Happy 9 months! :) You have new tricks and teeth this month!
Your firsts: Pulling up! (1/21) You pulled yourself up on your walker and pushed it around this month. After you figured out how to do it once, you were pulling up all over. Your favorite thing to pull yourself up on was the pink toy that I took your 9 month picture with. Jeri gave it to us. It was the perfect height for you, and you loved all the noises and songs it played. The only problem was you didn't know how to get back down and you weren't very stable, so you fell all the time. Daddy and I spent A LOT of time sitting with you on the floor to catch you before you fell and conked your head on the tile. You hated having us hover over you because you are such an independent little thing.
Hmmmm...now how do I get down?
Waved Bye-Bye (1/22): You would often accidentally wave your arms around, but this month you actually waved on purpose. I was leaving for work and Mimi was watching you, and I said "Bye-Bye" and waved, and you waved back! It was absolutely adorable. From then on, you would wave hi and bye at strangers, and then we could get you to do it just by telling you to wave. You are such a smart, little thing, and I am so glad that I got to be on the receiving end of your first little wave.
Tooth! I'm bummed that I didn't write down the exact day you cut your first tooth. I sent it in a text to Mimi, but it was too long ago and got erased. I know it was pretty early on in the month, but I can't remember the day. I do remember that you were the best teether EVER! I was so worried about it because everyone tells these horror stories about teething and being up all night, fevers, ear aches, and it seemed like all of a sudden we saw your gums bulging a little bit, and then ta-da...a little tooth poking out. You got your bottom left one first, and I could feel it before I could see it. You would let me stick my finger in your mouth to feel your gums and then you would chomp down and I felt the little rough ridges one day when it poked out. The right one came a couple days later. I LOVE the pictures from this month and some from next month with your two little toothies. They are just priceless!
Real Crawling! This is the first month that you crawled on your hands and knees. You army crawled before this month using your arms to pull yourself forward. It is so cute to see you crawl so fast now because it's so much easier for you to get around. Mimi always says you look like one of those mechanical baby dolls because you crawl so perfectly. You make this little slapping sound with your hands on the tile that we can hear all around the house. It is hilarious, and I think you like the sound it makes.
Superbowl! I know this isn't technically a holiday or anything, but I just love the picture I have of you watching with Daddy. You look so intent. You really liked watching football (and golf). It was probably because of all the colors and noise, but Daddy likes to say you were an athlete from the very beginning. I don't even remember now who was playing, but I'm pretty sure the Baltimore Ravens won.
Art Project! I wanted to make a little art project I saw on Pinterest. It was a site full of ideas and crafts. I saw this little butterfly footprint and couldn't wait to try it. It started out with just making two but turned in to making about 10. I sent them to people for Valentine's Day. You were so interested at first, but the moment I put the paint on your little feet you started bawling. Poor little thing. I think it was really cold. You wanted nothing to do with it, hence the smudges on the footprints. I had you in your highchair and would paint and push the imprint on. I kept the best one for myself, of course. I just love it. Even though it is a little bit of a sad memory because you cried so much, I just love that I got an imprint of your feet.
Some of our favorite pictures of you:
Hahahahahaha! You LOVED your reflection this month. Every night before your bath you would talk to the mirror and give yourself big kisses. It was stinking hilarious!!
You with your toy car. You loved to roll it around on your walker. :)
This was one of my very favorite months because you were learning and changing so much. You are just the best baby in the world. I know I've said it before, but I am just so lucky to be your mom. I love you baby girl!
Your first Christmas and New Year! It was so fun to experience it with you! Yay!
Month 8:
Your firsts: Long vacation with Mommy and Daddy: (12/20 - 1/14) Since we started the school year, we have only been able to spend all day with you on weekends and one week for Thanksgiving break in October. This was the first time we really go to have you all to ourselves for such a long period of time. It was very busy though, so there were only a couple days we got to lounge around together without running around!
Mommy and you just lounging around in our footie pjs.
