Adaline Mae : 9 Months

Late to the party.

Which is par for the course around these parts.

But here we are, celebrating my sweet baby Bug's nine month birthday. Because after enduring the torture of losing and then paying a lot of money to try to recover thousands of pictures off of an external hard drive, I am dedicated now more than ever to keep on keeping on with this little blog of mine.

- At Miss Bug's 9 month wellness check, she weighed in at 20.6 lbs (83%) and 28.5 in (84%). Big girl with some delicious rolls. And those little rubber band hands and chompable cheeks. I die.

- Littlest lady has developed quite the personality. She's the sweetest little thing with a side of dramatic flare. (Where did she ever get that trait?) She sure let's us know when she's feeling left out, wants more food or doesn't feel like sleeping. Oh, and she definitely puts up a fight when big sis takes her toys. (We love these little-big personalities SO much and love how different they are!!) She's feisty & determined and still the sweetest little cuddle bug. And the thing she has most in common with big sis? A strong-willed nature. It was the first thing Dr. Reddy commented on, "Well Angela, you've been blessed with two VERY strong willed little ones." (sigh)

- Addie (sort of) started clapping and waving this month. She gets so excited when people wave and say "Bye Addie". She starts waving her hands and flapping her arms and drooling and gurgling about. It's quite cute. And she thinks clapping is almost as cool as her big sister.

- Adaline Mae started officially crawling the day after 9 month birthday! After weeks of rocking back and forth, she's finally on the go. She is everywhere and happy as a clam now that she is on the move.

- From birth, Addie has been the easiest baby. So easy, that I've felt like I could have 5 more children. She slept through the night from the get-go, rarely cried and has always been super easy going and flexible. But this month? Girlfriend decided to give us some trouble. It all started with refusing to take a bottle. To the point that after trying for an hour each time, every single day for weeks, it was finally time to give up. The bottle wasn't happening. (Which, by the way, she used to take a bottle. Until I didn't bottle feed her for a good month or so. Now, she's too old and knows what she wants. And it's not the bottle.) I swear I've bought every brand of bottle, sippie and nipple ever invented. And since she's not drinking from a sippie much (something we work on all day long), she's developed quite the bowel issues. I'm that mom on the phone with the nurse every other day asking questions about poop. Let's just say we're up to our ears in prunes and pear juice, and we're experts at giving suppositories.

- She LOVES swimming so much. She splashes and squeals about. And I love it too because she sleeps hard and well after a day at the pool!

- Addie and Lyla are completely developing this incredible sister relationship that I always wished I'd had. It's a love-hate as they play and fight. Just like sisters do. And I love it!

- This child is into everything. Everything. I can no longer take a shower while she's awake, and I most definitely cannot leave her in a room by herself. We found pennies in her mouth 3 different times, she wrapped herself in a lamp cord, dove out of a baby pool onto concrete, and Gabe had to dislodge a ball of plastic wrap from her throat. Needless to say, we were (obviously) completely unprepared for the whole baby proofing thing. We've since covered all the outlets, put up cords, and lowered her mattress. (All of which, we never did ANY of with Lyla). And we still rack up an average of 3 or 4 injuries per day.

- I'm such a believer in teaching children to sleep. And I am quite confident all children, regardless of how much they fight sleep, can be taught to sleep well. Well Addie-Babe is going through a phase where she is fighting sleep really really hard. So hard, that I usually give in and let her stay up and play. She crawls all about for a good hour or two, destroys a few things and then (maybe) gets tired enough to finally go to sleep. It's maddening. And I'll let you know when I figure it out.

One thing's for sure. This stage is SO MUCH FUN!