Leah 9 Months Old

My dearest Leah, you are growing so quickly! Each day it seems like you are understanding more and more about the world around you. You are changing, growing, and learning so rapidly. We had your 9 month well-visit yesterday. You are 29 1/4 inches tall (97%) and weigh 18 pounds 11 ounces (57%). You are wearing 9-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and your size 3 shoes are starting to get a little snug.

I tried to get a picture of you with Lambie this month and I finally got a boooring one of you kind of laying down with Lambie in the crib as usual. This one was my favorite of the mix though. I can imagine my little Leah saying, "Stop taking pictures Mom or Lambie gets it!" Haha!

On Christmas Eve, we participated in our yearly tradition of eating meat, cheese, and crackers by candlelight. You ate applesauce and tried some cheese. That night for bedtime, you wore some cute reindeer pajamas and we all listened to a prerecorded book of Grandma S and Lexi reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas!" You actually sat and listened through the whole book! 

We spent Christmas this year at your Grandma and Grandpa H's house in West Virginia. You got a bunch of bath toys and a shaky/bouncing lamb stuffed animal from Grandma and Grandpa H and a musical xylophone and some puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa S. You didn't really have much interest in unwrapping your presents, so mommy ended up needing to help. You liked playing with the wrapping paper once it was off though. While we were opening presents, you turned around and looked at my camera with the sweetest little smile. It totally made up for the fact that I didn't get too much of you opening presents!

You were totally adorable in your Christmas dress the Sunday before Christmas!

Your big milestone this month is that you are standing independently! You could stand for shorter periods of time before, but now I catch you standing in the middle of the room for no apparent reason. When you are in the bathtub, you go from your knees, to squatting, to full on standing without even holding onto anything. That takes some serious muscles! You also like to stand in less convenient/more heart-attack-inducing places like your highchair at the table (you squeeze out of your buckle) and the stairs when you're about halfway up.

You are also starting to "cruise" (that's what I think they call it). You can now walk around your play cube to reach all the different sides and you hold onto the couch to get to different places. I have a feeling you will be walking without assistance in a couple weeks.

You can crawl super fast! Lately, your favorite thing has been to go up the stairs. Your daddy and I play a game with you called, "I'm gonna get you!" and we chase you around and up the stairs. You usually are giggling the whole time and constantly looking back to see where we are. You scream when we catch you and grab your sides. 

One part of your personality that I've really started to see the last few weeks is your determination/unwillingness to be distracted. You have certain things that you like to get into in the house - the dishwasher, the kitty bowl and water fountain, the kitchen cabinets, under the fish tank, etc. I always try to redirect you by bringing you in another room and putting you in front of one of your favorite toys. This NEVER works! You are back at your original location within seconds crawling at lightning speed. You are already trying to crawl out of your crib! (It's as far down as it goes.)

You like to yell A LOT. Your favorite places to yell are in spaces where you can hear yourself better like the refridgerator, the washer and dryer, and the dishwasher. I was cleaning out the fridge and stepped away for a moment to rinse the sponge when I caught you doing this!

Here's some LIVE video of the picture above!

In the last week or so, you have finally starting babbling more with consonant sounds. I thought you were just going to be a yeller for the rest of your life. Lately, I can hear you babbling "dada dada" or "gaga gaga." You don't really babble "mama" but you know how to say it and I think you actually understand what it is. We were at your well-visit and they had to draw blood in order to test for anemia.   You sat so well on my lap and patiently waited even when they tied the band around your arm and started looking for a vein. I preemptively gave you you pacifier, but as soon as they put in the needle you spit out your binky and started crying and saying, "mama mama." You looked up at me with tears in your eyes. It was absolutely heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time ...but now I know that you know who I am.

I have been seeing in your eyes lately, this curiousity and thought process. We visited the school yesterday after your well-visit and had lunch with some of the teachers your mommy used to work with. There is a soda vending machine in the teacher's lounge. The first time someone came in and got a soda you watched them carefully from across the room. The second time someone got a soda, you crawled over to the machine watched them push the button and then you reached in for the can. You are very observant and nothing gets by you! 

