Anna Elizabeth is 9 months old!

 

 

 

 ANNA BABY!

 

 

You turned 9 months old on June 25th. 9 months! The days are flying by and you are the delight of my heart. Every single day with you is full of smiles, belly laughs, cuddles and screams of delight. I cannot imagine my world without you, and I am just so thankful to hold you and love on you all the days of my life.

 

 This age is just the best. You are engaged in the world around you, love to eat grass and crawl towards mysterious new objects in your path of understanding. You respond to your name and look up when I say, "Anna!" or "Anna Baby!" I just love that you know who you are. You even get a kick out of looking at yourself in the mirror.

You smile and when I pull out the camera, you open your mouth wide to "smile" for me.

YOU SAY MAMA! It's music to my ears and the sweetest little voice. "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" is what I hear when you first see me in the morning and anytime throughout the day when I walk in a room. It's the most joyful sound to my heart!

At 9 months old, you are 18 pounds 6 ounces. You are my smallest baby. You are long and lean with petite features. You wear a size 5 diaper and your clothes are 9-12 months. The dry skin on your face is gone now. Your hair is coming in slowly and seems to be blonde, not super light blonde, but more like William's color. It still shows a reddish tint in the sunlight. Your eyes are such a pretty shade of blue. You have received more compliments on your eyes than I can count.




  You still love to eat most baby food combinations and this month you welcomed Puffs! Your dexterity is impressive too. You can pick up tiny servings of table food and get them right in your mouth. We got you a new high chair that attaches to the dining table and you LOVE it. You no longer scream and holler when it's meal time. I think this new chair is more comfortable and you are sitting directly at the table just like William and Adeline. You get such a kick out of watching them during meal time and you will sit in that seat for a long time. It has worked really well when I need to get things done in the kitchen because I can stick you in your seat and you will play at the table with your toys.

Anna, you love baby dolls just like your sissy. You love to pick up your babies and kiss their faces. You smiled so big when you look at your baby dolls' faces and you will study them and hold each one for a long time.






Sometimes, you give out a big ol' belly laugh while you play with the dolls. Adeline thinks it is really fun when you play babies with her, but the second you steal her dolly, she gets mad and asks me to take you away. I cannot wait for you to get a little bigger so Adeline will have an easier time playing with you. I just know you all will have lots of adventures!

Toys with lights and music seem to grab your attention this month. You will push buttons and climb all over toys to get them to make noise. It's funny to watch and entertains you for a good 5 minutes.

PULLING UP! This is your new trick this month. You crawl like a pro and grab hold of anything in front of you that will help you climb up to a standing position. One of your favorite things to do is climb over Dada when he's laying on the floor. You laugh and laugh and laugh. It's so funny to watch you play this game with Dada. Dada even thinks you may walk early because you are solid on your feet.

 After you pull up on an object, you will sometimes let go and stand up for a split second. You crawl everywhere and move SO fast. If you hear William and Adeline, you will frantically crawl across the room towards the sound of their voices. I have to watch you like a hawk!

June was the beginning of summer camp for you and Adeline. Summer camp is at Kirk of the Hills where you both attend Mother's Day Out. So far, you like it. I think you are still too little to really express any separation anxiety, so when I drop you off you are just fine. All the teachers love you and tell me that you are VERY observant and rarely settle down because you are so BUSY being social.

Your sleep patterns are improving and naps are a little more predictable. 9 months marked your first illness - an ear infection! Once we figured it out, you turned a corner and the medicine helped your mood so much. You are also teething and your top front teeth are coming in. These two teeth have been a horribly uncomfortable phase for you.

Oh my goodness, you would wake up in the night screaming and crying. If I held you, you seemed to quiet down but it didn't last long and the screaming returned. We've worked our way through the pain and found you some medicine (along with the ear infection meds) which seem to have kicked most of the discomfort. So now that we are over that hump, your sleep pattern at night is much better.

 Most of the time, you go to bed at 7:30 pm and wake up around 5am for some milk. We give you 2-4 ounces and you return to sleep after you finish the bottle. You are usually awake for the day between 6 and 6:30 am.

Your personality is infectious. Anna Baby, you are just so happy. You smile and laugh constantly. Your tiny little body fits perfectly in the nook of my arm and we spend hours locked together. You love for me to hold you! Sometimes you turn in towards my chest and give me hugs or just look up at me with those big blue eyes and smile ear to ear.

You are my Angel Baby. My heart yearned for you and I just knew I needed one more precious soul to complete our family. God hear my fervent prayer and he gave me you. You are practically perfect in every single way. Anna Baby, I stare at you in complete awe and never in my life have I felt so lucky.