9 months

Today is Ellie's 9 month-a-versary and we celebrated in typical style by dragging the kid to the doctor for her well-child checkup. She has been suffering from a pretty nasty cold so we were glad to get the thumbs up from the doctor.  So far it seems to just be head congestion but we are on alert for possible signs of earn infection. We go to a lot of play dates so it was bound to happen sooner or later. But hey, BIG news! Ellie finally has her first tooth! We thought her runny nose was due to her teething but it just happened that her cold coincided with her first tooth cutting.  Poor baby!

Our doctor was surprised at how big she has gotten and she has gotten really tall.  She is in the 91st percentile for height for girls her age. She certainly didn't get that from my side of the family! She is still under 20lbs, weighing in at 18lbs 1oz, but I swear sometimes she feels much, much heavier than that.  Here are her stats for this month:

Head circumference: 43 cm (29th percentile)

Height: 29'' (91st percentile)

Weight: 18lb 1oz (49th percentile)

She is now safely in the 49th percentile for weight which is a huge relief after all her eating issues.  Luckily those seem to be a thing of the past and she hardly ever spits up anymore.  She will eat anything we put in front of her - as long as she can feed herself.  She is feirsly independent and has a low tolerance for us trying to feed her with a spoon.  So much so that if I put something into her mouth, she will take it out and then put it back in again with her own hands. I bought her some of those bowls that stick to the table thinking it would make less mess but of course she can pull those off with little effort.  I would say 80% of the food we give her ends up on the floor but she loves to eat on her own and its good practice for her. She is a big fan of dairy, especially cheese and her new favorite is carrots.  I am always on the lookout for new things that I can cook or steam that she can eat in a non-puree form.  I still have had no luck getting her to drink from a sippy cut but when we were out to lunch the other day she lunged for my water cup and took a few sips from the edge. Perhaps she'll just graduate to a big cup and skip it all together. I have a feeling once she can master sipping through a straw, she'll like them a lot better.

She has certainly been keeping us on our toes and is on the move constantly. She has gotten really good at crawling and can get around really fast now.  She can pull herself up on furniture, legs, baby gates and just about anything she can reach and cruse along. She has also learned to sit back down which is huge because she is no longer stuck in the up position.  I predict that she will be standing or walking before her first birthday! Everday we find new things that she can reach or grab that need to be baby proofed.  Sometimes I feel like the house is an obstacle course that even I can't figure out. 

She is very vocal and loves to babble at us.  She doesn't have a very huge repertoire yet, she calls everything "mama".  Much to Tom's dismay we have yet to get her to say "papa".  She can make the right smacking noise with her lips but doesn't quite come through with the actual sound.  She has just started saying "baba" and sometimes "dada" so we're making progress. When she is pleased she will kick her legs wildly and blow raspberries.  When she is displeased she will complain and blow raspberries - so blowing raspberries is pretty much a constant and she thinks it's hilarious, especially when you mimic it back to her. We have also been working on waving goodbye and clapping.  She enjoys both a lot but hasn't imitated it back to us yet.  She still loves bath time which has become a full contact sport as she now knows how to stand up in the tub (!!). I have noticed that she is starting to understand cause and effect with her toys, especially when water squirts out of them or we drop them.  She'll get us to do it again and again and tries to do it herself (unsuccessfully so far).

I cannot say enough about this girl.  We still swoon over her and adore her ever new discovery.  It has been so much fun to spend my days at home and re-discover the world with her.  She makes me feel young, both physically because I have to keep up with her and at heart because she makes me look at the world in a different way. Today while we were waiting at the doctors office another patient sat down and within a few minutes of meeting Ellie said "She's going to be something some day".  I couldn't agree more!

Bath time!

Ugh! Why won't this boat move?!

Engrossed in her activity table

Helping in the kitchen

Blowing raspberries - while eating!

Tia love!

Baby Dracula

Attempting to destruct the indestructible book

Planning her escape

Are we done yet?!

Shorts!

A pretty typical mealtime

Chubby arms

 

Hanging out with cousin Taylor

On a walk with Papa