9 Month Update

A visit from Grandpa Dan at Thanksgiving. 

Greta's Thanksgiving Meal: Sweet Potato with Chicken, Apples, Apricots, and Cinnamon

I completely blew past Greta's 8 month update. A few days late turned into a few weeks late and all of a sudden she was 9 months old. So I am starting to write this ON her 9 month birthday even though I know I won't post by the end of the day. (Merry Christmas, I'm posting it a week later...)

In keeping with her development over the recent weeks, Greta totally surprised us by sleeping her birthday away. I came home around 4:45 and she had just gone down for a nap. At 8:45, we woke her up to feed her and give her her meds, softly sing her happy birthday, and then put her back down to bed. We have no idea what her night is going to look like, and that's actually pretty typical lately. I have been forgoing pumping in favor of nursing and so our routine is more unpredictable than it used to be. (By the way, that night was a disaster.)

As predicted in my last post, she stopped calling me Mama within a couple weeks, in favor of longer strings of Baba, dada, thatha, and mama (but not like the word -- just babbles). She babbles and just recently has started some waving-type gestures. She can stay in a seated position for extended lengths of time, although she very occasionally still face-plants into the carpet or falls backwards. We tend to avoid this by putting pillow behind her or sitting behind her on the floor and spotting her. 

That Boppy pillow is an awesome invention. 

Greta also is on the verge of crawling. She can "army crawl" pretty well, but she isn't crazy fast. I still feel comfortable with her being out of sight for a moment or two, even when she's not in her playpen. The playpen, by the way, is an amazing invention for folks like us who don't have gates. 

Her inability to crawl causes Greta great frustration. She has been more impatient and difficult to please. She wants to crawl SO badly. Unless she is in a very mellow mood, it is difficult to keep her happy. If you put her down to explore on her own, she's frustrated that she can't crawl. She will do push-ups and wail in frustration as she bends and straightens her legs and arms. Every now and then, she will manage to get up onto all fours -- with her knees bent below her. But once in that position, she struggles with what to do next and eventually cries in despair.

It's actually pretty painful to watch. I wish I could teach her how to crawl, but my attempts at doing so usually end with her face-planting and me feeling terrible for having helped her into a position she couldn't maintain. So no more of that -- baby will have to learn on her own. 

She's getting very good at eating puff snacks or cereal. It's so fun to watch her eat them -- it's a vaguely familiar action that is similar to when she puts other items in her mouth. But when she eats the cereal she does it casually and purposefully avoids eye contact while she puts the snack in her mouth --- almost an affected nonchalance. Interestingly, she's not great at chewing yet, so we haven't given her any finger foods that can't be dissolved in her mouth. She's eaten a wide variety of purées, though -- everything from fruits and veggies to legumes, meats and nuts. 

First time eating multi-grain cereal. 

She wasn't a fan of egg. She was really disappointed in us as parents when we gave it to her, although she still dutifully ate most of it with a look of pained resignation. 

So all of the above was from last week when I started writing this on her birthday. Today when I'm actually posting this is one week later . . . In the first week since she turned 9 months old, she also started clapping. This is one of her favorite activities now. She will clap with joy and with frustration. One of the most hilarious things to watch is when she is fussing and crying and clapping at the same time. It's amazing how fast they change, these babies. I had never seen her clap at all before maybe Sunday of this week, and now she does it constantly. 

She also started playing peek-a-boo again. On Saturday, I was in Barnes and Noble and she was in her infant carrier that was attached to her stroller so she was facing me. There's a little flap that can be flipped up in front of the baby's face and she started pulling it up and then waiting for me to say "Where's Greta?" and then revealing herself. 

Car seat with cover flap. 

What was fascinating was how much she laughed when she'd do it this time. Back a few months ago when she started playing peek-a-boo, she would occasionally smile or laugh, but more often than not she'd just put the blanket over her face again. It was as if she was saying, "Oh, you found me and that seems to delight you. Well, it's not difficult for me to do this, so I will cover and uncover my face as long as it pleases you, you fool." But this time it was much more interactive and fun and she took much more joy in it. 

What was crazy was when I went out to the car. We have a little mirror posted on the headrest of the seat on which her car seat is attached. I looked back in the rearview mirror to see her ducking her head down to make eye contact with me through our mirrors. Then she lifted the flap of her car seat cover and played peek-a-boo with me in the mirrors of the car. I played with her a little before pulling out of the parking lot, but she still tried to engage me in the game while we were driving. It was SO tempting to play with her. It's so rewarding to hear that tiny little laugh. But I was driving a car and it was hugely distracting. I had always heard that you have to be careful of those mirrors because they can cause a distraction and I had always assumed that they were talking about the distraction of a parent worrying about their kid and watching them obsessively. For me, though, that was never an issue. But this peek-a-boo in the mirror thing is totally dangerous and addictive. Must keep eyes on the road! 

Overall, our Baby G is doing well. This is a great age. It's amazing to me to think that she's spent as much time outside the womb as she spent in it. 9 months is a big milestone!