Better Than I Deserve: 9 Months Old!

Another month has flown by and Briella is growing and changing so much with each passing day!

Briella, you are such a joy to daddy and me! We can't believe you are already 9 months old! Your ninth month was full of so much fun in new experiences, as well as, in watching you change and discover more about the world around you. It seems like this month, we could see the changes so much between the beginning of the month and the end.

Life in General
The month started off with a trip to Florida! What an experience it was to travel with you! Overall, you did wonderfully through it all. Both the plane ride there and back were relatively easy even being 4+ hour flights. You even slept for a good portion of the flight home (it helped that we had the entire row for that flight...your own seat!). All the different places we went and things we saw and did, you were such a trooper and enjoyed it all, even without many naps. Although, you did fall asleep in daddy's arms at the Space Center towards the end of the day. You could just no longer stay awake. Mostly, as long as you were fed, you stayed pretty happy. I think your favorite place was Sea World. In the near future I am going to write a whole post on our trip with more details.

You moved into 6-9 month clothing and also up to size 3 diapers.

At the beginning of the month you started lifting your cute little bum off the ground. It was quite cute! Then by the end of the month, you were getting onto your hands and knees.

As well, this month you went from just learning to scoot in circles to move around to becoming an expert scooter. Scooting backwards is also another favorite way to get around, especially when you find your way to the hard wood floor. So, now between rolling and scooting you get around quite well. A picture of exciting things to come!

Finally, you have replaced "dadada" with "mamama." Ha ha. :) I don't think you know what you are saying, but it is fun that you now say "mamama" (even if it is mostly when you are whiney). A lot of other sounds have made their way into your jabbering, including multiple syllable sounds.

Your ability to see small things on the floor and focus in on them is astonishing. Dog hair, carpet fibers, etc. catch your eye and you can pick up individual dog hairs quite well.

The dogs and the cat thrill you every time you see them, especially the cat. Whenever one of them walks into the room, you get a big grin and get all excited. We help you pet them instead of pulling their hair, which is your preferred method of interacting with them. And when one of the dogs licks you, you think it's great and usually giggle.

Pulling or playing with momma's hair can keep you quite entertained. You seem delighted by it. I have to constantly teach you not to pull too hard. When my hair is down, if I lean over you while you are laying on the floor and shake my hair, you get a kick out of it.

You have learned how to blow. A few months ago you learned how to blow spit bubbles, but now you like to blow just air. Maybe you are practicing for your birthday cake. :)

New foods this month included pumpkin, apricots, raspberries, blueberries, chicken, bananas and Greek yogurt. The only thing that you didn't like was the bananas. I know, weird. Maybe you get that from your momma. I don't really like bananas either. :)

Daddy and I started teaching you signs this month. We've started with "all done," "more," "milk," and "eat." Yep, they all have to do with food. We figured that was a good place to start. You seem to enjoy watching us sign the words to you. It will be fun once you catch on and start to sign back to us.

You love clapping. This is something that you just picked up on your own. We weren't intentionally teaching it to you, but you clap when you hear music and sometimes out of excitement. And this is the first action you have learned to do on command. If we tell you to clap, then you (usually) clap for us. It also works when we say "yay." I think this is because every time we praise you for accomplishing something we say yay and clap. What a fun milestone this is! I am incredibly amazed watching you learn!

And one last thing, actually from last month. We moved you from your infant tub to a cute little inflatable duck tub that you can sit up in. Bathtime is so much more fun! You can play with your toys and splash around. I think you could play in the tub for a long time if the water didn't get cold.

Firsts

Plane ride. And it was a long one! Go big or don't go at all I guess. Ha ha!
First steps (with help). Daddy taught you to take steps and you caught on so quickly. I think it's just a matter of getting stronger because you have the concept down.
Thanksgiving
Get on hands and knees by yourself. You were in your crib after you woke from a nap and there you were on your hands and knees.
Snort. It's so cute, you snort every now and then.

Pictures from Month 9

Waiting at the airport for our flight to Orlando!