9 Months!

Our little bug turned 9 months this week. It is so hard to believe that she has grown up so fast. This last month has brought many changes with it too.

Anna absolutely LOVES to stand. It makes her so happy. A week or so ago she pulled herself up to standing for the first time and now she can't get enough of it. When she gets up she looks so pleased with herself which is pretty adorable. From there she enjoys slowing edging along what she's holding onto or going back and forth between the couch and coffee table or whatever objects are near by. Sometimes she'll even let go and try to balance for a moment but she's not quite there yet. While she still falls every now and then she's learning how to lower herself back down into the sitting position. 

We had Anna's 9 month appointment this week as well. She weighed in at 18 lbs 13 oz (60%), was 27.8 inches longs (55%), and her head circumference was 18.5 inches (100%). She's doing great on all her milestones which we are very pleased about. We asked about her not crawling yet (she can do the army crawl if there is something she wants that isn't too far away) and we have nothing to fret about. She's just busy working on standing and cruising and they don't even use crawling as a milestone anymore. 

Like most babies, Anna still enjoys grabbing everything in sight. She is especially interested in those things she can't have like iphones, ipads, laptops, outlets, cords, your full glass of water, etc.

I mentioned in a previous post that Anna has her two bottom teeth now. I used to wonder what it would be like when we lost that gummy smile but now I can't imagine her without those little pearly whites. 

Despite not crawling Anna is getting really good at getting where she wants to go. It feels like she is constantly on the move when she is awake. I think her naps are starting to get longer as a result and at the same time she is slowly getting rid of her last cat nap of the day. Yesterday she fell asleep while we were reading stories which is unusual for her. We are seeing the frustration with wanting to do more than she's able but that's to be expected. 

Changing time has not gotten any easier. She turns, twists, and kicks all over the place. Toys as distractions have become increasingly less effective and I sometimes sigh in relief when we are finally all done. :)  Grandma Patti agreed with us that Anna is tough to change so we're not just first-time parent wimps, at least in this one aspect.

Another thing Anna really enjoys right now are doggies. Whenever she sees them she bounces in excitement, grins from ear to ear and makes adorable noises. She likes grabbing the Husky's fluffy hair and enjoys touching the Jack Russell's soft ears. The doggies are so sweet to put up with her but we're working with her on being gentle. 

We're also entering the separation anxiety stage. She is still pretty good with other people holding her but she does watch me or Kevin when we leave the room. If she's playing by herself she wants to be able to see you and fusses if you aren't visible. It makes getting stuff done a little more challenging so Anna has just had to start helping me a little more with chores. 

Anna is also as "talkative" as ever. Her blabbering can get really really loud sometimes. Pretty hard to ignore it when she gets going. Grandma Paula calls her Loudmouth Lion sometimes.

We love our curious, funny, active, smart girl so much and we're excited to find out what the next month has in store.