Sadie Baby at 9 months

Sadie-lady is blossoming!  So much is happening with her...

*She had her 9 month appointment exactly on her 9 month-iversary (birthday?) and her stats were good!  She was 17lbs 12oz (32nd percentile) and she was 60th percentile for height.  I was shocked with all her cute-chubby rolls that she's not even at average for weight!  She's staying on her curve though and the doctor is pleased :-)

*In motor skills, she's a champion when it comes to fine motor skills-her pincer grasp is awesome and she's been feeding herself cheerios for a couple months now.
*As far as gross motor, she's a bit of a late bloomer like her sister which is fine by me.  In the last 2 weeks she's figured out how to scoot in circles and backwards on her stomach but is still not crawling. I'm sure it'll come :-)
*Like Ella also, she loves to stand and much prefers it to being on her tummy. As we learned with Ella, this means nothing about walking early! (Ella didn't walk til 16 months!)

*Sadie is very social and loves interacting with people.  She's definitely had some separation anxiety over the last month or two and has only stayed in the nursery at church once for an entire service in the last 2-3 months.  Certainly not as independent as Ella was but she seems to be coming out of this phase and goes to other people more often this week than last. She sure loves mama though :-)

*Schedule wise, Sadie generally wakes around 7, naps around 9:30-11ish and again from 2-4ish.  She heads to bed like Ella, between 7 and 8pm.  We had a WRETCHED period a few weeks ago where she got her first teeth at the same time she was having a growth spurt and for a few weeks she was waking up 2-3 times a night.  Because she was legitimately hurting or hungry for the first week or two I got up and nursed her each time but then it just became a pattern.  Every night I'd think I'd stop feeding her or send Chris in but just couldn't bear listening to a baby who is usually SO happy cry her eyes out.  So I'd give in and feed her.  After some encouragement from playgroup moms I decided to stop feeding her during the night (she'd been going all night without food for MONTHS!) and bite the bullet. Waking 2-3 times a night was not doing anything good for her or for me so it was time to stop. As I knew deep down would happen, it just took 3 nights of her crying and me comforting but not feeding her and she has been sleeping all night since.  Sleep training sucks but is totally worth it.

*Those blue eyes haven't faded a bit so we'll see if she keeps them or not!  People comment on them all the time.  Both of our grandmothers have light hair and blue eyes so maybe she takes after them!

*Sadie loves her food.  She's still nursing 4 times a day (7, 12, 4, 7) and eats 3 meals and sometimes some snacks.  She likes pretty much anything we give her and I've been much quicker in introducing table food than I was with Ella.  At each meal Sadie usually eats a bowl full of fruits, veggies, or yogurt (with cereal mixed in usually) and some table food-she's tried bananas, chicken, beef, breads of all kinds, peaches, pears, and I'm sad to say, shes tried hot dogs and french fries too :-)

*Sadie seems to be more interested in communicating than becoming mobile.  Last week, clear as day she started saying "all done" after eating while signing it.  She will not do it on command or consistenly but she's said it many times now.  It surprised me every time!  She seems so little to be talking!  We also had her saying "Are we there?" last week when we were driving.  Craziness!  She hasn't said "mama" yet and doesn't quite seem to associate "dada" with Chris but she definitely says "Ella" pretty often :-)

*Along with this desire to communicate, I'm sad to report, she has just started shrieking when she wants something (usually food).  I'm SO not a fan of the shrieking phase.  Maybe it'll be short-lived, here's hoping.

*Though there have been moments of irritability (so I now know she's capable of being imperfect) Sadie is still a very happy, sweet baby.  It's been fun to see her really start to interact knowingly with the world and people.  For instance...

*if she wants a toy that's out of her reach, she'll slap the ground or table or bed next to the object to get it to bounce her way-so smart!
*she recognizes the words "clap" and "dance" and will usually do them on command
*she LOVES to "dance" whenever music comes on!  I must take a video.  It's so cute how she starts to bounce her little body around and wave her hands!

*Our sleep routine has become nursing or snuggling in the chair in her room and then I carry her over to the light switch, she reaches out and pushed down the dimmer to turn off the light and immediately lays her head on my shoulder (have I mentioned I prayed for a snuggly child for years???-this MELTS my heart every single time!), I sing to her and sway in the dark for a while and then lay her in her bed, tuck her in, press her gloworm, hand her her favorite stuffed animal (Penuin-y) and she smiles, hugs the penguin and I walk out.  For the most part, she goes right to sleep after this.  We are SO blessed.

I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting but suffice it to say, we're all hopelessly in love with this little one and excited to see all she's blossoming into as she grows.  If only she'd slow down a little so i can savor her babyhood a little longer!