Nine Months!

I've officially been "lapped." But seriously...each month goes faster than the last. Britta turned 9 months on April 17th. We had another great month!

Sweet Britta,
How is it that you are already 9 months old? Each month goes faster and faster, and you just get more and more fun - and more and more sweet! Perhaps it's a bit cliche, but we can't imagine our life without you! You've had a great month!

You got the hang of eating solids!
As I said last month, you FINALLY started to eat solid food right as you turned 8 months. This month, you really took to it!

You still eat best for Magna - I think partially because by dinner time you are just tired and wanting your milk and bed - but you are doing great all the way around. After a bit of trial and error, we discovered that you are a bit particular with the texture and temperature of your food. I guess this shouldn't surprise me, since you are pretty picky with the temperature of your bottles.

We tried making our own baby food for you (which is what we did for Linnea), and you just weren't taking it well. Magna consistently said you were doing great for her, so we decided to give store bought a try. Sure enough, success! In addition to the food being store bought (read: really, really smooth texture), you like it heated up just a bit. Initially we mixed in a little breast milk with it to thin it out a bit, but as the month went on that became less necessary. Your food at Magna's is usually a puree with rice or oatmeal mixed with a little milk.

You've tried quite a few different foods in the last month. Some favorites are: bananas, berries and oats, carrots, and apples and chicken.

We think you're ready for some finger foods, so we'll start adding those soon as well.

You celebrated your first Easter
At the end of March, you celebrated your first Easter. We had a great weekend! On Saturday we ventured out to an Easter egg hunt in Excelsior. While you didn't really participate (more just along for the ride), I think you still had fun watching all the kids and activity.

On Easter Sunday we headed to church for a quick breakfast before the service. While it was a little exhausting (as usual) to make it through the service with you, you did pretty well. We went home for lunch and naps. After nap we went back over to Eden Prairie - this time to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Easter dinner. In addition to Uncle Steve, Aunt Cindy, and Chris, Kirstyn, Dave, and Jack were there. It was fun for you to have a little playmate (Jack is exactly 4 months older than you)!

Your big sister spent her first Easter in the hospital - we are so happy you had a MUCH better first Easter than that! You wore the same dress that we intended her to wear on Easter. We did a little photo shoot with her shortly after Easter, and did a little one with you too on Easter. It's fun to have pictures of you around the same age wearing the same dress.

You tried out swings!
Right before you turned 9 months you tried out a swing for the first time. We were over at Grammy and Grampy's house to dye Easter eggs, and decided to walk to the park for a little play time. You loved swinging right away. Huge smiles and lots of giggles.

After that experience we decided that it was time for us to get you a swing for our swing set. You absolutely love it. Like your sister, I think that you could swing all day. Speaking of your sister, she loves to push you. It's so fun to watch both of you enjoy it.

I'm certain your swing will get a lot of use this Spring and Summer!

You got SO close to crawling
Oh sweet girl, you want to be moving SO badly. For the last couple weeks we've been so sure that crawling was right around the corner for you, but you're still not quite there.

You can get around pretty well with rolling, and you have a REALLY good reach. You love sitting up, and actually get quite upset now when you are on your tummy.

From the sitting position you ALMOST get to a crawling position, but one leg gets stuck. That gets you quite frustrated.

I'm sure you'll be crawling in no time, and I have a feeling that when you do there will be NO stopping you.

You've grown and changed a lot too...
We had your 9 month well baby check right about the time you turned 9 months. Dr. Khan says you look perfect! You continue to rock the upper 90th percentiles on all measurements. You weighed 23 pounds, 9 oz. (98th percentile) and 29" long (97th percentile).

You are wearing 9 and 12 month clothes - mainly 12 month stuff. There really aren't any 6 month clothes left in the regular rotation. I feel like I'm packing up clothes that are too small nearly every day. I anticipate I'll be pulling out 18 month clothes before too long. Although it's still a bummer that much of Linnea's 12 month stuff won't fit for summer, it's been fun to buy some new things just for you.

Other than a few stragglers in the diaper bag, you are firmly in size 4 diapers at home. Magna and Grandma and Grandpa are finishing up their packs of 3s, which still fit, but not great. Any diapers than we buy for you moving forward will be 4s.

You are still a fairly content and happy girl, though you have gotten increasingly crabby that you can't move around like you'd like. I am grateful that you are so "go with the flow." It serves all of us pretty well!

Your likes and dislikes remain pretty consistent. You love moving around (as best you can), sitting up like a big girl and playing with your piano and other larger toys, jumping in your Johnny Jump Up, watching Linnea be silly - or do pretty much anything, and being outside. You dislike getting your face or nose wiped, being changed (i.e. stuck on the changing table), being "stuck" on your tummy, and being over tired or over hungry.

Your eating is still consistent, although I anticipate bottles/milk may level off or go down soon as you eat more solid foods. 3 bottles per day with whatever is left over after Magna mixes milk into your food (usually about 4 oz.). You nurse once or twice before bed - and as needed during the night (still!). Depending on when you were up in the night, you may or may not eat when you wake up in the morning.

Your bedtime has snuck just a bit later..we're usually getting you ready for bed shortly after 7:00, and you're down for the night around 7:30 (unless we're out doing something a little later). No matter when you are down for the night doesn't seem to help you sleep through the night, or greatly impact your sleep overall. You're still up once a night, sometimes twice. I've given up trying to figure out what's going to get you to sleep through the night. Nothing seems to make a difference. I'm trying to just remember that this is just a phase, and it will pass.

You still are napping well. Your morning nap is starting to get just a bit later and a bit shorter. You continue to be a little more flexible on the weekends, which is helpful! I'm glad you are fairly consistent in this area!

Britta, you are 9 months old! How can that be?! It has been so fun watching you this last month. You are developing your own little personality. You  are sweet, happy, content, and loving. We love having you in our lives, and look forward to the month ahead!

We love you, Britta Boo!
Mama (and Daddy and Linnea too)