Juliette: 9 months

Juliette

9 months

If you've been wondering if we're still enamored of our Juliette, the answer is (of course) a resounding yes. :) It is so fun to get to see more of this little girl's personality, and the older she gets the more it comes to light. (For example, lately she has exhibited an increased interest in being speed-fed, and whines quite grumpily at us if we don't keep pace with her!)

Last week I got an email from BabyCenter or something announcing what our babe should be up to at 40 weeks of age. 40 weeks! Since she was born at 39, she has now officially been on the "outside" longer than she was in!

The first six months went by at the perfect pace for me--just leisurely enough that I felt like I really got to enjoy each stage of babyness--but since then it has been a blur. I feel like she just turned 9 months but already her 10 month birthday is looming. I know its a cliche to even say that, but the whole reason it is a cliche because its true!

Look at this sweet thing!!

I know.

Jules spent her nine month birthday driving home from a family reunion in Florida (woot woot!) where she met her Mimi and Grandpa Curt (Steve's parents) and Auntie Jessica for the first time. Unfortunately, she was a liiiiittle overwhelmed by the pack of people (there were 44 of us total) and also cutting a pair of very cute lower teeth, so she was pretty wary of being loved on by anyone other than Mom or Dad--of Mimi, who she took to quickly and with gusto. Grandmas have a magic touch I guess. For the most part, I actually had to leave the room or hide behind people if I wanted her to allow herself to be held by someone else. She was incredibly happy when we brought her home to her own house and her own bed. She just smiled and smiled when we took her into her room the evening we got home. Just a little homebody.

As to the rest of baby-life, at nine months, Juliette:

Sleeps adorably, and well. She has officially dropped the third nap, so she's sleeping from around 6:30 or  7pm to about 7:30am, with a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Naps may get complicated when big sister starts school later this month, but for now its pretty great.

She has also just recently allowed us to sing to her without crying. She is very, very sad when we lay her in her crib, but if we start singing her a lullaby, she will either lay on her back and smile up at us, or flip on her belly and suck on her tiny thumb until we finish. I love those few moments of sweet calm with her before I shut her door for her to sleep.

Eats inconsistently as far as purees go. This week she is eating about 2.5 containers' worth of food (either fresh that I've made or store bought if I'm lazy) per meal, while last week it was only 1. She loves eating table food but can't eat anything small yet because it still gets trapped in her fist. She will scoop up a big handful of Cheerios and then just hold them because she doesn't know how to release them into her mouth. :) She does pretty well with bread or other larger-cuts of soft/meltable foods, though, and she is getting the hang of her sippy cup, which her sibs were not interested in until much later.

She nurses four times a day: at waking, lunch hour, after her afternoon nap, and before the bedtime routine. I haven't decided how long we'll stick with it, but the longest I've done is 10 months (with Charlie) so I know I'll at least make that mark. It is always a bittersweet transition.

Wears a combination of 6 and 9 month clothes. She is still petite, but she did finally get too long for her footie pajamas.

Dislikes diaper rash (sad), waiting to be fed, the blender (if someone makes a big deal about it--otherwise she's cool with it), being passed to a "stranger" to be held, being put to bed, being left out of the action, and having her face wiped after meals.

Likes to play and explore. Though she hasn't started crawling yet, Jules is very mobile and will roll quickly across a room if she sees something she wants. We love when she pops up on her arms to pivot on her belly, usually changing direction to pursue a prize. She has started to get up on her knees and rock, so we know she is at least contemplating the wonders of crawling. :)

She loves to pull all the diapers out of her diaper basket and then chew on the basket (or put it on her head). She is already starting to be interested in power cords, so we are slowly beginning to truly baby-proof. And she will always choose a "big kid" toy--or some kind of non-toy, like an empty juice bottle or a remote control or keys or a camera--over a baby toy. She is also pretty excited about her two little teeth, and spends a lot of time plucking at them with her index finger.

She loves books and gets very excited when we read to her, smacking the pages and chatting loudly. She is most excited when the reading is done and she gets to gnaw on a book corner.

She loves her siblings, and will dissolve into gales of laughter when Gracie plays with her. She loves to dance, and sometimes can't help herself when music comes on. She loves to bounce, too, and will start bopping excitedly up and down when someone she loves appears (like when Daddy comes home from work!). It pretty much makes our day when she bounces at one of us. Love this cute thing.