9 months!

Whoops. This post is way overdue. I wrote it on the right day (July 13th) but forgot to take my camera cord on our big roadtrip. A monthly update without pictures just will not due. But we are back now so here it is! 

Dear Norah,

 

9 months old!How big is Norah? So big! And strong. You're pretty awesome at standing and can stand for quite a while and even get up and down from a squat without holding onto anything. You don't want to try walking unless you've got some furniture. Lucy is determined to help you by holding you up and moving you back and forth but you just look at her and smile. Both Lucy and Jonah have learned to carry you this month. You are a pretty good sport about it. You just love them too much to give up all the attention although Jonah is testing the limits on that as much as he can.

You are not put off by the fact that Lucy and Jonah are much faster than you. They were building a wooden path thing in the yard and going back and forth from the scrap pile to the path and you just kept following them. You'd get halfway there by the time they were done but would happily turn around and head the other way when they did. It seemed a bit mean but you were no worse for ware afterwards. Now, your clothes were a different store. They were completely filthy and caked with mud. But a dirty baby is a happy baby. And yesterday, we spotted a cotton tail rabbit and daddy told the bigs to crawl towards it slowly. You were happily playing with some grass but when you saw them crawl, you seemed to know this was something you could too so you followed right along. It was pretty adorable. I don't think you even noticed the bunny but finally, it was a game you could play!

You don't even attempt to play with "baby toys". Nope, give me what every one else is playing with. 

The fun thing about this month was looking up what they were doing and seeing how you were the same - or different. I didn't even remember Jonah taking off the vent covers when he was this age but I wrote it down and daddy and I had to laugh because you've been doing that all this week too!

This was about the time they both enjoyed Pat the Bunny. Now, you have not been as big of a fan of books as they have so far but when we bought you your own copy of Pat the Bunny, you couldn't resist it's charms. You can do all the activities yourself but you nicely sit and let Jonah take a turn first and when he is done, you go "feel daddy's scratchy face" and "put your finger in mummy's ring." And the bunny isn't the only thing you like to pat. You love to pat your family. If we walk up to someone in our family, you start to pat them (their shoulder, their head, whatever you can reach). Your hugs are a little intense sometimes and often lead to hair pulling so I think everyone is happy with the pats.

 If there is too much dawdling in the morning and I'm still helping Jonah finish his morning chores when your naptime approaches, we can normally hold you off a few minutes by having Lucy read it a few times or by playing pat-a-cake. That's Lucy's go-to game for you. Jonah prefers Itsy-Bitsy Spider and I think you do too. In fact, while its not 100% certain at this point, it does appear that you are trying to sign spider. Will that be your first real sign? You recognize the sign for milk and respond and seem to recognize eat too but don't try to make either yourself. You also enjoy a good round of peek-a-boo and will play it with anything, blankies, found pajama bottoms, stuffed animals. You like to put clothes on so are often found crawling around with random pants or shirts wrapped around you.

And you love the sandbox just like Jonah did at this age. You'll play in there by yourself but you really love it with a sibling accompaniment. You also love water. It's pretty much your favorite thing. Pools, baths, splashing in puddles in the driveway, anything wet will do. This is nice as all the sand and dirt you play in means you get bathed a lot.

You take my melon and I will cut you. 

Another consistent love - food. Right now you are loving peas. You've got a mean pincher grasp and aren't afraid to use it. You also love melon and oatmeal. And you've figured out baby food packets and can down one in no time. But if you don't want it, you make sure you drop it carefully. You hold it by the top and lean way down sideways and drop it so nothing spills....maybe you'll want it next time!

I think I mentioned sleep last month. Well, your sleep got better - and then it got worse. You've had a rough week. You got your third tooth and are working on your fourth. Plus you have a horrible yeast rash. Even with medicine, you would only sleep while daddy sat up (or walked around) and held you. But you and him hung out on the couch those nights And I do enjoy seeing daddy finally have a "daddy's baby" after two mama clingers. (Especially when it means I get to sleep at night. Am I allowed to say that :-) But despite feeling so yucky, you still were mostly content. I could tell you didn't want to sit (in a car seat, in a cart at a store, etc) but you weren't fussy otherwise. And when you aren't in pain, you've settled down to a nice 2 nap schedule and an earlier bedtime most nights so crossing our fingers tonight will be okay again. 

You are about 27 inches tall but I don't know you weight other than "chunky." Just moving into 12 month clothes although what I put you in depends on whether you will be playing in the dirt or not.