LETTERS TO LIA | 9 MONTHS

Lia,
My precious, incredible little girl. Today, you are 9 months old. You are only 3 months away from turning one. How is that possible when it still feels like yesterday I was meeting you for the first time? You never cease to amaze me. Every day, you learn something new or do something even cuter than the day before. Time is flying by, but daddy and I are enjoying every minute that we get to spend with you.

You had your 8 month checkup last month. You are 20 lbs and 27 inches long. It's nice to see you growing so well! The doctor said you looked great and was impressed at how well you can crawl and pull up on everything. The only little blips were your eyes and teeth. We knew from the last appointment that you will need to see an eye doctor. It's nothing major or urgent, we just need to keep an eye on your eyes! Also, your pearly whites are coming in crooked. If they stay that way, then we'll take you to the dentist. But otherwise, you are an amazing and healthy little girl!

You are still in size 3 diapers and wearing mostly 12 month clothing. Some 6-12 month shirts fit okay but you will outgrow them soon!

What you are up to now:
Crawling. I wasn't sure you were going to get it, but once you did, you took off! You are so fast and you have learned to get everywhere and into everything. Child-proofing is an on-going thing in this house.

Pulling up on everything. You pull up on the sofa, the coffee table, your crib, your highchair, your excersaucer. Once you are standing, you "walk" along the items. It's only a matter of time before you are walking by yourself!

Eating more solids and less formula. Your appetite for milk had dropped. You still have 6 oz bottles, but only about 4 a day, spanning from 3-4 1/2 hours in between each. But, you get 2 whole meals and snacks, and I'm going to be adding a lunch in there soon. You also have table foods when you can have what we're having. Teeny bites of pasta and chicken and rice. You love rice! You tryed cheerios for the first time today and you were definitely a fan. You also get water with your meals and you've mastered the sippy cup.

We have finally gotten a routine set and mommy is a lot less crazy now! You get a bath, a book and a bottle right before bedtime. We start around 7:30 and you are in bed by 8:30 and down for the night. You wake up in the mornings, starting around 7 but you always go back to sleep and you don't get up for good until 8:30/9ish. You have your morning bottle and get breakfast about an hour or so later. Nap time is 12/12:30, after your next bottle. You can sleep anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours. Which is such a nice break for mommy. I get to have lunch and clean and blog without stopping every 5 seconds! You take another bottle after your nap, then playtime. Then it's dinner time! You hang out in your highchair and I feed you Gerber's while I cook then we all sit at the table and eat. If we're having pasta or rice, I put a little food on your high chair and let you feed yourself. After some cleaning and more playtime, it's time for bath and bed again!

Your such a happy baby. And, so smart! You can wave "bye bye" and give "high fives", although you pick and choose when you want to do it. You babble all the time, but no real words have come out yet. You pretend to be shy around people, but I think you really like the attention! And, when you are not happy, you show that! Temper tantrums are coming out. But, you laugh alot more than you cry! Your new laugh is really weird. It's almost like you are gasping for air, but you are laughing. Sometimes, you can be really weird L-bug!

Other than that, you are the same happy baby, just getting a little older every day!

I love you and I am so proud to be your mommy. Keep being amazing!

XOXO,
Mommy