Christmas tree: (12/9) Ok, technically this is your second tree, but the first one you experienced with Christmas presents under it. We waited too long to put our first tree up without re cutting the base, so it sapped over and wouldn't take in any water, so it died. We tried taking it down to cut a new base, but then it was too lopsided to go back into the tree stand upright. I was ready to just pack all the decorations back up, but Daddy was adamant that you had to have a tree on your first Christmas morning, so he went to Home Depot and picked one from their lot. It didn't smell as nice as our first one, but it was prettier. You watched us decorate this one because we did it after you woke up from your nap. You were in your walker and kept trying to get around the chairs we set up as a barricade. You liked to push your walker to the side of the tree and touch the ornaments. You were always really gentle. You especially liked the ornaments with lots of glitter.
The mess after taking our first tree down during your nap.
Crawling!: (12/10ish) You started army crawling on your tummy this month! It was absolutely adorable! You worked so hard and it was so cute to watch!
Picture with Santa: (12/24) Most. Hilarious. Picture. Ever. I was obsessed with getting a picture with Santa, but Daddy and I never got around to doing it. After going to Christmas Eve morning at Aunt Katrina and Uncle Bob's house, Daddy drove us to Dos Lagos, a shopping center on the way home, because he could tell I was very sad about not having one. You were asleep, so we almost didn't go. We got you out of your car seat and you were sleepy but happy, and then we went into the little shop where Santa was and luckily there was no line. There was one family already taking their pictures and you just watched quizzically. Santa came over to talk to you and say hi before the picture, and again you were fine. When I finally handed you over for the picture you LOST IT! Poor little baby. It took one second and then I grabbed you back, but the picture came out blurry so we did it again. The second time you cried even worse than the first. Again, it only took a second or so and you stopped crying immediately when I got you back. That's the only reason I can smile when I look at this picture of you screaming; it was only one second, but such a classic crying picture with Santa. This is your Grandpa Dave's favorite picture ever.
Christmas morning: (12/25) You were so cute this morning. I just love the picture of you in front of the tree. Such a crack up. We opened presents with Nana and Papa on Skype in the morning. In the afternoon, Mimi, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Kenny, and Uncle James came over to our house. We sat you in your high chair and you watched while we all opened presents and talked. You were such a good girl and stayed happy and quiet the whole time. After we opened presents, you went down for a nap. That's pretty much it. It was nice and very low-key.
Love this. You were so tripped out about that big picture of yourself. We gave it to Mimi for Christmas and she still didn't think it was big enough.
Night without Mommy AND Daddy: (12/27) Uncle James bought Daddy and I a special present for Christmas, a night at the Mission Inn! That is where we got married, so it is a very meaningful place for us. This was the first time that you stayed the night without either of us, but Mimi watched you which was the only reason I actually made myself go. It turned out to be a wonderful night, but we MISSED you so much we came right home in the morning.
I took this as a joke for Facebook, but this is pretty much how I felt about leaving.
This is a picture Mimi took for us while we were gone of you happy in the bath!
Trip to the zoo: (1/5) Nana and Papa came out to visit the first week of January. They stayed at our house for two days and then we all went out to stay in Aunt Marguerite's condo in Palm Springs. This was your second trip away from home, and you didn't like it much. You wouldn't sleep in the pack and play because it was uncomfortable, so we had to sleep with you in bed with us. You didn't like that either because you kept rolling into us and missed your bed. On one of the days we went to visit The Living Desert, which in a zoo with animals in their "natural" habitats, not in cages. You weren't super interested in much because the animals were kind of hard to see. You did a great job though and it was fun for all of us.
If you look really closely in the background, you can see the cheetah. I thought it was hilarious because you are wearing a cheetah outfit. My little cheetah with the big cheetahs.
Things you liked: You liked all the same things this month, Lovey, your routine, bath time, and hanging out in your walker, but you loved crawling all over the place with your new independence. You did tend to get a little frustrated when you couldn't get somewhere fast enough or pull up to see what you wanted. You also loved BANANAS! In fact, you loved them so much we fed them to you all the time. That is why there is a picture down at the bottom of you at the doctor. All of a sudden your diapers were full of little black seeds when you went to the bathroom. Daddy sent a picture of a diaper to the doctor and he had us come in to make sure it wasn't little pieces of blood. We had to wait until you went to the bathroom, and then I had to scoop out your poo and put it into different containers and then Daddy drove it to the lab so they could analyze it. Results: banana seeds. :)
Some of our favorite pictures:
We used to call this your cockatoo hair. It went through a little phase where it would just stick straight up all the time.
