I’M NINE MONTHS!
Height: 29.25″
Weight: Measurements 18 lbs., 11 oz.
Our little bean just keeps getting longer and longer. I think this may have been the first month I noticed how much she really weighs. I’ve been doing a lot of hip carrying around the house and on short errands and my biceps are benefitting 😉 This month – while baby wearing on our weekend trip to downtown St. Augustine – we also tried the “back carrying” on for size, and my lower back is really thanking me.
Since our last check in I’ve celebrated my first birthday and Valentine’s Day as a mother. I will admit my birthday weekend was very anticlimactic (my own doing) as it was the first of many years where I realized how unimportant my birthday really is now that I have a little one… Or I guess how much more important other things/dates/holidays are. That may not come across right, but ultimately it just made me realize how really unglamorous birthdays will probably be going forward. Admittedly I was pretty upset in the morning, but in hindsight I don’t mind. If anything I look forward to the year (maybe next year!) when McKenna blows out my candles before I can get to them.
As for McKenna’s updates…
She’s learned to clap. This has come about in the last few days. She started clapping when Mom & Dad would clap or say “Yay!” and now she claps when you simply say, “Clap, McKenna.” We’re working on waving hi & bye… She’s very close to “bye.”
She is quite the conversationalist. And with complete strangers. This little one is rarely shy with an unfamiliar face, which is great in one sense and very scary in another. Last night when we were sitting out on the patio at Carabba’s, McKenna had a full on conversation and giggle fest (for like 15 minutes!) with the young man and woman at the table across from us. I think it was mostly because she was interested in their golden retriever, but still.
She is a daredevil. This girl loves an adrenaline rush. She gets an instant smile from “Superman,” being tossed in the air, swung side-to-side and from hanging upside down. I am also convinced one of her top priorities is to go down the stairs. We don’t have a large living area, and every so I catch her staring at the stairs. This light goes off and she bolts (crawling) in that direction… And this chick is fast!
She is eating REAL solids. Not like pureed, not-formula/breastmilk solids, but REAL solids. We started on Puffs (cereal bites that dissolve in your mouth) and organic freeze-fried yogurt bites, and this weekend we moved on to chopped strawberries, sweet potato, pancakes and scrambled eggs… Yum! It’s fun being able to feed her bits and pieces of what we’re eating. She’s becoming less of a baby (always my baby, of course) and more of a little person!
She giggles a lot now! She loves to giggle. She’ll even have a giggle war with you. She’ll laugh a little, then you laugh, then she laughs. And some of her laughing is fake and completely intentional. It’s pretty hilarious.
We’re standing with one-hand assistance and “push walking.” She stands very confidently and gracefully only holding onto something with one hand. She also “walks around” by pushing an object around the room (i.e., Rigby’s food dish stand around the
kitchen) or by using the edges of furniture as guidance.
It goes without saying that she gets into everything, and everything she gets into goes straight into her mouth. She definitely keeps us on our toes. I can’t imagine the adventure we’re in for when she’s walking in just a short while. It’s a constant struggle of “can wait/can’t wait,” but it’s exciting!
Oh, and we FINALLY got some decent family photos, thanks to my mom 🙂
And… McKenna’s out takes:
Our Little "Whoops!" 