Eloise at 9 months

Little Elo is 9 months this week. I say this week because she was born on the 30th but there is no 30th this month so that's kind of weird : )  Yeh-yo as we like to call her is changing everyday & never ceases to smile when you look her way.  How can it be possible to love a child more & more with each passing day? This girl is precious to us....

STATS:
17 pounds 8 ounces- 25th percentile
27.75 inches- 50th percentile
Head- 46 centimeters- 65th percentile

I could just eat her up! We call her "squishy" all the time....because she is : ) 

What Squishy is up to at 9 months:

• says "mama" & "dada" to the right people
• points back at you when you point at her
• waves hello although it is so uncoordinated & ridiculously cute : ) 
• picks up cheerios/puffs with thumb & forefinger 20% of the time  & scoops it 80% of the time
• claps along with you 
• pulls forward onto knees & sits back down repeatedly...SO on the verge of crawling
• pulls herself up onto her knees in her crib
• passes toys from hand to hand
• rolls herself all over the place & scoots backward or in a circle to get what she needs
• squeals loudly when she gets excited about the dogs or sissy's entertainment
• rolls to the side of her crib & pulls down the bumper in order to entice her sister to get out of bed. Sister can't resist & sometimes ends up in the crib....nice ; ) 
• loves to sit outside on a blanket but gets to the edge & eats leaves/grass SO stinkin' fast!
• reaches to be picked up
• kicks her legs super fast in the car seat when she gets excited about her toy she is holding
• attempts escape when getting her diaper changed

Do you remember our first child's nearly bald head for the entire first year of life & into the second? Elo has already passed her up in the hair growth category!

She also passed her up in the acquiring of chompers!  Eloise got her first little tooth on February 8th at 8 MONTHS OLD! Char didn't get her first tooth until 15 MONTHS! Read all about that here. Elo was just a bit clingy two afternoons in a row but I didn't suspect it was teething.  We were all in the girls room & Eloise was rolling on the floor when I put my finger in her mouth & felt something super sharp....what do you know? A tooth! If you look close in the next photo you can see it on her bottom right. Up until February 8th., I had never nursed a baby that had teeth...ouch!

Little lady is still very interested in nursing which I am thankful for. She has been starting her day earlier for the past week so our times are 6:30, 10:15, 2:15, 5:15 & 7:15 (just before bed). She can consume all that she wants pretty quickly but loves to stay in that favorite place ; ) With starting the day before we are ready to get up, Rob usually goes to get her & I feed her in bed while we all snuggle. It has become our favorite way to start the day. She was doing great with solids until last week when she got a little stomach bug. She vomited on & off for a couple days so we dropped the solids & upped the nursing frequency. She did great with it, recovered & has gotten back to regular meals. Elo has mastered eating cheerios & puffs but is not interested in small chunks of food. In fact, tonight at dinner, I put about 15 puffs on her tray. She looked at her hands & noticed that she already had one in each & proceeded to smash her face down on her tray with her mouth wide open! Haha! It was great! Our new foods this month were few: almonds, mango, cantaloupe, red potato & corn.

She is still a great napper & has successfully dropped that late afternoon snooze. She is usually napping from 8-10:15 & 12-2:15 or 2:30.  Some days she gets cranky just before dinner time like she still needs the cat nap but I think she is adjusting well. If we are out & about she will doze off in the car. She is making me laugh with how she leans towards her crib as I am singing to her. Sometimes it almost throws me off balance ; ) Most of the time there is no fussing but if there is, she is quickly calmed with some pats on that squishy tushy. She is sleeping with a taggie blanket I made her & her lambie.

Eloise Hope, you are sweet as sweet can be! Keep on getting squishier...we love it  : )