First at 8 months.
And then at 9 months
She has really gotten so much bigger. Like taller and wider. I can no longer squeeze 3 month size shirts on her and 6 month size onesies are a toss up. Anything smaller than 9 month pants are way too short. But she's still just a little nugget.
She eats just about everything and is a very competent eater. We basically just cut up whatever we're eating into little bits and then she goes to town. She really like noodles, fruit, peas and chicken or turkey. It is great because we can eat at the same time and don't have to worry about spoon feeding her and not getting to eat. She sometimes gets lazy and wants us to spoon the food off her tray into her mouth, but we only do that after she's really given it a try. She sometimes gets a little gaggy or chokey but we've not really had any close calls. On November 14 and 15 her two bottom teeth broke through so that really helps with eating more solid foods. The biggest food bummer is that she is still very allergic to milk products. We've introduced ground beef so she can have that, but anything with cow's milk protein (milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, ice cream) or has come into contact with any of those things, gives her hives wherever it touches. We are lucky because it's never been worse than that, but it's sad because she is missing out on so many delicious foods. We do have a referral to an allergist but that won't be until late January/February at the earliest (long wait times for non-life threatening allergies). So we just keep trucking along with her dairy-free diet. We have found a delicious soy 'yogurt' that she has for breakfast that really helps with the probiotic situation. One thing that has been a learning curve for me, is that I think, like me, she'd like something new and interesting. Nope. There is a reason kids eat chicken fingers for every meal, they like what they know. I mixed up and got her raspberry yogurt instead of blueberry - no dice. So we're slowly slogging through the raspberry but I should have never switched. Lesson learned.
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| BLUEBERRIES!! |
In terms of movement, she's still a little lump. She can push herself backwards on her tummy, but really she'd rather not. She can step and put one foot in front of each other, but she really only likes that because it means someone is playing with her one-on-one. She can pull herself up, but she still needs support. And we've tried rolling over (even tempting her with glasses and iPhones) but that's not happening either. On the one hand, it's really nice because I really don't have to worry about her getting into anything. On the other, she's getting frustrated because she can't move to be closer to her parents or the toys she wants. Which means we spend a lot of time sitting right next to her so that she doesn't cry. She can got from sitting to lying down but only when she planks in frustration, so not an enjoyable experience. Something cute is that she's discovered she really likes to sit on my lap to play. I'll be sitting next to her and she'll paw at my pants and fuss until I put her on my lap. There she'll happily play with her toys and try to stand up. I love that she wants to be that close to me!
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| Baby Friend, Fergus is crawling right past her |
One type of movement she LOVES is going upside down. She likes to skin-the-cat off my lap and be carried around upside down. She'll even kick off and arch back so that she can be upside down. In the wrap on my front, she knows her legs are anchored so she'll reach as far back as she can. It's a bit scary for me because it feels like she might fall, but she just really seems to like the sensation.
She's really found her voice and while she's not said any words she's made Mama and Dada sounds and even something that sounded like doggie (she loves Aunt Michelle's dog Quin). She loves to chatter and babble and is getting pretty good at imitating. I can't wait until she can actually communicate what she wants, but I love the cooing too. She also hums the whole time she's eating, which is weird.
Some other things that she's done over the past two months:
- Able to pick up two toys and move them independently; one toy in each hand
- Pincher grasp (although with 3 fingers and thumb, usually)
- Really enjoys her baths and usually is in there for 30 minutes each night
- Dancing and kicking her legs when music comes on
- Takes blankets off her head
- Understands jump and stand up and tries her best to do them with help
Sleep is still a constantly changing front. We are definitely down to two 90 minute naps (though sometimes there will be a cat nap in the car), and she'll usually sleep in 4 hour chunks. We've had to do a little training, and we're more ok with her fussing in her bed than we were before. Sometimes she just needs/wants to fall asleep on her own. And we're working on getting her to nurse once at 10:30 (before we go to bed) and one other time in the night (usually around 3:00) and then up for the day at 7am. But sometimes she's just super hungry at night so we have to conform. Mostly, we just try to be consistent with bed time and our pre-bed routine and hope that she sleeps longer at night. I know I can't do the 5 wake-ups every night, I become a grumpy zombie. Its slow progress but things are getting better as she gets bigger (though every growth spurt means a change in sleep patterns). Thankfully she is typically a great napper and will nap in the car if we're out during nap time and will stay asleep when we bring her into the house. I still have been largely unsuccessful in transferring her from her seat to her bed, so she just stays in her seat. I also try to nap at the same time as her as much as possible.
I love playing with her and its so cool to see how she plays with toys. She's still pretty independent so it can be a bit boring, so I like to take her to play with toys with other babies and in new environments (like indoor playgrounds) so that it's fun for everyone. She loves to dance and listen to music which means that she loves library singing times. She also is getting really good at reading stories (doesn't just steal them and flop them around), which I love doing with her.
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| Playing with Baby Friend - George |
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| At the playground |
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| Baby Friend, Veda (they have the same birthday) |
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| Riding the bus for the first time |
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| Baby Friend, Ellis |
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| Baby Friend, Finn at Ikea |
She is such a happy baby and is so willing to smile at everyone and anyone and really can be quite the ham.
Since she's getting more independent and regular, I've been able to pursue some things that I like doing. I've been knitting quite a bit in the past 2 months as I thought it would be fun to give everyone slippers. 6 pairs in 6 weeks was a bit hectic
I've also joined a group called Global Shapers which is a group of individuals from around the globe supported by the World Economic Forum who are trying to improve their communities. I am the Recruitment Director so I've really had the opportunity to nerd out on fit and personality assessments and teamwork theories. Since we don't have specific roles, it's more about finding people who fit with our dynamic and mandate. It's super exciting and I can't wait to really get started (I've only been doing it since November). We want to increase our group by 15 people in the next year, so that's going to be some work.
Well that's where the Bean is at for the next 20 days until our next update.
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| At the Legislature looking at lights |
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| At church, she fits just inside the old fire hose cabinet |
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