9 Months

Dear Laura,

At nine months old you are bursting with new skills and abilities all the time.

In the last few weeks you’ve figured out how to get onto your hands and knees.  You quickly added rocking back and forth, crawling backwards, and now the tentative crawl/dive forwards.  It won’t be long before you are really cruising wherever your heart desires.

The tooth that’s been sitting just below the surface of your gum for over a month popped through last week.  It was unexpected and was followed by a fussy few hours in the afternoon.  Every once and awhile you rediscover your tooth and rub your tongue over it rapidly.  Unfortunately we are discovering that your food options are even more limited with one tooth than they were with zero.  Instead of just sucking on a wide variety of hard foods that you slowly break down, now you get pieces off that are too big for you to swallow.  You LOVE food, so this is a bit of a set back.

Loving food means that whenever you see it, your whole body tenses up and you have a laser focus.  When Emily or Nathan are eating something you try and grab for it.  If you can’t have it, you watch intently and your mouth opens and moves with theirs as if you are eating too.  Some favorites for sure are watermelon, apples, pancakes, strawberries, smoothies, banana – really I could keep going. You really do love food.  I think watermelon would be your top pick if I had to choose.

One afternoon you just started yelling just to do it – you’ve discovered your voice! You make great exclamations at unexpected times.  Clicking your tongue, blowing your lips, and “da-da-da” are all part of your frequently used vocabulary.

Your sense of humor is developing rapidly and you can get us all laughing and join in, so we keep laughing.  A particular favorite is peek-a-boo around furniture. You actively try to find Dad or I as we pop out behind furniture and walls. Once you see us you dissolve into a fit of giggles.  Emily also likes to make you laugh with little tickles.

Hair pulling is an area you are excelling in. You love touching my hair when you are nursing and will often play with it over eating.  You grab Emily’s hair at every and any chance you get, and she usually starts laughing which doesn’t deter you any.

You also love rubbing your hand along different textures.  Your fine motor skills are developing rapidly and it is amazing to watch you carefully pick up and examine little pieces of flowers or seed balls or tissues.

When we are riding around in the Madsen bike you hum and sing.  You are a fan of life on the bike.

You have started sleeping through the night.  Sometimes I don’t get you at all, others it’s only once or maybe twice.  You are pretty consistent with a 6 or 6:30am wake-up time.  A morning nap and afternoon nap is still a staple, but if we are out and about you don’t fall asleep anymore – not even on a hour long car ride!

Emily discovered that you really enjoy playing the piano.  She sits you on her lap and you will play the keys for a long time.

You are really independent when it comes to play and look so old dumping toys out of baskets.  You look even older when you put the toys back into the baskets.  Now you like some variety and enjoy playing with the little dollhouse people, train tracks, and duplos in addition to your basket full of baby toys.

We love you Laura!