I feel like every one of these monthly updates could start with the phrase "I can't believe my sweet Scoops is ___ old already!" Regardless of my faith or disbelief, the baby I birthed is, in fact, 9 months old. As evidenced by the photo, you can see that she is now clearly standing (while holding on to something) without any issue. Often now when I go to rescue her from not napping, I find her standing in her crib, clutching the bars and probably teething on them. No, she still has not popped out any teeth, but she certainly has two coming. I can see the elusive little bastards hovering just below the surface of her bottom gum, coyly taunting us all with their modesty. Come out already, teeth! Give us some peace from all this anticipation! It's been 2 months, for crap's sake!
Her eyes are still blue, and at this point I'm pretty well convinced they're not changing. I'd love it if she got my green eyes, but as I've mentioned before, those baby blues are so captivatingly beautiful that I truly don't care. Her hair is blonde and stick straight, just like mine was as a baby. I'm sure it'll curl when she gets older though. Seems to be inevitable since both her parents rock curls! She is still a tiny little thing, just hanging out in the ol' first percentile. I'm banking on her staying in size 2 diapers until after she turns a year old. I'm not complaining, because she's certainly easier to carry than a lot of babies we know. Plus, we're getting excellent use out of all her 6-month size clothing.
Some fun things Scoops can do now:
- Say "Dada" (finally!)
- Make a silly noise with her lips when we strum them with a finger (Daddy started this, and when I tried it last week Scoops smiled after making the noise and clearly said, "da da!")
- Break landspeed records with her adept crawling skills
- Speed walk while holding someone's hands
- Clap her hands
- Wave hi and bye-bye
- Pull mommy's shirt down for quick-access feeding. Like, whenever/wherever.
She has recently discovered her belly button, and is fascinated by it. She also finds mine intriguing, and seems to be under the impression that it is a third and non-functional nipple (she keeps giving it a try, though!). Fingers are also amazing now. She gets focused on one thing, like another finger, and slowly brings her pointer finger to touch it (if it's near her face she usually goes cross-eyed while doing this). Sometimes she unknowingly plays ET and slowly, deliberately touches the tip of her finger to mine. Lately she's been studying my sadly ragged, unpolished fingernails, too. Fantastic. When she's really excited she squinches her face and smiles so big that her nose wrinkles and her eyes practically close. Sometimes that face is accompanied by a high-pitched squeal. She's starting to find it amusing when we pat her back or tummy while she's making a sustained noise, so that her voice goes all "bouncy" or warble-y. We've been trying to get her to do this trick for months now, but she used to stop every time we starting patting her. Then one day we're driving on an uneven road and bam: she suddenly gets it. She's been sitting on the potty every morning and evening, and sometimes throughout the day, and gets visibly proud of herself when she uses it as intended. I mean she smiles and squeals and claps her hands. I call that pride in one's accomplishments.
A friend just asked me today whether life is easier or harder now that Scoops is 9 months old. It's really a little bit of both. Some things are easier and some are harder. I definitely can't just set her down on my bed and walk away, but she can reach up and grab hold of me when I pick her up. She doesn't generally like to be held "like a baby" in a reclined position anymore, but she holds on pretty securely when I carry her around on my hip. I'm starting to really experience what my mom told me she experienced while raising her babies: each stage brings new joys and milestones, so that the sweetness of watching my baby develop really does outweigh the bitterness of seeing her grow into less of a baby. Seeing her experience life, each little micro-discovery at a time, makes me appreciate the many things I (and most adults I know) have come to take for granted. As Scoops discovers her universe, I feel like I'm rediscovering mine. Every day brings something new and different to experience and enjoy, and I can't imagine a better way to spend my days.
