Nine Months Old

Dear Nora,

By leaps and bounds. That is how much you have changed this month. I look back at the last few weeks and I can’t believe how many new things you have picked up in that time. You've now been outside the womb as long as you were in. It's pretty amazing to think about!

You babble a lot these days, and you’ve just recently started with the consonant sounds. You started with ba-ba-ba, and now you have moved to da-da. That’s a thrill for Daddy, even though you don’t seem to be using that sound to refer to him in any way. And I’ll admit that I’ve been working overtime trying to teach you ma-ma. (I can’t help myself.) You’ve also made some wa-wa sounds. I can’t wait to see how much more your language develops in the coming weeks.

You are so smart. You continue to figure out how your toys work, and you manipulate them purposefully. We plop you down with a few toys and you go to town with them. I remember the days when I was so anxious and excited to see you learn how to play, and well, you know how now.

Up until a few weeks back, you would rarely bear weight on your legs and feet. If we tried to stand you up in our laps, a table, or the floor, your knees would buckle and you’d make it clear that all you really wanted to do was sit down. It never concerned me until you hit eight months old, and then I started to worry a bit. Sure enough, though—right when I began to worry, you decided that you were ready to do it. Now, you’ll hang on to your crib ledge or the couch and stand there all by yourself (with us closely spotting you, of course). I think this is a skill that you’ll continue to perfect this month.

Although you don’t seem anywhere near walking, you do seem to be pretty close to crawling. You are getting around quite well these days, although I couldn’t pinpoint any one method of doing so. You scooch, you roll, you try to crawl and end up moving backwards. You have suddenly become an expert and rotating yourself 360 degrees—both in a sitting position and lying down (on belly or back).

You reach for things you want--like REALLY reach. You stretch as far as you possible can. You grab magnets off of the refrigerator when I carry you past it. You reach toward the floor when you want to be put down.

Another new skill? Feeding yourself. You’re eating small pieces of food now, not just purees. Right around eight months, you suddenly started loving puffs. Prior to that, you always made faces when we tried them with you, and spit them out a lot of times. Now, you gobble them up like it is your job. You love grabbing handfuls with your tiny hands and shoving them into your wide-open mouth.

You’re also eating small chunks of soft fruit—bananas, for instance. We tried watermelon with you over Memorial Day weekend, but so far you seemed to not care for the consistency. We will try again. You’re also feeding yourself cheddar cheese shreds and love those. Last week, I gave you tiny pieces of a pumpkin muffin and you loved that, too. We’ve also introduced you to yogurt, which you eat with no problem. I’m glad you like it, because I don’t and have always wished that I did. We will continue to try new foods with you in the coming weeks—even though you STILL don’t have any teeth!

Nine months down with the breastfeeding; three months ‘til goal! I have no problems continuing to nurse you, but I am admittedly SO READY to get rid of the pump. I am looking forward to the day when I can pack that thing away. Well, at least that’s how I feel now. We’ll see what happens when the end is really here. I can’t believe how close we’re getting.

A cool milestone this month: Baby’s First Passport. We took you to apply for it about four weeks ago, and it came in the mail the other day. I gotta say: There is nothing cuter than seeing your full name and picture on a U.S. Passport. Before your 10-month birthday, you will make your first trip out of the country—I’ll be sure to tell you about that later!

Today, we installed your first “big girl” car seat in my car. It’s getting really hard for me to lug you around in the infant seat, so we decided to make the switch. It was sad for me to pull your infant seat base out of my car, though. I remember installing it when I was pregnant, and it seems like it couldn’t possibly have been nine or ten months ago. You’re growing so quickly! We’ll be purchasing another convertible car seat for Daddy’s car very soon, and ditching the infant seat altogether. So sad!

We haven’t had your nine-month well-baby doctor’s visit yet, so I’m not sure what your stats are—but I’m guessing you’re probably a little under 16 pounds? We’ll find out in about a week or so. I’m really curious to see how long you are.

You pretty much never let me rock you to sleep anymore. You don’t even really snuggle on my shoulder or anything anymore, either. That’s probably the thing I miss most, to be honest. But I know how lucky we are that you go into your crib wide awake and go to sleep on your own. I do hope that the “no snuggle” thing is just a phase, though. I always loved how you would rest your head on my shoulder while we rocked for a few minutes before bed.

You are such a happy baby. You're content to sit and watch the world around you. You smile with your tongue sticking out between your gums; it is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

We bought a house a couple of weeks ago! We’re moving in August. We can’t wait to give you the bigger bedroom, more play space, and backyard that we’ve been wanting for you. It’s all for you, my little angel. We hope that it will be the house that you will grow up in.

Every day is a joy. When I look at you, I am still often struck by the feeling, “I can’t believe she is ours.” You’re amazing, and I thank God every day for the precious gift that is your life.

All my love,
Mommy
(You know, the one who keeps saying “MA-MA. MA-MA” to you. Throw me a bone, here!)