Month 9

Please make these posts stop! My baby girl, my last baby, is 9 months old now. I just am having such a hard time wrapping my head around this, but I guess I have to just be ok with it.

I took Piper to the doctor this morning for her 9 month appointment and here are her stats:

Weight: 20lb 13oz (looking like we need to go ahead and get that new car seat REAL soon.)

Length: 29in

Head: 18.5in (she's got her Mama's head. No hats for her!)

Isn't this the cutest little girl you've ever seen??? I'm a little biased, but I think so.

Piper is still just as good natured as she's always been, but this past month, she has been so much fun. Even though her first word was spoken a couple of months ago, Piper really started babbling this month and just talks up a storm. We are constantly hearing "Mama, Dada, Baba, Nana" etc. It's really very sweet and I love to hear the words.

The fun between Caleb and Piper still continues, but each month that Piper matures, the two of them are able to play together even more. Piper has developed a love for Caleb's toys, particularly his cars. There are a set of cars that Caleb has and still plays with on a regular basis that she is just fascinated with. She loves to, of course, stick them in her mouth, but also play with the wheels. There is just something about those wheels going around that she loves to watch.

This month, Piper's sleep cycle has deteriorated drastically. I've heard something of a sleep regression that occurs around 8 to 9 months and we are dealing with that now. While she does still take naps, those have also decreased in time, for whatever reason. We are working hard on trying to reestablish the great sleeping habits that she developed prior to this age.

This month, Piper also perfected sitting without assistance. This past month, we have finally reached the point where we are confident that if we set her on the floor, she will stay sitting up. Piper rarely falls over anymore and will put herself on her tummy or back only when she chooses to. Piper is still not crawling at this point, but is really trying to get there. She can pull herself toward something and can push to get somewhere, but the actual getting on her hands and knees seems to allude her at this point. She's getting pretty close to achieving the all fours position, but honestly I'm not pushing it right now. Just the thought of two little beings being freely mobile frightens me a bit, so I'm perfectly ok with her not crawling yet.

Piper is super curious and love to look around and be held. We are going through a major case of stranger anxiety and she flips out whenever I leave the room. Piper is a very cuddly and lovy baby and just wants to be held and carried around as much as possible and, frankly, I'm happy to comply. I've become quite proficient at doing most everything with one hand and you will most often find me carrying Piper around while doing household chores at the same time. I will, on occasion, put her in her sling to give me another hand while working, but she loses patience with that pretty quickly and prefers me to not use it.

This has been a very fun month and we are so excited about what is to come. Piper is still a very easy baby, just going with the flow and loving being with her family and the feeling is mutual!