Thanks to my friend Kaitlyn for being willing to capture Mazy’s little personality! Here is just a sampling…
This is when she decided it wasn’t fun anymore
Stats: We had her 9 month checkup today! She is 28 1/2 inches long (81st percentile – still tall, but is averaging out since at her 6 month she was in the 96th). She weights 18 lbs. 14 ounces (62nd percentile) and she has a large head still, in the 96th percentile. So this is the way I look at it – she is REALLY smart! She is our long and skinny peanut!
Food: Mazy eats about every 3-4 hours and drinks about 5-6 ounces each time. We feed her a fruit or vegetable twice a day and then cereal at night. She still struggles to eat textured foods, like pureed meats, carrots/squash mix, and little bite-sized pieces of food. We know that will eventually come, so no need to rush it if she isn’t ready.
Size: Mazy wears 9-12 month clothes, 6-9 and 9 month onesies, 12 month sleepers, and some 18 month pants for length. She wears size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night. We also moved her from her infant car seat to convertible car seat. The buckles just wouldn’t fit over her coat anymore and you could tell she was uncomfortable! Sad day, since she often falls asleep in the car on the way home from town!
Routine: Mazy typically wakes up between 8:00 and 8:30am, depending on what time she goes to bed. She has been going to bed later, like between 8:30 and 9:30. She is sleeping a bit better at night, but still wakes up about every other night, and is pretty upset. We were first thinking she had another ear infection, but the doctor said it could just be teething or night terrors. Poor girl! She sure snuggles up though to fall back asleep once I try to rock her back to sleep! Though we had a rough week this week with sleeping. Monday and Tuesday night, she didn’t fall asleep until 3:00am and Wednesday night she didn’t fall asleep until 4:00am. Felt so sorry for her because she was clearly tired, but just couldn’t find it! Then last night, she woke up twice, but then fell solidly asleep at about 11:30 or midnight and stayed asleep. A good night’s sleep felt good for all of us! She has a cold, so that has been the reason why she hasn’t been sleeping well.
After she wakes up in the morning, we feed her a bottle, play for a bit, then after about 1 1/2 – 2 hours, she is ready for her morning nap. She usually sleeps about 1 1/2 hours, then it’s feed time again. By about 1:00 she is ready for another nap, where she will sleep about another hour or 2. When she gets up, another bottle and more play time. Between 4:30 and 5:30, she is often ready for 1 more nap, but doesn’t always want to sleep, so sometimes we do without it. At night, we give her cereal at 7:00, a bath if needed, a bottle at 8 or 8:30, and then bedtime. That little girl just still loves to play, so sometimes she is not ready for bed until later (which actually helps her sleep better at night, if she can make it that long).
She has been napping MUCH better! When she is tired, we can put her down in her crib and she usually turns her head to the side, as if saying “thank you” and goes right to sleep. Other times she will fight it for a bit and usually goes to sleep. Then on the rare occasion, she will just cry and cry, letting us know she just isn’t ready to nap.
Milestones:
- Mazy loves to stand on her own, leaning up against something
- She loves to walk, holding onto your fingers. She would walk for days!
- Mazy has great head strength when on the stomach, but still has zero desire to crawl.
- Mazy has completely transitioned to her crib, so no more bouncy!
- Mazy sleeps MUCH better at naptime and sleeps for longer periods of time as well.
- Mazy is learning to wave at anything and everything
- If you say “yay” she sill clap her hands
- She loves to mimic anything you do
- Turning pages in a book is one of her favorite activities
- She loves to jabber and talk to her toys
- Da-da, ma-ma, and na-na are her favorite words
- Mazy still loves the walker at church
- She can now drink out of her sippy cup!
- If you say “SO big” she will raise her hands above her head!
- She also knows what “big hug” means and will wrap her arms around your neck and hug you!
- She is starting to get a tooth, but it is slow in coming!
- Is starting to get some separation anxiety
Other Things To Remember:
- Mazy still loves books – she knows where the touch ‘n feel parts of a book are and is so proud that she knows too
- She does NOT like her diaper or clothes to be changed
- Enjoys taking baths, but also going to the bathroom during bathtime
- Loves her mesh fresh food chew toy – especially melon in it
- Loves to ride in the shopping cart and smile at everyone
- Likes to play with balls and hit them
- Mazy has started to not like walks as much because she has to wear a big, thick coat
- Knows when she is being cute
- Still loves dogs – whether stuffed or real
- Doesn’t like to be alone – enjoys being carried and played with at all times
Mazy is at such a fun stage (though I could say that for every stage thus far!) She is not so much a baby anymore, but a little child just wanting to figure out life. Everything is so new and exciting to her. She can be so goofy and still has that big gummy smile that just gets us every time! She is starting to realize when Dan and I are not around and almost gets nervous, but it melts our hearts! We love to be loved by our child! Many have said that 9 months is a fun stage and I can see why – so playful, full of life, and personality! Oh baby girl, if you only knew how much joy you brought to our lives!