nine months

 

Dear Loula:

 

Oh, Lou Lou. You're at that completely irresistible age, that little period of time where you are both independent, yet totally dependent at the same time. You crawl away as fast as your legs will carry you, but you also reach up for hugs and help frequently. You fit perfectly on my hip, and you can still curl up on my chest. It's the perfect mixture of baby goodness, I think. It's also the milestone that I find the most interesting. Because as long as you've been here, you were also inside me. Isn't that kind of magical? I think so.

 

 

So yes, you crawl like cuh-razy. But you also stand up pretty much all day. I've seen you take a few shaky steps without anything to hold on to, but you mostly just scoot around furniture. You can stand for tens of seconds, even clapping and flailing around. And you can stand from sitting with or without objects to help you up. You particularly love the play kitchen, and maybe the sweetest moments are when I catch you and your big sister playing there, side by side. It doesn't last long because one of you is generally stealing something from the other, but when it does happen, it's so very sweet.

 

You have two particularly awesome tricks. When we hold our hand out and say "shoot it," you shoot your binky out into our hands. You'll even try to shoot it when it's not in your mouth and we give the command. You just shoot your tongue out. You also give high five. You do this when asked and you often routinely crawl up and stick a hand in our face, asking for a high five yourself. You say "mama" and "dada" very clearly. You also say, "whoooaaa," with your excited face when you're really into something. You do say "bah" as well, and I swear it's in reference to a ball.

 

You love to copy sounds. If we growl, you growl. If we blow spit bubbles, so do you. You have the biggest smile I've ever seen and it pretty much makes my day every day. You take two naps a day - one at about ten a.m. and one at about two p.m. Sometimes you skip the morning nap if something particularly interesting is going on. You still wake up randomly at night. Or sometimes you don't. It's so random and I can't figure it out. That said, you wake up in the morning and flash that toothless grin, AND I CAN'T BE MAD. You are perfectly adorable, even when you don't let me sleep. You had a pretty bad cold this month. We spent a couple nights not sleeping together while you coughed and then threw up (from the coughing). Your runny nose stuck around for weeks too.

 

You are a big fan of food. The pediatrician laughed when I told him you eat everything that's legal. He didn't think I meant it. If only he knew the things you've had: pizza, cheese quesadilla, ground turkey, turkey hot dog (mashed), whole wheat noodles with pesto sauce (mashed), and the list goes on and on. And that's not mentioning all the random things we mix up for you that are pureed - green beans with yogurt and the like. You just like to eat if we are, so we let you.

 

You have zero teeth still. I know they're trying to break through, however. Those bottom gums are swollen and tough. You have a smidgen of hair. Jury is still out on its curly factor. You LOVE books more than just about anything in the world. If you see a book, you whine or do the gunshot cry until it is read to you. You also love to look at books by yourself after you've been read to. And you will literally sit on my lap for as long as I will read. It's kind of amazing. You know when you're being naughty, and you have a particular little smirk when you get caught.

 

I simply love your guts smiley head. You make my day. Every day.

 

Lots of love,

Mama

 

P.S. Your daddy is standing right next to you in all these shots, keeping you from diving off the chair and breaking something. I love the look on your face on that bottom shot, because you can see just how much you love that daddy.

 

 

Here she is at one month.

Here she is at two months.

Here she is at three months.

Here she is at four months.

Here she is at five months.

Here she is at six months.

Here she is at seven months.

Here she is at eight months.