Nine Months

Nine months already!!  Eeek!  You are grow, grow, GROWING, sweet girl!

• You can squeeze into 3-6 month clothes, and you are growing out of 6 month clothes.  We are mostly in the 6-12 size range.
• I think you look huge and longer compared to even one month ago.  We'll have your nine month check up soon and know your official stats then.
• I just bought our first pack of size 3 diapers for you--they look so big but the 2s seem a little small.  I can't make up my mind. :)  There's a chance we'll get Asa out of diapers full time after our beach trip, in which case you'll take over the cloth diaper stash.
• You have started pulling bows out of your hair. I would still say you mostly leave them in, but you are really aware of them for the first time and reach up to yank them out as well.
• You have 2 teeth and are showing a great deal of teething discomfort.  It appears to me you are actually getting 2 more bottom teeth, but what do I know.  Unfortunately, nothing is close enough to cutting through for us to see for sure which tooth/teeth are causing so much pain.  For the first time in my experience as a mother, you had been given all the meds you could be given and were wearing your baltic amber teething necklace, and you were still inconsolable.  It was gut wrenching. :(  You are also very reluctant to nurse when your teeth are bothering you.
• In the last month we worked through a nursing strike.  I remember hearing about nursing strikes when Asa was a baby and being terrified at the thought and so thankful he never had one.  Ha.  We made it through with a lot of prayer and Mommy learning a LOT about what I can and cannot control and about who I am as a mom.... that even though we made it through with you still nursing full time, I had  placed more importance on being a breastfeeding mom than YOUR mom.  I have always said I was a huge supporter of breastfeeding but an even bigger supporter of moms and babies.  That was always true when it came to others' specific scenarios, but I had to learn to be willing to give myself that same freedom.
• You are going to bed around 7 and waking up around 8ish.  You usually wake up once in the night between 3 and 5 (at which time I feed you), but occasionally you have slept all night til 7 or 8 without waking!
• You stay awake about 1.5 hours after you wake up before your first nap and sleep 1-1.5 hours then.  You are usually awake for 3 hours next, and then nap another 1.5-2 hours.  You are officially down to 2 naps!
• We are just about done with purees.  You love finger foods. :)  Your favorite is still sweet potatoes.  You also tried plums, bananas, apple sauce, and apricots for the first time this month.  And you now eat Cheerios. :)
• You also eat: avocado, butternut squash, green beans, peaches, and pears.
• You are eating 2 meals each day right now.  When I have offered you a small breakfast, you didn't nurse well later, so we are waiting on a  morning meal for now.  You eat lunch and dinner, and you have some puffs while we eat dinner (you eat around 5 or you don't nurse well at bedtime). :)
• We ran out of reflux meds right around your 9 month-day, and as usual I waited a few days before calling in the refill--just to see if you still needed them.  Unlike the times we have done this in the past, you have been fine!  Instead of arching your back and crying halfway through every feeding within 2 days of stopping the meds, you just kept chugging along like nothing was different. Bye-bye, reflux!  SOO thankful! :)
• On good days, you nurse at wake up, after your  morning nap, after your afternoon nap, at bedtime, and then usually once in the night.  On your off days, you skip a feeding in there somewhere.  I am learning to go with the flow and trust your indications of your needs.  It's been hard, b/c both you and Asa let yourselves go hungry with your tongue ties to the point of not gaining well, but that is in the past (repeat to self). :)
• You and Asa interact more and more.  It is precious to see.  He loves you, you BEAM at him when you see him.  He loves to tickle you and hug you.  He loves to kiss "your spot" on your tummy (you have a small birth mark).  You find him so entertaining that trying to nurse if Asa is around is pretty  much a lost cause. :)
• You have the happiest, sweetest grin whenever you see your daddy come tell us good-bye in the  morning or come home from work or when we wake him up on Saturday mornings.
• You are not quite "real" crawling yet, but YOU ARE  MOBILE!  You kind of army crawl/bear crawl, roll a little bit here and there and slowly but steadily get where you want.  It's amazing to see the transformation of you noticing a toy you want and going for it until you get it.  Unfortunately for you, Asa "reads" that look in your eye and rarely fails to snatch what you wanted before you get to it. ;)  We're working on it!
• You usually greet me with a HUGE grin when I come to get you from your crib.  That makes my day! :)
• You are babbling "Mama" and I still think you use it to refer to me and sometimes Daddy.  You also babble, "Lalala." :)