You are starting to play with your toys in the manner in which they were intended for. You had a bead roller coaster on your activity cube that you used to love to spin the beads on. Now, you like to move them along the track. You have a dinosaur ball popper that you have always loved to play with, but you didn't really understand how it worked and I would have to pick up the balls and return them to the pit so you could continue playing with it. Now, you pick up the balls yourself and return them.

When you aren't figuring out stuff, you are in "destruction mode." You love to dump things out. One of your favorite games (not mommy's) is for mommy to put everything away and then you crawl around dumping it all out. 

This last month you FINALLY had a tooth break through. I was on the phone with my mom and I was reaching in your mouth to pull out a kitty kibble that you had managed to stuff in there when I felt something sharp on your bottom gums! I thought that you would have drooled more before a tooth came through, but it just kind of came out of nowhere. I catch you more often now chewing/not really sucking on your thumb. I think you must like how it feels. You are always grabbing inside my mouth to feel my teeth!

Before you even had your tooth, you were trying and mashing all kinds of foods with your gums. We have been giving you tastes of our dinner every night. Last night, you tried some Chipotle Tabasco sauce and actually enjoyed it. You have also tried and enjoyed ground sausage with gravy and biscuits, meatloaf, potato soup, brocolli florets, Indian curry, baked macaroni and cheese, and lentil soup. Some things that you haven't enjoyed are mashed potatoes and black olives. You are pretty easy when it comes to getting you to eat. I'm really surprised you aren't in a higher percentile for weight!

Every month is an adventure with you my little lady! I love you, Leah!

Leah 8 Months Old

Leah, you are growing up so quickly! Right now, you weigh a little over 17 pounds and are 29 inches long. That means that you have grown 10 inches in the last 8 months! You are wearing 9-12 month clothes, size 3 shoes, and size 3 diapers.

Your big milestone this month is that you are pushing things. You started pulling up on things pretty quickly after you started crawling. We were at your great grandma and grandpa's house in Utah when you pulled yourself up onto this MEGA blocks plastic wagon. The next thing I knew, you were halfway across the room and giggling ecstatically! You realized pretty quickly that you could get around faster by pushing that little wagon. Once we got to your grandma and grandpa's house in northern Utah, you had a blast pushing around and pushing the buttons on the old NOISY fire truck!

While we were at great grandma and grandpa's house, (the week prior to Thanksgiving) you also stood on your own for the first time. We were downstairs in the office, I let go of your hands, and you just stood there for about 10 seconds before you realized that I wasn't holding onto your hands and then you sat right down. Your balance has improved since, but you seem to lack the confidence to stand on your own. Whenever I let go of your fingers, you slowly sit yourself down in a controlled manner.

Your crawling speed has increased greatly. When you have a target in mind, you can get to your desired location very quickly. This was the case with the kitty bowl at great grandma and grandpa's and the doggy bowl at grandma and grandpa's. You loved chasing this little wind up train at your great grandma and grandpa's.

While we were out in Utah, both houses had animals, but great grandma's cat would not let you anywhere near him. It's probably a good thing too because Tiger is not always the nicest cat! Once we got to grandma and grandpa's house up north, it was a big change. Max, their dog, was pretty excited to meet you and gave you lots of kisses. The cat, Shenobe, even let you touch her! You loved that there were animals that wanted to play with you. Aunt Morgan's huge dog, Gilligan came to visit and you loved him as well.

You are getting much better at handling your food. You like to feed yourself now (even though you miss your mouth frequently). Your favorite things to eat are mandarin oranges. While we were out in Utah, we let you self-feed yourself an eclair. We'll just say that you REALLY enjoyed it, but made quite the mess! Your pincher grasp is getting much better and you can now pick smaller things up. Unfortunately this means that ANYTHING on the floor is up for grabs! In the last couple of days, I've had to retrieve a piece of a sponge, a tiny ball from a Christmas wreath, a twist tie, and a piece of cat food from inside your mouth. You're good at storing it away in your cheek pouch so I can't get to it!

