Dear Caroline,
Oh, sweet girl, you have changed SO much over the past month. I kept thinking surely I had forgotten a monthly post! You hit that nine month mark and suddenly started growing up so much. Here's what you're up to now:
* You can clap! You spent the first part of the month trying so hard to do it, and you finally uncurled your hands and can clap on command now. SO fun.
* You haven't quite been your usual happy, flexible-all-the-time self lately. It's because you have SIX teeth coming in. Three have already popped through, and the other three are so so close. You just really wanted to kick those out all at once, huh??
* Although you already were waving, you now will wave on command all the time. Also, you catch a random "hi" or "bye" in a conversation and you wave!
* You're babbling a lot, but not yet saying "mama" or "dada." You mostly like the "la la" sound because you love sticking your tongue out to do that one!
* When you're not babbling, you're blowing raspberries. You spit everywhere, and Kate loves to do it back to you. I often hear y'all in the back seat of the car spitting and giggling. Love it.
* You know how to dance! Well, not really dance, but you do a great bob up and down move! You understand when we say, "Caroline, dance!" and oblige us by showing us your moves!
* As I posted last, you are SO into your food. You are great at feeding yourself, and we now give you basically all foods. You love avocado, turkey, cheese (regular cheese is so fun to give you since Kate can only have that Vegan stuff!), bread, crackers, carrots, apples, and really anything! You definitely prefer to feed yourself rather than being spoon-fed baby food purees. You get really upset, flail all around, and end up making a huge, huge mess when we try to feed you.
* I'm resigned to the fact that you just don't like bottles. We still give you three bottles a day. The frozen breastmilk we use is stored in 8 ounce packets, though, and I feel like we waste a ton of it. If you even take 6 ounces per bottle, we claim it as a victory. There are times you'll only take 3 ounces before bed, and you're just done! (And you sleep all night anyway!)
* You are drinking out of a sippy cup, and you know how to eat a snack out of a treat trap. When I can't get you to drink much of a bottle, I can now pour the rest in a sippy cup to give it another try that way. Unless you're strapped into your car seat, it usually doesn't entice you to have any more.
* You are on the go-go-go. You crawl so fast and pull up to cruise on everything. Over the last week or so you've even started to stand unassisted for several seconds at a time. Once you even reached to get something off the ground and stood up from the ground and stood there all on your own. We know it won't be long until we're announcing you took your first steps.
* You follow Kate around all day long. You want whatever she's playing with, and you fulfill your duties as "pesky little sister" in every way possible. Kate gets very frustrated and yells "NOOOOO!" and "MIIIIINNNNE!" all day long.
* You're not a cuddler. You cannot stand to be restrained in any way! You want to be down and moving almost all the time. When I try to cuddle with you in the mornings before Kate is awake, we're rocking in your chair, and you're climbing me like a rock wall. Squirmy wormy!! Today when I was taking your monthly monkey pictures, you were trying to climb off the chair and onto the crib. I'm afraid that you might become a climber!!
* You don't like being restrained in your car seat, and I think you would be happier moving to a convertible-style seat soon. I, however, cannot give up the ease of putting your carrier into the stroller without having to unstrap you for every quick errand. You'll outgrow it soon, though, and I won't have a choice in the matter!
* When you're going for something you shouldn't have (like Kirby's food and water bowls), I'll say "No, no, Caroline," and you shake your head back and forth. You know "no no!" You keep going for whatever is off-limits, though.
* You're getting really good at peekaboo! We play a lot at your highchair. You pull the bib up over your face, and when you pull it back down to "peekaboo," I try and sneak a bite in.
* You're still napping great and sleeping great at night. We have completely dropped that afternoon cat nap, but going from waking up at 2 from nap all the way until 7 for bed is really hard for you. You are SO ready for bed time!
* We started giving you your glowing, musical sea horse to sleep with at night. You don't snuggle with it, but you smile at it when I first put you down. You love to sleep in a certain corner of your crib, snuggled up with the bumper, and booty in the air. You're adorable.
* You've got hair! Never mind that it always sticks up in the back. I just can't believe after Kate was bald for a good 18 months that you have so much hair already. I'm constantly doing the mom-spit on it to try and get it to lay flat. Ha!
I know I keep saying it, but I still see you as our little baby. Every time you show signs that you're getting to be a "big girl," I'm surprised (and a little bit in denial, too). I can't wait to see your little personality develop, but I miss that sleepy newborn who rested so peacefully in my arms...
We love you through ALL your stages.
Love,
Mama and Daddy
UNofficial Stats:
weight: 23 or 24 pounds
length: 28 inches
clothes: 12-18 months
sleep: 7pm-7am
naps: 8:30am-10, 12pm-2
teeth: 6 through, 3 more super close (Bottom 4 are through, top right-of-center through, top middles and left-of-center are right there about to pop through!)
feedings: 7am, 2pm, 6:30pm bottles; 3 solid food feedings; AM and PM snack
