Larkin: Nine Months Old

 (No, no, sweet baby: it's not SIX, it's NINE months... Much as I wish I could slow time, you have made it to NINE months old.)

 That's closer.... Now maybe turn that number to face me, and we'll have it! 

 Close enough. Chewed and damp and mangled... But it's a NINE now. Ha! 

Larkin at Nine Months: 

(Posted nearly three weeks late, but I am trying to keep the monthly info relevant to the month she was in for the photos... So even though she's ACTUALLY "real" crawling now, for example, she didn't learn that til after her nine-month milestone, so I still only talk about army-crawling. Get it? Haha! Maybe next month I'll be on time??)

1. Officially done with laying down cooperatively for these photos. Even sitting still without crawling away from the scene was a bit of an effort for my on-the-move little lady. 

2. Larkin has become a champ at army crawling, and will stop at nothing to get where she wants to go. She has also mastered the one step up from our living room to the kitchen. 

3. She rolls around her crib when she is trying to go to sleep and again when she wakes up, and I try to let her have that"practice time" if she's not too fussy. Because of it, she's figured out how to go from laying down to sitting, and she has gotten more and more steady at standing holding onto things, even attempting one-handed standing. 

4. Favorite foods: baby food pouches, pancakes, and cheese pizza. She has totally forsaken the spoon-feeding life. We almost never bother anymore. We either give her pouches or soft finger foods. She also loves watermelon and strawberries, and round crackers. She finally likes the yogurt melts, and baby puffs are always a hit with her. 

5. She loves to say "Dadadadadada", and while I'm not sure it's an official first word, she is definitely using it in a communication way. Sometimes she'll also say "mumumumummmmmm", but that seems to be when she's soothing her gums from teething. 

6. She finally popped two teeth! They're not fully grown, but she has two bottom teeth. Left one first, right one a few days later. She still has a pretty persistent runny nose, so I have to think she has more currently rumbling under the surface. Maybe some top teeth soon?

7. Larkin LOVES Fiona, and has a very specific squeal/noise when she sees the kitty or sees a doggy. It's super cute! She's not "soft" with the animals yet, but she sure likes to try to get as close to them as she can! 

8. She's moving towards sleeping through the night. She'll still wake every so often around either midnight or 3 am, and take a 4oz bottle... but I've been switching that bottle for water, and she seems to be having more nights between those wakings now. 

9. I'm teaching her some cute tricks! She is getting good at waving "hi!!" (a little bit of "bye bye" too, but mostly "hi!") She'll sometimes do a full arm flap, and sometimes just her little fingers will flap. She often adds a "daadada" to this motion. She will sometimes do "high five", but seems to need a reminder what exactly that is if it's been a day or two since the last time. She has sort of clapped for herself when I say "Yay, Larkin!" and demonstrate clapping, but that one is not a consistent trick at all. Still, so cute to see her little mind working all the time, trying out new things, problem-solving, and mimicking these tricks. 

10. Still just the sweetest, most adorable apple of our eye, loved by all her siblings, a total joy to us.

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(Photos taken on Larkin's amazing bird quilt made by my friend Melanie Hess of Thoroughly Modern Minis, on Etsy. See her 1 month photos HERE, her 2 month photos HERE, her 3 month photos HERE, her 4 month photos HERE, her 5 month photos HERE, her 6 month photo HERE , her 7 month photos HERE, and her 8 month photos HERE. )