While we were out in Utah, we also did our annual gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and frosted sugar cookies. You got to taste both... And it turns out you have your mother's sweet tooth. You are especially fond of graham crackers.

You STILL don't have any teeth and your hair isn't coming in very quickly. We have fixed the hair problem by accessorizing you with all sorts of cute hair bows. The tooth part, I can't really do anything about, but you like to try more solid foods all the time and have gotten pretty good at gumming the food down so that you can swallow it.

When we were at great grandma and grandpa's house, you got to play with your second cousin Taylor who is just a month older. Your older second cousins Kayla and Tommy loved to play with you and would hurry to finish their homework just so they could come upstairs to visit. When we had the big cousins' pre-Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, you had no fears at all and got right in with the big kids to play!

We also got to hang out with your Aunt Kierstan and Cousin Eva. You and Eva had a great time playing together. Eva is the closest in age to you besides your new cousin that will be here in May.

While we were in Utah, you also experienced your first snow. It was also FREEZING cold, so we did not stay out long.

Your daddy and grandpa were working on an aquarium stand while we were out in Utah, and you would love to go visit them in the shop! You also got some good playtime in with your Aunts Katie and Lexi. You have a lot of family that loves you dearly!

While we were in Utah, we also went to mall to get pictures with Santa. You were incredibly serious and we couldn't get you to even crack a smile. You kept on looking back at Santa with this quizzical look. I think you wanted to grab his glasses. 

Once we were home, we went to breakfast with Santa at the local firehouse. You studied him closely that time as well, but we got some cute smiles out of you. You tugged on Santa's beard and were able to leave with a small souvenir of white hair wrapped around your fingers.

We made a Christmas mug together while at grandma and grandpa's house. You did not like getting your hand painted green and we were lucky to get as clear of a print as we did. We put some Reese's Puffs on your tray and painted your foot red. I think you were so busy eating that you didn't even notice what we were doing. I really like how it turned out! One day, you will be able to drink hot chocolate out of this mug in the wintertime.

While we were out in Utah, you got to play on two different special rocking chairs. One of them was your Grandma H's when she was a little girl (on the left) and the other was your daddy's when he was a little boy (on the right). His chair was made by an Amish man that had 10 minutes of office phone hours once a week on a neighbor's phone!

We also got to go on one of your great grandpa's morning walks while we were out in Utah. It was really cold, but I think you liked going out after being stuck inside. 

We also got to visit your Aunt Katie at BYU, your mama's Alma mater. She showed you all the cool places that pre-animation majors hang out! We walked all around campus and mommy got to feel old... You fell asleep on your stroller.

Another first that you experience this month was your first plane ride. Luckily for mommy, you did very well! On our flight to Utah, we were fortunate enough to have an empty seat next to us so that you could lay down for your naps. All of the people around us on the plane were complimentative and said you were "the perfect baby!" The flight back didn't go as perfectly because the planes were packed, but you still did very well. It is A LOT of work to fly with a baby!

Before our trip to Utah, I decided that I needed to wean you from the pink infant tub. You were scared at first to be in the bath tub without the extra support, but now a month later you crawl around the tub and play with the drain once I unplug it. You also have an old bath toy of your daddy's that you love to play with. We had a fun time spiking your hair and putting you in a cute little bug towel at grandma and grandpa's. 

My dearest Leah, I love you so much. It is my favorite thing to just hug and squeeze you in the mornings when I take you out of your crib. You have started to hug me back and it just melts my heart. I can't wait to see what you are doing in the next month!

Leah 7 Months Old

 Leah JoAnn, you are growing up so fast! Right now you weigh 17 pounds and are 28 inches long. You are still wearing some 6 month clothes, but you are mostly in 9 month and 12 month clothes. You are still in size 3 diapers.

Our big milestone this month is that you figured out how to crawl! Here is a clip of your crawling action at about 6 1/2 weeks back when you were new at it and not racing around the house like you are now.

You initially had some difficulty crawling on non-carpet surfaces, so you developed your own method.