Look at this little smile. I LOVE the little mischievous twinkle in your eye.
You and your Great B. Love, love, love this picture.
Nana and Papa gave you this GIANT bear for Christmas. We kept trying to take pictures with you up against it but you would crane your neck to look up at him and fall over.
At the doctor's office.
Sleepy eyes after a nap.
This is the first month you realized the month by month sign was a sticker you could pull off. There are some outtakes of us trying to take your picture! Lol!
It was so fun being home with you during this month. I am so thankful that I am a teacher and have so many long breaks. I love our special time together.
I don't know that I ever really knew what it meant to be thankful before you.
Month 7:
So excited to be taking your 7 month picture!
Your first holiday season! This month was your first Thanksgiving. I was so thankful this year for you, our little blessing, our little miracle. You also grew and changed so much this month! You tried new foods, a new bath, and we decorated the house! You loved everything and it was so fun to start our family traditions with you. This is such a special time of year, and I am so glad that you seemed to enjoy all of the fun.
Your firsts: Big girl bath: (11/10) You used to take your baths in a little pink bath in the sink downstairs. When you grew out of that, we bathed you a couple times just sitting in the sink. We finally had to stop doing that because you would SPLASH waster everywhere and make a huge mess. We couldn't figure out what to do because you could sit up by yourself, but not for long periods of time and you weren't really sturdy yet. After some research, Daddy went to Babies R Us (our favorite store) and bought a little transitional bathtub that blows up and fits inside the big bathtub. He chose a duck and he took the funniest picture of you the first time you saw it. You were unsure about it the first couple times, but then you loved it because you could lean back and splash and splash. It was so cute.
Notice your freaked out face and questioning look! :)
RealMeal: (11/12) You ate sweet potatoes this month! It was your first "real food" and you LOVED it! I thought for sure you were going to be a fabulous eater, but it turns out you kind of enjoyed the novelty of eating real food and got bored with it after a bit. Soon after giving you sweet potatoes I tried peas and you literally gagged and then wouldn't eat anything I offered you for a whole month. You didn't trust me at all.
Thanksgiving! (11/22) I was nervous though because we have a quiet little life at home, we rarely miss your scheduled nap times, and you haven't been away from home for long periods of time. All of these things are the complete opposite of a Mitchell family function. They are LOUD, and I mean loud. I knew it was going to be especially crazy because the Redskins game was going to be on while we were there. I also was sure that you would have a hard time with napping because you are so curious that you refuse to sleep if we are somewhere new and you know something interesting is happening. You also don't particularly like people all up in your face who try to touch and hold you. ALL of these things made me really nervous to go, but we couldn't miss it. I was floored at how well you handled the day. You wore a beautiful little gray dress with lime green, silver, and hot pink polka dots and little sparkly silver shoes (for 10 minutes). You were PERFECT! You didn't cry or fuss or get overwhelmed in the least. You were happy, full of smiles, and everyone absolutely loved you. You didn't nap except for a half hour or so in your stroller, but you were still as happy as could be.
Love this picture of our family. (And yes, the color coordinating was done on purpose.)
Christmas tree: (12/1) You and Daddy and me went to the Christmas tree farm on December 1st to choose and cut down our first family Christmas tree! It was so much fun, and you really liked it there. Daddy cut the tree down really quickly and we put it up and decorated it after you went to bed that night. I thought you would be all over it in the morning, but you really didn't get too interested in it until you saw the decorations glitter and you realized you could pull them off of the tree. Overall, you were VERY good around the tree. (Our second one too...that's a story for next month though.)
Trip to the store like a big girl: (12/4) You got so big this month that we could actually put you in the cart at the grocery store. Daddy didn't think you were ready, but you were so excited to be up where you could see everything.
Too CUTE!
Things you liked: LIFE! SMILING! You were so happy and filled with such joy. Every single picture I have of you is bursting with happiness. I am so full of peace knowing you are such a happy girl. Sweet potatoes (for about a minute). Lovey (as always). Your routine (still! lol).
