Nine Months!

Bethany turned nine months old yesterday!  I CANNOT believe it has been nine months since she was born.  Where does the time go?  Seriously!  Nine months into being her mommy, I can easily say that while life may not necessarily be easier, it most certainly is BETTER!  Life is better and fuller and so much more wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing!  I am so blessed and thankful for our sweet and precious daughter!

At nine months, Bethany . . . .

is just under 30 inches long and in the 95th percentile for height and weighs 18 pounds and six ounces in the fiftieth percentile for weight.  Her head circumference is 17 and 5/8 centimeters and in the 75th percentile.  Her pediatrician just loves her and kept commenting on what a smart and alert girl she is!

- is still pushing her laundry basket all over the place.  She will also stand for a few seconds without holding onto anything before sitting down.  She isn't confident enough to take a step without holding onto our hand(s) or something else . . . yet!

- is just starting to feed herself.  (Haha.  This is one thing that took her a little while.)  She is getting the pincher motor skill down and getting better at it.  She feeds herself puffs, but she doesn't really like them.  She loves yogurt melts and yogurt.  Still loves, loves, loves being fed her purees and has tried all sorts of food.  We've introduced little bits of chicken, but she isn't really into it.  I'm going to have to puree some homemade chicken and rice one of these nights.  I'm a little wary of jarred/pouched meat baby foods.

- still doesn't have a tooth . . . BUT we are starting to see the top of one of her bottom teeth!  Her tooth is coming soon!

- babbles all kinds of sounds.  Smiles all the time.  Giggles.  Laughs.  So sweet.  Listening to her talk and laugh is my ear-candy.  I just love to hear her!

- loves to play in the pool and the bathtub!  She loves being in the water!

- loves to play!  She plays at home, at Gymboree, at our weekly visit to school (I go and stay with her.  Her director is awesome and lets us come in at play time once a week.). 

- loves to chase the cats and tries her best to catch them.  Sometimes they let her pet them and she adores that.

- usually takes two naps a day.  One in the morning.  One in the afternoon.  Sleeps through the night most nights (not always) and gets up between 4:30AM - 5:00AM.  Yep!  Bright and early.  That's the life of a mama, though!

There is so much more to add, but I am going to stop writing for now.  Actually, I may be blogging much less just because I want to take a break from so many screens in my life and because time on the computer is impossible with a nine month old.  She wants to bang on the keys, stare at the screen, and has successfully removed the Enter key once . . . . so yeah, I don't use the computer often.  I LOVE my iPhone and it is how I mainly connect to the Internet, but honestly, I need to take a break from that sometime soon, too.

I'm sure I'll write and share about about our upcoming vacation.  I'm getting really excited about it and am starting to plan outfits in my head . . . I need to start actually packing them!