Officially 9 months!

I know I just posted about Maleah at 8 1/2 months but, by golly, I'm her mom and want to post again already! She's 9 months now. This is SUCH a fun age!!! She is no longer a helpless little baby but she's not quite a toddler yet. I LOVE it!!!!

 

Stats

She weighs 18 pounds 5 ounces and is 28 inches long. That puts her in the 25-50th percentile for weight and 50-75th percentile for height.

 

Schedule

6:45/7 ~ wake up, 6 oz bottle, get ready for the day

8:15/8:30 ~ breakfast (oatmeal w/ fruit) and sippy cup of water

9:30/10 ~ 6 oz bottle

10/10:30 ~ nap

12:15/12:30 ~ lunch (veggie or fruit) and sippy cup of water

1:30/2 ~ 6 oz bottle

2:30 ~ nap

5:30/6 ~ dinner (veggie) with sippy cup of water

7 ~ bath, 6 oz bottle, bed time

 

Eating/Solids

We have started making bottles at 6 oz instead of 7 and usually she takes the majority of it. She's still on the low end of what a baby her age "should" be taking in, but she's growing and healthy so I think we're doign just fine! We were also told by her pediatrician NOT TO WORRY ABOUT MEAT. Did you hear that? NO MEAT NECESSARY! Maleah just does not like the puree nastiness so we were given the green light to forego meat for now. Thank the Lord because that stuff SERIOUSLY grosses me out. We will continue to let her nibble on the meat we're eating but we won't be doing the puree stuff ever again. (Anybody wanna buy some jarred meat?? I have a lot...)

Oh, and no more dream feed. She must have been going through a little phase. Funny how things change so quickly.

Activity
Basically Blake thinks our child is the greatest, most developed, smartest, cutest little baby. It's so funny how opposite we are. Obviously I think she's doing great when it comes to hitting those infant milestones, but a lot of babies develop quickly. Maleah is one of them. But Blake... oh man... he could go on for hours about just how amazingly developed she is. Last night he was trying to convince me how straight she can stand up, where other babies tend to lean more. Anyway, yes, she stands up very straight and can stand on her own with minimal help. But she does not stand on her own yet - though it's coming! She has let go a few times and stood on her own for a few seconds, but nothing major. I bought her a push toy yesterday and she has taken a few steps behind it, but she's very timid. I think she'll be standing before 10 months and probably walking before 11 months. I'm happy with her the way she is!

Yesterday, Maleah got her first boo-boo. I'd say we've done pretty well if she just had her first boo-boo at 9 months old! She was playing with the cardboard box her push toy came in and she slipped and one of the flaps scratched her across the stomach. It took me a minute to figure out what happened (I thought maybe she had cut her hand), but once I figured it out I scooped her up in my arms and comforted her. Maleah has never been easy to comfort - she needs to have her little feelings heard and is only satisfied when she is done "telling" you what's wrong. So she cried for a long time in my lap. No amount of lip smacking or raspberry blowing or singing or hugging helped! But, once she was done crying, she happily went back to playing as if nothing ever happened. Lord, help me when she's a teenager.
Maleah has also picked up on a new trick... I don't know how else to explain this except to put it this way: you know how when you make a sound with your mouth and then tap your mouth with your hand and it makes a fun sound? Good, I'm glad you followed that. That is what she has learned how to do last week. Except she hits her mouth with her forearm, not her hand. But she gets the job done and she's super impressed with herself when she does it! She has also started "clapping" - well, at least she hits her hands together. She likes to splash in the tub and - oh yeah - she finally started feeding the puffs to herself. Before, she would literally eat them out of your hand! So cute!

It is completely amazing how quickly she has changed even in just a couple of weeks. I can't believe her first holiday season is quickly approaching as is her first birthday! I just love this sweet little girl and am so proud to be her mom!