The Drapela Family: Happy 9 Months Baby Girl!

We officially have a 9 month old on our hands. TEAR L! This little girl is just growing by leaps and bounds and it makes me a little sad to think that in 3 short months she will already have been in this world a whole year! WOW! Here are all the things little Miss is up to now:

o Still wearing 6 month clothes but I pulled out all of her 9 month clothes the other day so we can start wearing those too.

o Just moved to size 3 diapers—they are still too big, but the 2’s were getting too snug so we are stuck in an ackward diaper situation until she grows a little more.

o She is finally starting to get a few little rolls on her legs—she has always been a petite little thing—I think they are cute but she does seem a little heavier now….we will find out exact weight on Friday when we go in for her check-up.

o I changed her eating schedule this summer—she usually wakes up anywhere between 7:30-8:30 and gets a 7 oz. bottle, then a fruit for breakfast an hour later. She gets a 6 oz. bottle at 11-11:30 ish, lunch after her nap (fruit & veggie), a 6 oz. bottle around 3-3:30 ish, snack between 4-4:30, supper at 6 (fruit & veggie), and a 7 oz. bottle at bed-time. It is working for us right now.

o Speaking of naps—they are almost non-existent! UGH! I know I can’t complain because she actually has been sleeping late, but she still should be taking 2 good naps a day at her age. I am lucky to get ONE—that is usually between 11 ish and 1 ish….the length varies everyday.

o We went through 2 weeks (about 2 weeks ago) where she fought us about EVERYTHING! OMG it was trying! We called it the “Terrible 9 months”….getting her dressed, changing her diaper, eating, getting in the car-seat, going to sleep, etc…..that is finally getting better thank goodness! She is eating like a champ again! YAY!

o Speaking of eating—I have been trying more solids/table foods….she is NOT a fan! I am beginning to worry she has some sort of sensory/texture issue. She will eat her baby food and she LOVES her bottles, but wants nothing to do with anything else. We did finally get her to eat her fruit & veggie puffs after weeks and weeks of trying—other solid foods are still a no go.

o Now that she moved out of that little fighting stage, our bed-time is much smoother again….we do supper, bath, bottle, and then can usually put her in her bed around 7:30 ish and she will go down for the night. I Have started giving her a blanket, lovie, and stuffed animal for her to hold while she goes to sleep, then as soon as she is out the items all get taken out of her bed. It seems to help!

o On to the fun stuff!! She claps about EVERYTHING! She claps while you are changing her diaper, she claps in the middle of crying, she stops crawling and sits up on her knees and claps, all the time! It is soo cute!

o She loves dancing to her toys that make music.

o She pulls up on EVERYTHING!

o She is fast! You have to watch her closely and most doors in our house are now closed or we will find her over the toilet, etc. J

o She STANDS UP on her own. She does this all day long. She has never taken a step on her own, but she stands up all the time! She has even gotten sooo good with her balance that she will stand up, then squat down and grab a toy/blanket/book for each hand and then stand back up with something in each hand. Most of our family says she will be walking by her 10 month birthday…not sure, she is still scared to move unless she is holding on to our hands or something else, but we shall see!

o She loves to walk holding our hands or behind the laundry basket, her push toys, or anything else she can get to move.

o The girl loves to jump! She is a wild one and it is hard to keep her still (especially in church)!

o Talking/Babbling like crazy…this girl can carry on some pretty LONG dramatic conversations! She changes her pitch, intonations, etc. and it is funny because she can go from a sweet little voice to seeming like she is fussing at someone/something. Very cute! Of course her favorite word is still “DaDa”….go figure!

o She has some crazy long hair on the top of her head…I have to put it in a “Pebbles” pony or else it is in her eyes. She also has these crazy long pieces hanging over her ears and the back is slowly starting to get longer and thicker. She looks like she is going to have dark blonde hair. She was born with DARK hair. N and I both have dark brown hair now and we both had dark brown hair as babies and as kids….no idea where this blonde is coming from??

She still only has those bottom 2 teeth she got at 6 months...waiting for more to make their appearance!

o She loves playing with balls. She has also started actually playing with her baby doll she has…it is so sweet and is giving her some good practice for when the baby arrives. J

o She still LOVES the water! We basically all get a bath when we give her one since she loves to splash! She has been in the pool a few times this summer too and absolutely LOVED it! It was like a giant bath-tub to her and she just laughed, kicked, and splashed the whole time! J

o When she gets excited she is HARD to hold! She kicks/wiggles like a jelly-fish and almost jumps out of your arms.

o When men try to talk to her (even family) she will lay her head down on your shoulder and just stare at them…like she is shy!

o She also figured out how to get you to hold her for longer….when you go to put her in her car-seat or put her in bed for the night, she will lay her head down and just snuggle with you (it melts your heart and works because you don’t want to put her down). She is not really a snuggly baby (because she won’t sit still long enough for you to hold her and snuggle) so we cherish these moments! J

o She is becoming ticklish and it is oh so cute!

o She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror-when she crawls into our room that is the first thing that she does-goes straight to the mirror! She just smiles and talks to herself! J

o She has calmed down some on the spitting thing…thank goodness that little stage has passed (for the time being anyway, I guess).

o You literally need 5 people to hold her down to get her dressed after her bath, unfortunately I only have 2 hands and needless to say we are both sweating and huffing and puffing after chasing her, fighting with her, etc. to get her diaper on and her PJ’s after bath time…it Wears. Me. Out!!!

o When she is crawling somewhere she is not supposed to be, or pulling up on something she shouldn’t be, or getting into something she should not be getting in to, we say “No Mam” or “Paislyn Brooke” or “Ugh ugh” and she will sit down on her bottom and look at us…she knows she should not be doing whatever she is doing, then she will start going for it again…we say it again and she will sit back and look at us, it is really funny but inevitably she will end up doing whatever she was trying in the first place and we have to go remove her. Little stinker!

o It is soo hard to get anything done when she is awake….she is right on my heels all day. If I stop or stand still (washing bottles, cooking, etc.) she is crawling up my leg to stand right beside me. If I go to the bathroom, she is trying to crawl in the bathtub. She keeps us hopping!

o She loves to sit and read her books. It makes my mom/teacher heart soo happy! She talks the whole time she is reading too so it is like she is picking up on the “reading” concept from when I read to her. She loves to turn the pages while I read.

I am sure I am leaving out so many other things she is doing right now because she is a BUSY one, but we are looking forward to another fun filled month with our little angel! What a blessing she is in our lives!

Here are some pictures from our crazy little photo shoot this morning...oh how I miss the days when she would just lay there and smile while I took her picture. :)

(I used her bathtub since she loves it so much I thought it would keep her contained enough for me to take her picture--LOL!)