The Rundown. 9 months

Because this blog is the closest thing to a baby book you will probably ever have...

Tomorrow you will officially be 9 months old!

Stats: You’re such a beeferoni! This week at the pediatrician you weighed 20 pounds and measured 27 inches long (Which explains why all of your 9 month pants are a bit snug!) - You still have the most delicious chunky legs.

Teeth: You still have a sweet gummy baby mouth - no teeth poking through yet, but you are chewing on anything that gets anywhere close.

Feeding: We have stopped feeding you purees, and you love eating “real” food. Most days, you eat small bites right off our plates. You are learning to pick up small pieces and put them in your mouth (although a lot of them wind up in your lap) and you’ve gotten really good at putting a spoon full of food in your own mouth. You are already displaying a “let me do it myself” mentality. You love fish and chicken, all vegetables, fruits, cheese, soups, yogurt, cottage cheese, oatmeal and those little puff cereal pieces. You feed your noodles to your fur buddy, Zeus - he is happy to help!

Awesome stuff you’re doing now:

You’ve never been much of a crawler (only when you absolutely have to) but you love to stand. You pull up on everything and several times this week you’ve let go completely and stood unassisted for increasingly longer lengths, but our cheers startle you and you plopped to your bottom to cheer along.

You love your sippy cup and have never had any problems figuring out how to get a sip of water although, you much rather drink out of your mama or daddy's water in a big cup or through the straw. You have even tried using a cup (without a lid) yourself a few times! Even though you usually get a bit wet, you love it and are really learning how much to tip it to get enough water and not too much - such a smart girl.

When I give you my cell phone, you hold it to your ear or push your thumbs on it like you are texting (then you try to eat it). You can make a kissy sound (we’re trying to teach you to blow a kiss). You’ve started mimicking our mouths as we say "mamama dadadadada" over and over. You squeal and squeak so pleased with your sounds. You love to bounce on our knees and listen to your voice wobble as you bounce up and down.

You love music. When you hear it start to play, you like to bounce and dance to the music. You also love to hum along when I sing to you (at least I think it is humming). You love to shake your rattle, pound your palms on a tambourine, and strum your fingers across the strings of my guitar.

We are just so proud of you Aliyah. Watching you grow each day is the greatest delight of our lives.