Nine Months

Gracie Mo is nine months now and, as you can see, she's everywhere! Long gone is the little army crawl or the cute moments of walking in to her standing up in the crib...now she crawls like she's on a mission and is pulling up on anything and everything. She's even trying to figure out how to stand up on her own, but usually just ends up with her butt in the air. She can go up the two steps that separates the front of the house (where her room and daddy's office is) from the back of the house (where everything else is) like a champ. She just doesn't know how to come down, so she'll sit there and fuss until someone helps her. She's also discovered the big staircase to the game room and media room, and once made it five steps up before we realized it. Yikes! A baby gate is next on the To Do list. When she gets excited, she opens her mouth real big and starts twirling her hands and feet...and when she's really excited her whole body will shake (this is what's happening in the first picture). The sight of yogurt and a spoon will often prompt this reaction, as will tossing up or rolling a ball. Although she made the 'ma' sound first, the 'da' sound has definitely taken over. "Dada" is sure to be her first intentional word, and soon. She's already saying it, we're just not convinced she's associating it with David yet. She gives the sweetest kisses, all open mouthed, and we're working on clapping. Oh! And one of the coolest developments of all? She can feed herself her bottle...tilt it up as it empties and everything! I still do it most of the time (except at night when daddy does) to take advantage of the snuggling, but being able to eat on the go makes things so much easier. I know I say this every month, but - except for a constant bruise somewhere on her head/face from being too ambitious - we're really loving this stage.

*I forgot about Grace's stats from her nine month well visit! She's actually slowed down on weight (due to the increase in activity, no doubt) and is now in just the 75th percentile at 20 pounds, 12 ounces. She had a growth spurt in height, though, and is now in the 90th percentile at 29.25 inches. And finally, bless her heart, the head circumference...now totally off the charts at 18.5 inches. I'm thinking it's just a really thick skull and a lot of cushion for all the inevitable falls we'll be experiencing for a while. :)