Nine months!

Nine months! NINE MONTHS! Three-quarters of a year! Holy cow.

Well since I didn’t ever type up an 8-month update, I’ve got a lot to catch up on.

Basics: Julia’s on a great schedule for me now. Of course every day is a little different, but generally, this is how things go:

6:15 – Awake, nurse
8:00 – Solid foods breakfast
9:00-10:00 – Morning nap
10:00 – Nurse
12:00 – Solid foods lunch
2:00 – Nurse
2:00-3:00 – Afternoon nap
4:00 – Formula bottle
6:00 – Solid foods dinner
7:30 – Breastmilk bottle
7:45 – Bedtime

There’s a lot of eating going on in there, but never a ton at a time. Even when I offer her formula, meaning she can have as much as she wants, she tends to only eat 3 oz or so at a time. I’d eventually like to consolidate a little bit of it, so there’s less snacking and bigger meals, but she’s always been a grazer, I’m a grazer, and it’s working for us for now.

I was all worried about whether and how to introduce formula to her, but it was easy peasy and it’s awesome for me now. We had a solid foods setback when I switched my approach from spoon-feeding purees to letting her self-feed, and she ended up taking in fewer solid food calories so I made it up to her with a bottle of formula instead of trying to ramp up nursing again. I let her try the formula a few times when she wasn’t especially hungry, and then one day I just gave her a whole bottle of it and she took it no problem. I think it helped that she’s been introduced to such a range of solid food flavors. I think she just figured it was yet another different taste to adjust to, rather than flipping out because it wasn’t the same stuff she was used to getting. I think it tastes nasty myself but if she has no problem with it, neither do I! Anyways, it means I go from her 2:00 nursing to my pumping before my bedtime, so I have this long beautiful stretch where I can have some extra caffeine or a glass of wine and totally not worry about it. Or go run an errand or get a massage without the baby and without stopping to pump. Awesome!

I think we'll keep on with the nursing for now. I'm about ready to give it up, especially the bedtime pumping session. But it's not an inconvenience at all and it's still good for her and free, so I'm planning to keep it up through her first year. But I love that morning session and I plan to keep doing that forever and ever and ever.

Sleep is going okay for us. She’s regressed a little bit, as far as going down easily and staying down, but she’s still generally pretty good, and I hear a regression around this age is normal, so we’re just going to ride it out. A bad day for us is a wake-up in the middle of the night (that requires me going to her to comfort her back to sleep) then two half-hour naps during the day. We’re all pretty frazzled when that happens, but I know our bad days are considered good days by other peoples’ standards so I’m not complaining.

The Good Stuff:

She’s crawling! She’s pulling up! She’s cruising! She’s walking only needing one hand for support! She’s imitating sounds! She’s waving! She’s clapping! So much is happening!

She’s moving like crazy now. She’s not a total pro yet at either crawling or walking, since she’s splitting her time between practicing them both, but she’s getting better every day. She’s nowhere near walking on her own yet, but she can stand alone for a few seconds, and she can cruise pretty confidently when she’s in a familiar environment.

Her language skills are picking up. She’s starting to communicate a little with waving and clapping, and she’s still wiggling at anyone when she wants some attention, including at the dog. I swear she says “Hi” to me when I say “Hi” to her; she does this adorable imitation of my inflection. If any other kids are yelling or making noises near her (or if I’m making random noises at her), she’ll imitate the noises. We’ve been slacking in the sign language department but we need to start picking that up again around the house because I think she’s a lot closer to catching on.

She’s also turned into a VERY opinionated little lady. She’s learning that she can’t always get her way all the time, and she’s definitely not a fan of that concept. To make up for all the times she starts shrieking hysterically because we’re doing something she doesn’t want to do (which, frustratingly, includes every diaper change ever), she enjoys playing with us now and gives us big laughs when she’s happy. She kind of plays peek-a-boo with her favorite blanket, all on her own. She’s also getting a little more lovey. She gives us kisses all the time (open mouth on the face = kiss) and she’ll get cuddly with me once in awhile, especially when she’s tired. It’s way adorable.

She loves:
-riding on Daddy’s shoulders and chasing Mommy around the house
-Scrappy
-Scrappy’s claws, teeth, tongue, and eyes
-playing peek-a-boo
-playing “hide & seek”
-being outside
-the pool
-pulling sunglasses off of peoples’ faces
-plums and berries
-chicken
-her blanket
-new things and new places
-windows and glass doors
-things that make loud noises when you bang on them
-eating paper products

She hates (because there are no simple dislikes any more):
-getting her diaper changed
-getting her clothes changed
-going down for a nap
-things that make loud noises all by themselves
-bathtime (I KNOW!)

She's so big... but still so little!

Waving at Daddy.

Yep, five teeth.

Clapping action!

That hat couldn't stay on forever...

This might be my favorite photo in the bunch.

I think she looks a little bit like me here and it makes my heart happy.

Big girl, standing up!

Melt my heart.

Awwwwwww... laughing at Daddy!

...until she sees Scrappy over there.