About 3 seconds 3 days after you had crawling down, you started pulling yourself up onto things. The Saturday before Halloween, I came into your room in the morning to get you out of your crib. You were STANDING UP and HANGING OVER THE EDGE looking down at the carpet! I ran to get you before you tumbled right out of the crib. Laid you back down again and you repeated your little trick right away for a video.

Your daddy played with you while I lowered your crib... THAT morning!

Once you had your crib figured out, there was no stopping you!  You started transferring yourself between toys, climbing up on mommy... you even have to stand while playing with your toys (even if it is a sit down toy)!

One morning you were standing at your dinosaur ball popper, when I noticed that you started grabbing your the bead roller coaster on another one of your toys. I didn't think you would be able to do it and skeptically took this video with one hand behind your back (off camera).

A problem that we are having right now with the standing up in the crib (even though it is all the way lowered) is that you stand up in the middle of the night, but then you can't sit back down. It has caused (is STILL causing) some very sleepless nights. We're working on getting back into a sitting position once you have stood up during the day. I hope that you will figure it out soon!

Your daddy introduced raspberries to you a while back, but Grandpa H. introduced this fat tongue thing you've been doing.  You just sit there with your tongue sticking out. It looks so silly!

Now that you are mobile, we've had to put baby gates up. Here you are "pushing" your favorite toy. I use quotation marks because you push it until you are at an angle where you look like you're about to fall on your face and then your feet catch up... most of the time. Becoming mobile has unfortunately resulted in more bumps and falls and cries. :'(

You LOVE chasing Darwin around the house. He is always near us, but keeps his distance. I haven't figured out if he thinks it's a game or he's terrified and unwilling to turn his back on you. It wasn't long after you started crawling that I caught you chasing Darwin up the steps in the basement. You seem to always be one step ahead of me!

You also get into everything help mommy with her chores.

You have developed a love for all things buttons. I wonder where you got that from??? Here you are pushing the button that stops and starts the flow of daddy's salt water aquarium. When you have a goal in mind, you can crawl SUPER fast!

You STILL have yet to have any teeth pop out of those gums! You can see where they will eventually come in, but they still aren't out. I love your little toothless grin though!

A little after you started crawling, you started getting annoyed with pureed food. You used to be such a good eater, but then you started spitting it out or clamping your jaw shut when I brought food to your mouth. I tried some more variety, but that didn't help much, so I went ahead and bought some "Puffs." Puffs are these quick dissolving cereal-like food. You love them! Unfortunately, you can't (or won't) put them in your mouth and I have to feed them to you. In my next batch of baby food, I made sure to leave chunks and you have been happier. I am hoping that your lack-of-teeth situation resolves itself soon because you don't really have the tools for solid food yet! 

You were a tiger for Halloween. We went to library time the morning of Halloween and you crawled around the room making your "dinosaur noises" at toy time. Everyone thought that it was so cute and asked me if I had taught you how to growl like a tiger! I wish I would have gotten it on video! We got to have a little photo shoot before the trick-or-treaters arrived. I'm not sure how much you liked your pumpkin look-a-like/imposter.  You kept on pulling the pacifier out.

After library time, we went to Miss Caitlin's house and you took the LONGEST nap in your tiger costume... in her (clean) doggy bed. I'm pretty tempted to get one of my own if this means you will take longer naps!

Your Grandma S. sent a cute little Halloween outfit that we took pictures in as well. You were more interested in eating leaves than you were in smiling at the camera!

Your Aunt Morgan came for a visit, so we decided to hike up Maryland Heights. I carried you all the way up the mountain... and THIS was the best picture I could get of us together. Being carried up a mountain is rather tiresome I guess.

I captured these two silly faces today while you were playing. I LOVE all of your cute little expressions! ...especially your skeptical one. It reminds me of your daddy! You seem to be understanding more and more each day. Sometimes when you're crying, I think I here you say "Mama" but I'm not sure if you have made the connection that I am "Mama." I've been coaching you plenty, so maybe you'll catch on soon. ;-)

I'm excited to see what things you will be doing by my next month. I love you very much my little Leah. You are amazing!