Nine Months Old

Just a little reminder: Zoey was born on the 18th of May. I understand how this may be confusing as I'm constantly posting her monthly updates on the 25th, 3rd, 10th, etc.... Someday I'll post on time!


Little Lamb,

What a month of change this has been. Let's start from the beginning.

You started day care at the end of January at a really nice place near our house. Your teachers are great and you've discovered that other babies exist! You didn't really like the other babies at first but now you're starting to get along well with your new friends. You actually got sick for the first time the night before your first day of day care, so you started a few days later, on January 31. The next day we had a heinous blizzard so you were stuck in the house with dad and me for the next four days. Then the following week you went to day care two days before it snowed again, and of course any time it snows in Tulsa the whole town shuts down. I took you to the doctor on that snow day because you just weren't acting like yourself, and it turned out you had RSV! Three days of day care and you get ridiculously sick. We decided to keep you home the rest of the week to help you recover, and you got much worse during that time. Your temperature was over 103 for a while and you didn't do much other than sleep and snuggle. It was so sad seeing you like that and I hope it never happens again. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of your sickness. For about a month you were extremely congested, had a terrible cough, and somewhere in there developed infections in both ears. Because there's not much in the way of medication you can give an infant we tried every home remedy possible: we elevated your mattress, bought a humidifier, constantly wiped and cleaned your nose out with that nose sucky thing (which you HATE), created a steam room in the bathroom, and rinsed your nose with saline. Once we went to the doctor they put you on a steroid and an antibiotic and gave us an inhaler (which you also hate). I'm ecstatic to say that you have been feeling a million times better lately. It's good to see you back to your old self.

You had a check up this month! You weigh a whopping 17 pounds 13 ounces and measure 26 and 3/4 inches in length. The doctor said you're doing great, meeting all your milestones and growing just as you should. She also said we could start feeding you some table food so we're going to work on that. We get a little nervous giving you chunky foods because, as new parents, we're terrified that you might choke. Since you started day care you've learned how to pick up and eat puffs, and it's soooo cute to watch you pick up each one with your little thumb and forefinger and put them in your mouth. You're such a lady. You're still eating purees too, three times a day, and about four to five bottles a day.

Things you're into right now: EVERYTHING. You never sit still anymore; you are so curious and excited about everything around you so it's nearly impossible to hold you for longer than a few minutes anymore. You reeeallly want to be mobile and you try so hard to crawl but it's just not happening. One big development is that you can "cruise" the furniture. We start you at one end of the coffee table and slowly but surely you make it to the other end. Dad works with you a lot on your mobility so I still say you're on track to walk in a month or so. But if not, no big deal. We like not having to chase you around yet.

Your sleeping has gotten better lately. Starting at about five months you began waking up a few times every night. Sometimes we have to feed you but most of the time all we have to do is give you your pacifier and pet your hair before you fall back asleep. Lately we've had a few nights a week where you sleep straight through, which is great for all of us. Going to bed has been easier too. You're starting to understand that when we lay you down, it's time to sleep. A really cute sleep development is that when you wake up in the middle of the night sometimes you'll find your pacifier and put it back in your mouth yourself. It's amazing to see you be so dextrous and independent. Next thing we know you'll be going off to college! Oh geez, I promised myself I wouldn't cry! (forgive me, motherhood has made me extremely emotional)

Now that you're not sick you're back to your extremely happy self, babbling all the time (dada is your favorite word), smiling at everyone, and clapping! You are now a pro at clapping and you look so proud of yourself every time you do it. You've turned in to somewhat of a ham lately too, giving the biggest smiles to every person you see. Strangers are always so impressed by you. When we went in for your nine month check up, a man crossed the doctor's office waiting room to tell me how beautiful you are. I can't make this stuff up! You are quite the pretty little lady. :)

BTW, I've started planning your first birthday party. With the holidays over I have to have some event to look forward to! Of course this birthday is more for the grown ups since you really won't know what's going on, but it's going to be awesome and I can't wait.

Only three months til the big 1!!!