Okay, okay so you are halfway through month nine before I am writing this. I always pretend like I will be on top of it "the next month" but as you will learn slowly and surely your mom is quite the procrastinator. I know it is bad, I know there is normally less stress if you do a little at a time....but that never quite pushes me to doing this ahead of when they are due.
You are laying in your crib right now--down for the night (oh, I hope), sleeping for the first time really since this morning (I don't count one thirty minute nap). You have what I assume to be a cold. The amount of stuff coming out of your nose and mouth (makes me question teething) is just mind boggling. Last night I had to sit up with you from about 1:30-2:15 a.m. You didn't want your bottle--rather, you couldn't drink because you were so stuffy. You were so sweet, though. You put one hand on my face and stared at me for about five whole minutes. I think you were half delirious from being up at such a late hour, but it made me melt in about 100 different ways. You being sick stinks, but the sweetness in the dark was worth my grogginess today. I knew that you needed me and I could deliver.... I couldn't make your cold go away, but I could hold you and reassure you and be what you needed--a warm, snuggly, adoring momma. I will always be here for you, sweet one. You say the word and I will come running, driving, flying to wherever you are.
I don't think I mentioned it in the last post, but you have TEETH! You went from no teeth to now 4 (top and bottom two) completely in and two (next to the top teeth on either side) about halfway in in about two months or so. Woof, it's been rough on us here and there, but you have handled it so well for the most part. You don't like typical teething toys, but you enjoy chewing on these little bath water toys.
With having teeth has come an increase in appetite and a much better grasp on eating. You now take an occasional eight ounce bottle instead of a six ounce bottle (mostly either early in the morning or right before bed) and can somewhat chew solid food. You will now take a Puff and try to put it in your mouth. I say "try" because most of the time you assume since your hand is going towards your mouth you need to suck your thumb to get it in. You look so confused when it doesn't end up in your mouth and keeps your daddy and me laughing. You tried boiled shredded chicken a few days ago. You didn't love it, but you didn't hate it. I think you persevered mostly because I looked so hopeful and sat there mimicking chewing like a crazy person for ages. Once summer hits for me (so soon!) I will start introducing more steamed/soft foods. This experience just goes to show me once again that you know what you are doing and to not stress so much about comparing you to other babies.
You love being outside in the warm weather. When you stay with your grandma/mama and Paas, you seem to cute your way into one of them caving and taking you on a long stroll. You hold on to the sides of the stroller like you are controlling where you go and look straight ahead, very determined. We had a cookout for memorial day and you loved having toys on a blanket in the grass.
You are supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow for your nine month check up and shots. I'm not sure if we will go through with the shots because you are sick, but it still makes me so sad that I will have to miss it because of a silly end-of-year meeting at work.
Crawling will soon be a thing of the past I am sure.... You are pulling up, standing, and letting go for (very) brief periods of time. When I cheer for you, or daddy does, your face lights up in a huge grin and you could not be any more smug about your accomplishments. I can't believe you are soon going to be walking (well, maybe soon... we will see). You already are quick as a flash when you crawl and love to try to pull everything down off of the coffee table, any table, any shelf.
You have started letting me hold you for longer periods of time and your daddy and grandma, too. You may not "kiss" us or fall asleep on us, but you have started kind of tucking your head and leaning in towards us for short periods of time (read: still
Diaper changes have become a source of great distress for you. You flail and kick and screech and try to roll over from the time you are laid down until you are back up again. When you pop up, you instantly smile and laugh like "Oh, mom.... it's ok! No big deal." I have tried quietly talking with you and breathing deeply (with you in my mind) before sliding your arms into clothes (your least favorite part) and surprisingly you seem to respond and become more still. At least you don't wail anymore like you did for a little while.
I cannot wait to be with you all summer. . . even if we don't do anything special (which I don't think will happen), being able to be with you, see you grow, and be at your beck and call is making me so excited. My only worry? You are getting to be SO big that you are hard for me to carry around for long periods of time. Maybe you should start walking soon (hehe).
Your daddy and I love you and often find ourselves sitting around saying back and forth "I love her." "Oh, I love Lierre." "Lierre is the sweetest baby girl ever." You have no idea how over the moon we are about you!!
Love,
Mommmmamomomomamama (how you "say" my name)
