possible?! It’s so bittersweet. This age is so fun, and I love seeing her grow and change. But on the other hand, I want to hold on to her baby-ness as long as I can. Is this not the dilemma of moms everywhere?
{Violet at nine months}
Weight – This little chunker is 17 lbs 4 oz. In the 34th percentile! Considering she started her one month visit in the 2nd percentile, I’d say she’s a healthy girl. I love her little rolls.
Length – 26 3/4 inches. She’s in the 18th percentile for length.
Sleep – Sleep is going about the same. She’s been doing really well about going down and settling herself to sleep, both for naps and nighttime. Sometimes I have to go in there to soothe her, but usually just once. We still give her a pacifier for naps and bedtime, but it’s something I’d like to try to wean her off of before she turns one. (Any tips or words of wisdom on that?) She’s still an early riser. If she sleeps past 6am it’s a minor miracle.
Eating – She’s still taking 4 bottles, 6-7 oz, of breast milk a day. She also eats 3 regular meals of solids as well (no wonder she’s so chunky!). She is doing really well at feeding herself. We make everything bite-sized now, and she just eats what we eat usually. However, she definitely shows a preference for certain things, including cheerios and ALL the fruits. If there is a peach within grabbing distance she freaks out until it is on her tray. (I can’t blame her–peaches are so good right now.) She won’t let me spoon feed her anything anymore, which I learned the hard way when I tried to give her pureed prunes. Prunes went everywhere. She waved her hand and knocked the spoon out of my hand, or tried to grab the spoon… it did not go well.
Clothing – She’s fully in 9 month or 6-12 month clothes now. I tried to put a size 6 month romper on her the other day and I couldn’t snap the snaps around her thighs. Despite the heat I need to go buy her some pants; her poor knees are getting red from all the crawling around she does.
Mood – For most of the past month she has been happy and grinning all the time. But in the past week she got a cold and has 3 (!) teeth coming in, so it’s been cranky baby central. She’s been wanting to be held more than usual, and just seems uncomfortable. Darn those teeth!
Milestones – Violet has mastered the army crawl, and she goes everywhere–fast. Baby gates are part of our reality now, good times. She babbles a ton, but doesn’t have any real words yet. She waves and points, and rolls her hands around (like in pat-a-cake). She’s also sitting really well and no longer topples over.
Favorite things – playing with/torturing Ellie, Jona, cheerios, peaches, Jona’s toys, her piano toy, her Royals rattle (that I’m pretty sure I left at her doctor’s office, noooo!), chewing on the tags of everything, her comb that I let her hold during diaper changes, anything that she’s not supposed to have (Ellie’s food/water, cords, Jona’s puzzle pieces, etc.)
Least favorite things – when we try to give her non-fruit food and she sees that there’s fruit available, when we take things away or redirect her path. I remember Jona didn’t care at all when we (or another kid) took away a toy he was playing with. Violet cries out like she’s in pain when we have the audacity to take away Ellie’s dog bowl, too-small lego, or toy that Jona is playing with. She is not shy about sharing her opinion.
How we’re doing – We’re trying to soak up summer. It’s been really nice, because Aaron is home in the afternoons and all day on Fridays, which means I have help on my work-at-home days. He starts teaching, coaching (golf), and a grad class next month, and I’m going to have to re-learn the work-mom balance on Thursdays and Fridays. Help!
How big brother is doing – He’s been doing so well lately. He’ll be 4 in less than a month, which I can’t even believe. I feel like I’ve said this before and it hasn’t lasted, but (fingers crossed) we have turned a corner with bedtime. We started giving him some options after we read him his stories every night, to help him stay in his bed and not protest. He can listen to the songs on his owl (the okay to wake stuffed owl clock), talk quietly to his stuffed animals, or look at one of his books. Miracle of miracles, it’s been working–he hasn’t gotten up right after we put him down in weeks!! He still does have some random middle-of-the-night wakings, but he goes right back to sleep after we comfort him and cover him back up.
Things I want to remember – Violet has gone from mobile to FAST this month, and we can no longer be careless about leaving anything out, or leaving doors open, or not shutting the baby gates. Jona tries to play with her, and it’s so cute; he’ll roll a ball to her or show her how something works. His expectations of what she can do are a little off; he gets frustrated when she takes the ball and puts it in her mouth instead of rolling it back to him, but it’s still sweet to see him try. Violet was also baptized this past month, although I hardly got any pictures at all. #momfail I also want to remember that this was the month of teeth! Her two bottom teeth came in simultaneously, and within weeks of that she has a top tooth coming in too. Poor gal.
