Nine Months!

Miss Rachel Katie -- you are Nine Months Old!

You have now been living extra-wombally for as long as I carried you.
Craziness!

Somebody the other day referred to you as a "little peanut" and that is exactly what you are. You weigh 14lbs, 9.5 ozs and are 25 3/4" long. You just don't want to grow too quickly and most of the time this is fine with me! You are still in size 2 diapers and 6-12 month clothes and 9 month sleepers. Some of the 6-9 month stuff is becoming too small and we are starting to get rid of it.

You started sleeping better this past month, except for the past few nights. You have started sleeping a pretty good stretch at the start, and then wake up about every two hours after that. You don't fuss as much when we put you down so that's a good thing. I think you are liking your bassinet a little better. Or maybe you just recognize that the fun will always be there when you wake up again :)

You still need a nap about two hours after you wake up. Sometimes you sleep for only an hour and sometimes it's two hours. Then you take another nap about three hours after that. Usually you sleep for an hour in the morning and closer to two in the afternoon. A lot of times you and Sam even sleep at the same time so Mommy can relax. Or do dishes. Or cook supper. Or fold laundry!

You now have five teeth -- two on the top and three on the bottom. And I can see another two coming soon. You are one toothy kid!

Just on Wednesday you got your first real taste of being sick. Sam had croup on Saturday and I think you got it from him. You had a high temperature (37.6 which for you and Sam is high) and you lost your voice. Your cries were so pathetic and sweet. And you didn't really want to eat. You just wanted to be held. I think you're starting to feel better now though so that's good.

You now eat a lot of what Mommy, Daddy and Sam eat. This month we started putting some of our supper in the food grinder and you just eat that. Normally you eat about two - three helpings. You also eat almost a whole banana and yogurt for breakfast. We've also started you on bottles of cow's milk and you seem to have gotten the hang of that. We started giving you puffs this month and you like to feed yourself. We need to find more things you can eat on your own. Daddy tried giving you banana slices the other day but you mostly dropped them in your chair. You also started eating in the high chair this month and I think you really like that. You still nurse a lot but eat a lot quicker now. And you still get pretty distracted.

Mommy slept downstairs a couple of times this month and you stayed all night with Daddy. He was able to give you milk in a bottle and you both did really well!

Just tonight you started babbling "a-ba-ba-ba-ba." We are soooo excited about this because we have been waiting to hear consonants from you! You also learned to wave "bye-bye" this month! As Daddy said, "You are learning to communicate." You also shook your head "no" one night but you have not done it again so I don't think it's a new trick :) You also squint your eyes at people when you first smile at them. It is so cute!

You've been doing a session of swimming but with one thing and another we've only made it to about four classes so far. You are doing really well and LOVE lying on your back. You look so far back in the pool that you get water in your eyes from craning your neck to see what's going on behind you. You also are good at going underwater. We'll have to do more swimming with you in the near future.

You and Sam have been playing really well together this month. He is good at making you laugh and keeping you entertained.

We love you Rachel and can't wait to see how you change in the next month!