Claire: 9 months

Age: 9 months (9 1/2 months as I write this)

Height: 28.5 inches (~ 75th percentile)

Weight: About 21 lbs (~ 80th percentile)

Milestones: She's perfected the crawl and is everywhere! She also has two speeds now. Normal crawl and a sprint crawl. She usually "sprints" when she notices Nix's water bowl has been left on the ground. She's CONSTANTLY moving. crawling sitting, laying, rolling, and pulling up. She wants to stand up all day so she She does that constantly now. This girl has so much energy and excitement. Throughout the day, she will crawl, sit her self up on her knees, the flap her arms so hard that she nearly throws herself over and makes happy noises. Now that she's got her crawl and grip down, she usually is trekking around the house with something in her hand. Lately, she's been OBSESSED with that squeaky book she's holding in the chalkboard picture. It goes everywhere with her.  I think she's also starting to sign.  She taps all the time on everything, but I'm pretty sure she signs dog which is two taps on the thigh. I also see her do the sign for "milk" a lot but it does look like a wave (opening and closing her hand).  It's fun to watch her start to communicate (in a way that we understand each other).

look at me standing!

Other fun things:  I forgot to add last month that she started tilting her head to the side when she's curious about something. It's so darn cute. She's also into scrunching her nose up now too. 

Claire flapping her arms

Sleep:  She's napping usually twice a day and has now decided her bedtime is 7-8. It's wonderful! She still nurses through the night and wakes up for the day between 7-8am. She LOVES to sleep in the car. It's pretty much guaranteed she'll fall asleep. We've added a step to our nighttime routine - brushing teeth. And we have to sing "brush your teeth ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch" (Raffi anyone??) every time.  

 Brushing her teeth

Best Moment: I don't think I can pinpoint one great moment. It's been a month of lots of fun new developments and laughs.

climbing loving on her Nixy

 

Worst Moment: Of course at this age of adventure and testing gravity, they become prone to injury. Claire's pretty good about shaking it off. She did bump her head on the couch and just happened to hit the wooden frame at the right angle to give her a really nice goose egg. She didn't make a big deal about it but it sure scared me a little. It immediately puffed up huge and turned purple. She was not a fan of me putting ice on it. Of course I put some essential oils on it. :)

First goose egg - she doesn't look too upset about it

Health: Still healthy and growing strong.

Eating: Loves to eat! She usually hums and says "mmm" the entire time she shovels food in her mouth. She's eating beans, eggs, chicken, fruits and veggies of all kinds and veggie/fruit puffs. For some reason I've been a little hesitant to introduce grains and dairy. I guess I have a paleo(ish) baby.

She's got fantastic table manners

Likes:  Shoelaces are a new fave. She loves playing in the closet while I get ready just pulling on all the shoelaces. Matt is one of those people who never ties or unties his shoes, he can slip them right on. Last weekend tried to put on some tennis shoes and asked me if someone has been wearing his shoes. hah. Just Claire pulling all the shoe strings tight!
She loves her squeaky book, as mentioned before,  Nix's food and water bowls, and really loves watching Baby Signing Time.
The door stops have become quite entertaining since she's figured out how to "play" them like an instrument. I quickly realized I needed to take the white rubber caps off all of them since those go straight into her mouth.  Playing with her has become so much fun and full of laughs.

playing the doorstop

Dislikes: She still doesn't like to put her arms through sleeves which is why she's often topless. Pick your battles right? Plus we live in Texas and I'm pretty sure most people would prefer to wear as little as possible. It just so happens to be somewhat acceptable for babies... lucky!
Do NOT take food out of her mouth. She sometimes shoves too much in and will be chomping on it for ever. Do not even think about putting your finger in there to swipe some out. She will not hesitate to tell you how much she dislikes that. She also does not like getting wiped down after meals or wiping her nose. Not one bit.

princess Claire at the sitter's house

Other Happenings:
 Football season has started and Matt is really excited about his Texas State Bobcats. We got season tickets this year. And Claire's "uncle" Nick got her a cheerleader outfit!

eat 'em up cats!Matt and I went to the first game alone. Claire stayed home with Nanny (my mom). It was my first time to leave town without her! We were only 2 hours away but still.. it was a big step for me. She did great with Nanny and Aunt Jamie. They took her to the mall to watch the carousel. They reported back that she loves to people watch. I've been saying that! She really does. She studies people.

Matt and I enjoyed tailgating, the game, and just hanging out alone :)

Claire wished all her grandparents and great grandparents a happy grandparents day.  This picture was her guilty smile after I caught her yanking off her bow in the car. Busted!

It really is true how people say they just keep getting more and more fun. She is great about entertaining herself a lot more these days. She loves to play and explore and talk. Sometimes I feel guilty for not being down on the ground with her all day long but I'm pretty sure she's having fun nonetheless. And it's really nice that I can get a few more things done now days... when I'm feeling productive. :)