Cara is NINE Months

I am NINE months old!
 

Yeah, forgot the bow this week

 

I like: Making new sounds with my mouth, crawling and standing up everywhere (EVERYwhere), climbing the stairs (really just being as independent as possible), the cats, the fish (any animal really), playing Peek-A-Boo, chasing mom around the island, teeth and tongues, babies, dancing and music, and being tickled and scared (see video below, sorry it's sideways...I could've sworn I turned it when I recorded it)

She loves playing with my necklaces

 

 

I dislike: Falling AT ALL (even a tiny distance that really doesn't hurt), being forced into a nap time when I'm not tired, strangers holding me, and getting my nails clipped

Cuddling with daddy and watching a movie

Pinkies out!

 

I am now: Wearing size 6-9 month, or just 9 month in clothes, size 3 diapers, and according to my dr appointment (today) I'm 16 lbs. 10 oz, so my weight is in the 23rd percentile, my length is in the 50th percentile, and my head is in the 83rd percentile (still our Megamind!)

A Typical Day looks like: Still usual, we get up around 7:30 (M-F), I change her diaper and clothes and lotion her up, then we go comb her hair (because she loves looking at herself in the mirror), we go say morning to daddy and play around until 7:50 when we start breakfast with 2 oz of baby food and a bottle.

By 8:15 I have to take off for work and so if she's finished her bottle I leave her with Larry to brush her teeth, if she hasn't finished the bottle I leave the bottle and toothbrush with him to finish off. She usually naps from 9:30 - 10:30, 1-2:30, and 4:45-5:30. She eats a pouch of food at 11:30 and a bottle at 11:45. She has another bottle around 3.

I get home around 5:30, we'll play around until dinner time, then at 6 she'll have 2 ounces of food with some plain oatmeal mixed in while we eat our dinner (we also usually give her bites of our dinner). After dinner we do our nightly activity and at 7:15 she has her last bottle of the night.

We start bedtime routine at 7:45 of diaper change, lotion up, put on socks and pajamas, read a book, and put her in her crib. On Sundays and Wednesdays we start it with a bath.

 

Nightly routine - make her climb the stairs.
It helps tire her out.

When we found out she LOVES fishies!

 

 

This Month I: Developed so much more of a personality. I started to pull myself up to stand on EVERYTHING and ask to walk assisted all the time. I rarely like to be held as I love exploring and discovering new talents or areas of the house. I don't snuggle much, but it's because I'm too busy challenging myself. I love eating new foods and making my parents laugh at my silliness. I also love to sleep in on the weekends, I'm pretty nice to my parents that way.

I also watched my first Super Bowl game with mom, we both cheered on the Eagles to victory and I loved hanging on the couch with mom (dad didn't care to watch it so he was playing games in the office).

I thought this onesie would be ugly cute,
But I absolutely adore how she looks in it.
It's a keeper!

Her nap face is the cutest
In the world!

 

Parent's Notes: I'm deeming Cara the best baby ever, officially! She's let us actually sleep in until 9 on the weekends (not very often, but she will let us without crying too much). She loves to smile and laugh, especially when we laugh along with her.

She is one of the most easy going babies ever and gets compliments on how chill she is wherever we go. We do still need to work on social skills as she does take a while to adjust to new people, but it's a work in progress, as always.

I just love how much this little girl loves new foods, is such an explorer, and picks up on things so quickly. While I miss the snuggly newborn phase, I don't miss being up all night and worrying about her so much. I know she can officially handle a lot and she's going to be so smart when she gets to the school years (but I can definitely wait until that point).

 

Date Night as a family!

 

 

39 weeks out and 39 weeks in!

 

 

Update on last month's goals:

• Even though teeth are a long ways off, we have added brushing her teeth to the morning and night routine basically every night. She still is getting used to it, but if she sees me brush my teeth and then I get it wet she handles it well. Otherwise she tries to spit it out a bit, but we do brush as much of her gums as possible.
• Signs...we're still sticking to the basic ones. It may seem silly, but I hate the idea of saying please and thank you to Cara (like I'm asking her for things), but if I feel it's appropriate I'll add them. Grandma and Grandpa are still a work in progress.
• As stated above, we added in a pouched food for lunch so we're good there. We started giving her puffs in the last week and now she prefers to put any food we give her in her mouth herself so she's doing so good on the fine motor skills so far.
• We did her 9 month appointment today and everything checks out perfectly. She has a bit of sensitive skin so we have to be careful what we put on her, but otherwise she's great!
• We've gone out to dinner and adjusted the night time routine and it's been great! She loves sleeping so when she's ready for bed she goes out like a light!
• I kept forgetting about the swimming lessons...January was a hectic month. But I still want to do this.

Goals for next month:

• Swimming lessons! I really want to make it a priority to at least find a place and get that all set up for her.
• Work on waving and clapping. Cara loves to slap, but she doesn't really clap her own hands. She might do a little wave here or there, but nothing concrete. I'd like to get that worked on.
• We're going to continue to work on brushing the teeth so that she's so used to it she won't spit out the brush. We did the dentist today and they gave her a little kid toothbrush and she loved chewing on that. I think that's a good sign for us :)
• Work on signs still. She isn't signing back, but I feel like it's because she's still getting used to her fine motor development so hopefully we start seeing signs soon.
• Keep adding foods in to her palate so she isn't a picky eater. So far she loves our food more than hers, but she hasn't hated anything (other than chunky food) so much she spits it out. Fingers crossed she stays like that!