Dear Alyssa – Month 9

Dear Alyssa-

Well Little Miss, you’re 9 months old. And that means your first birthday is approaching so fast I can hardly stand it! Catch up on previous monthly updates here:

• Months 1 & 2
• Month 3
• Month 4
• Month 5
• Month 6
• Month 7
• Month 8

And read Squish’s 9-month update here!

Mommy took you to your 9-month appointment this morning and you’re doing great! You weigh 19 pounds, 4 ounces (68th percentile) and are 28.5 inches (81st percentile). For comparison, your brother was 22 pounds and 30.5 inches at 9 months.

Let’s talk food first. Simply put, you love it. I’m pretty sure you eat even more than your brother did at this age, which is impressive. You eat pretty much anything I give you. The only thing you’ve spit out so far is roasted red peppers.  If there is other food available, Cheerios no longer do the trick. You want to be eating whatever anyone else is eating and scream oh so loud if we don’t give it to you quickly enough.

You’re still nursing. Usually you nurse before bed, once during the night, when you wake up and then a time or two during the day. Mommy had a plugged duct that was no fun, but for the most part nursing is going well for both of us.

This has been your best month of sleep. For most of the month you went to bed around 8pm, woke up once to nurse around 4am and then went back down until 8 or 8:30. It was heavenly. The past few days you even had a few nights where you slept straight through without waking to eat. You continue to be ready for your morning nap not long after you wake up. If we’re home, you’re usually down for a nap by 9:30am but the length varies. You take your afternoon nap around 12:30 and usually wake up around 2:30 and then some days you take a short 30-40 minute nap around 5:30 as well.

You’re constantly on the move. You’ve mastered crawling and pull yourself up to a standing position pretty much any chance you get. You hate laying down so you’re always either sitting or standing. You have also mastered climbing the stairs which is making mommy’s life a little more challenging. You’ve also taken a few steps walking behind a push walker but seem more interested in standing than walking.

You love your brother more than anything and watch his every move like a hawk. He loves coming to get you after your nap and has actually started to play with you a little bit some days which is fun to watch. However, now that you’re on the move, you’re always trying to take touch him and take his toys….which doesn’t go over very well. But we’re working on it.

This month you:

• Went to the zoo
• Started getting used to sitting in your play yard which mommy and daddy work out in the garage
• Went to touch a truck
• Played outside a lot
• Went to the fair
• Took your first shower – you LOVE showers and love sitting in there with your brother
• Picked peaches
• Had your first tastes of ice cream and funnel cake

You love to blow bubbles with your lips and although you don’t chatter as much as your brother did, you can still be vocal if you want to be. For the most part you’re a happy baby -now 🙂 – unless you’re tired or hungry. You love your sit and stand activity table, your brothers trains and chewing on crayons. You hate getting your diaper changed, love your blankie and don’t like to be left out…you want to be in the middle of everything.

Mama loves you baby girl.