Rhys @ 9 months

9 months, already!

(back dating this post - it was written but not published because our laptop was out of commission...but it's fixed now! Still need to take some 9 mo pictures, but it was a gorgeous Sunday morning so we played outside and had a "picnit" as Natalie likes to remind us).

Rhys is trying to pull up on things.  When I sit on the floor, she'll crawl over and try to climb up into my lap.  This morning, she tried pulling up on a plant and dumped dirt all over the floor!

Last night, I put Rhys down in her crib and then turned to get her clothes out for today.  When I turned back around she was sitting up!  I knew she was close, but this is the first time I've seen her do it.  I guess it is time we pull the crib side up so she can't fall out.

(first time eating pancakes - huge hit!)

Rhys is still army crawling her way around the house.  She goes all over - living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms.  Sometimes she gets her knees up and pushes off with them, but most of the time she is just pulling her whole body around.  It's not slowing her down one bit!

I think she is getting bored of the pureed foods.  Some days she clamps her mouth shut and refuses to even try.  It's kind of hard to tell, because she's been sick for almost a week, so maybe she is just not hungry.  She's been refusing the baby crackers too, but she seems to like Ritz crackers and she ate one of Natalie's cheez-its last weekend.  Silly girl doesn't have any teeth though, so solids are still a little tough.

We've been giving her an antibiotic to clear up her cold, and she hates to take the medicine.  So weird because Natalie always loved the sweetness, but we have to force it down Rhys.

We are going through a clingy phase.  Rhys doesn't want me to put her down - ever.  It all started with her cold, and now she's have a really rough time being independent.   Nice that she is a cuddler, but at the same time: my gosh! It's hard to get anything done!  I'm trying to remember to just soak up all the hugs and snuggles, but it's making every day stuff more time consuming.  I remember reading about other babies doing this when Natalie was this age, but she never went through this.  Funny how they are so different from each other right from the start!

Rhys (and Natalie too!) loves the bath.  We've been putting them in at the same time for about a month now and they just love it in there.  She sits and plays with the toys, splashes water all over, and she's keeping her balance really well.  Actually, last night, she was trying to reach over for a toy and was about to start crawling in the tub!  Not so safe because as I wrote, she likes to crawl on her tummy...

We started swim on Friday night!  Natalie started lessons about the same age, but Rhys was super clingy and didn't like the idea of leaving mama's arms. She kept crying when I passed her off to the instructor. Hopefully that will get better soon! I have pictures, but they are on my other camera...which is in the car, I think. Will have to post them later.

Sleep has been ok.  The past week or so was rough with the cold, but other than that, she's a great sleeper.  She usually goes down around 7 or 7:30 and sleeps until about 6:30.  I don't remember exactly when, but I cut out the "dream feed" this past month.  Seemed risky at first, but when she started sleeping longer stretches, I wondered if my feeding her around 10pm was disturbing her.  So, I cut it out one night, and she slept all the way through!  Much better - now I don't have to wait up to go to bed.

For about 2 weeks now she is blabbering a lot.  She says "blah, blah, blah, blah" and "ma-ma-ma-ma".  She's such a mama's girl, I wouldn't be surprised if she says "mama" first.

9 month stats:
Height: 26+ inches
Weight: 18.5 lbs
Diapers: Size 3
Shoes: haven't worn them much, but I'd guess she is still a size 2
Clothes: Moving into size 12mo and 9-12 mo

Rhys goes in for her 9 mo check up on the 14th