The 9th Month

She's 9 months old. She's now been out in the world, as long as she was in me. But enough of the sappy stuff....let's get to the stats.

She's an expert crawler, who turns on a dime to get to something (or someone) she wants. She'll crawl right up to something, and to make sure she's close enough, she crawls until her head bangs into it, no matter what it is!

However, she crawls only when she can't cruise the furniture. She'd much prefer to be vertical and 'walking' while she holds on to anything and everything she can find. In fact today, she decided one of the bar stools in the kitchen was a perfect walker for her to push around the kitchen so she could get to new things.

While cruising and standing, she can balance briefly (5 seconds or less) without holding on.

While she's balancing on 2 feet, she likes to practice her clapping. She'll amuse herself for hours sitting and clapping. And if Trevor is in the room, she'll amuse him with her clapping, and he'll sit and clap with her.

Interestingly, she likes to clap just after she's been told "No". You see, when we first had to start telling her no, it was for pulling up on the entertainment center and trying to push buttons on the DVD player and Tivo box. So we would say "no" and move her away. When we told her "no" and she sat down on her own and moved away we clapped for her and said "good girl". And did that over and over again, when she would move away on her own. So now, if you say "no" to her, she'll sit down and clap!!! Smart girl!

She's still toothless. We thought she might get them soon, as the boys both got their first one around 9 months, but there seems to be no sign of any pearly whites yet.

Food has become a new battle ground. While she formerly enjoyed pretty much anything (at least of the few things she'd tried!), she's now got some STRONG desires. Specifically, fruit. If her meal contains fruit, no problem. She'll eat it, lickety-split. If no fruit, no eat. And good luck tricking her into it. So most days, she gets "something" and apples. Something includes: sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, chicken, turkey, grean beans, pears, or blueberries.

She also enjoys eating her toes. She eats them at meal times if the food isn't what she wants, or if I'm taking to long making the boys lunch. But she'll also snack on them during play time and diaper changes, or whenever the mood strikes her.

Apparently, Izzy made a new year's resolution. I may have offended her when I called her the quiet child in the Christmas letter, or maybe she was worried that I really would forget her somewhere since she can be so quiet. So since New Year's Day, she's taken to screeching in a loud and high tone all the time! She quite enjoys the reaction she gets from her brothers; they either laugh, screech back, or cover their ears. Regardless, she's found her voice and she's using it. I've not caught it on video yet, but I'm trying and I'll add a video once I get it!

Her one other dislike...the bath. I don't recall exactly when it happened, but she definitely has hated the bath for the last 2 or 3 months. Before she could sit, she wasn't thrilled when I'd put her in the tub, but she'd play and relax, and tolerate it. Ever since she's been able to sit, she can't stand the tub. We've tried lots of different things, but nothing seems to make her happier. She doesn't mind standing in an inch or two of water, or even sitting in that much, but once I try to wash her off, she wants no part of it. And by the time we get to washing her hair....she's screaming and howling.

This is a short video of Iz clapping, and also 'running' away from the camera!


And this is a priceless video of Lunch. The first two bites (red spoon) are apricots and apples. The third bite (blue spoon) is green beans and squash. This is the pattern I have to use to get any vegetables in her (unless the are mixed with apples-see above) and even then, by the end of the meal it seems she's starting to catch on to the pattern (or the spoon color?) and doesn't want to take the 3rd bite anymore!





She's earned a few new nicknames recently. Flipper-because if you pick her up under the arms (facing outwards) and she can see the boys or is really excited about something, she kinda wiggles her whole body back and forth like she's trying to get her feet to touch her head! I've gotta catch that on video. Her other nickname: Hoover....because any TINY piece of anything on the floor she will pick up and eat! She's better than my vacuum!

Finally, I just have to say what a great sleeper she is. When she's tired, she'll let you know, by fussing and wanting to be picked up, which she rarely does otherwise (fussing especially). You can take her to her crib, give her her pacifier and blanket and she'll roll over on her side and that's it. She'll be asleep in 5 minutes. In fact, when Grandma babysat the other day and tried to rock her to sleep, Izzy didn't know what she was doing and just wanted to be put in her crib!! She also sleeps great at night, from 7:30pm to 7:30 am, only waking at 4 am for a 5 minute feeding!!
Next week we'll visit the pediatrician, and see just how much she's grown. But as I look at her, she's already changed so much, I can't quite believe it.