9 Months

[disclaimer for this post: it's going to be a long one. I'm recording, in more detail than normal, Zoë's food likes/dislikes. Feel free to skim through :)]

Oh. My. Word! I cannot believe three quarters of a year has gone by. Zoë is getting so. big.

It's unbelievable.

Her actual 9 month "birthday" was last week, but I wanted to wait for the post until we saw the pediatrician. We went today and let me just say, I was so spoiled by the set up at our peds office in Baton Rouge. Maybe they have a similar set up at some peds office here. However, I highly doubt it. I have yet to find an office with 20+ pediatricians practicing in the building.

Don't get me wrong; the facility was nice and kept up. What they didn't have was a newborn, well, and sick child waiting area with the sick and newborn each being completely closed off to the well child. Yes, they had well and sick. but everyone was breathing the same air (aka no doors to close off for the sick child waiting). I also was spoiled knowing that if we ever had to have tests run, there was a full lab in the building in BR. Here, it's not far considering most pediatricians practice extremely close to a hospital and the ped we saw is right next to one of the major Katy hospitals, but I wasn't a fan of having to get in the car to drive around the block. It just isn't fun wrestling a tired 9 month old in and out of her car seat.

*sigh*

I will become accustomed to it. It isn't bad. I was just so spoiled by the convenience of great peds with a good lab all in one car ride.

Anyway, on to... 

9 month stats:

• Weight: 19 lbs 8 oz - That's a little less than I expected, but not much! You're up almost a complete 3 pounds since you're six month visit, meaning you've been gaining about a pound per month.
• Length: 28 3/4". A whole 2 1/2"! I knew you had grown longer more so than gained chub :)
• Head Circumference: 17 1/4"
• You're still in a size 3 diaper and I have a feeling we might stay here for another few months, especially considering your weight gain will start slowing down.
• Food: You eat three solid feedings a day. We've tried more soft chunky, self-feeding foods, but you seem not quite ready for that. The only finger foods you eat and eat well are puffs, cheerios, and tiny cubed cheese. I cut out baby size cubes of cheddar or mozzarella for you to feed yourself and you seem to like that. You're not the biggest fan of cooked baby carrots but your affinity for them and ability to eat them in small chunks is improving. You absolutely love when I add cinnamon or nutmeg to your fruit. You're also a fan of me adding cumin to your veggies. We're just starting to try garlic powder in some of your veggies. We've had to start giving you a fruit for breakfast and lunch and a green and orange or other veggie for dinner. You would refuse the veggies after you had a bit of fruit :) Here is a list of the foods you eat and your affinity for them: 

FRUITS
[apple]: absolutely L.O.V.E! If you refuse it and/or don't finish it all, I know
something is wrong or bothering you. It's a rare occasion for you to not finish this
when it's the only fruit you're getting. You also really enjoy when I add cinnamon.
Can't say I blame you there, cinnamon apples are so good, in my opinion.

[pear]: another fave of yours, though it doesn't top apple.

[peaches]: you're a pretty big fan of these too.

[banana]: least fave of all the fruit you've tried. It consistently has been one you're
likely to not finish the entire serving. It helps if I add another fruit to the mix or
add cinnamon or nutmeg, but it still doesn't guarantee I'll get you to finish.

[kiwi]: you seem to really like it. You've only had it a few times and you prefer if
it's mixed in with cottage cheese, oatmeal, or yogurt. However, we discovered
that kiwi and yogurt make a really bad, runny mess :)

[blueberries]: you're actually starting to enjoy this one, though in the beginning you
wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I still only give it to you mixed with other
fruit, but you're seeming to really like it.

[avacado]: you haven't had much of this since you seemed to quit eating them.
However, your dislike of them may have been short lived as I gave you a small
chunk a week or so ago with a touch of lemon juice and you seemed to like it ok.
Not enough for me to go out and buy some for you, but enough that I think you
might enjoy them as you're able to eat more foods/spices.

VEGGIES
[green beans]: you love your green beans. This is probably one of your favorite
veggies, though if I gave you a choice, I'm pretty sure you'd only eat fruit.

[peas]: you like pease, but not on a consistent basis. Sometimes you seem to not
want/like them at. all. I honestly think it has something to do with teething
because you also refuse this one the most when you're gums are bothering you.
You did enjoy eating them the other night with the garlic powder in them.

[sweet potato]: I retract my "only eat fruit" statement. You L.O.V.E. you some
sweet potato! It is also a rare occasion for you to not complete a serving of this.
And you're also more of a fan with spices thrown into the mix, though this is a
bit more rare because I have to mix in your pasta or meat (more on that later).

[butternut squash]: this is another fave. Sometimes you seem to not want it,
but for the most part you're quite excited when you realize what you're eating.

[pumpkin]: this is newer on your menu but you have seemed to love it from the start.
Again, you're a bigger fan when spices are thrown in.

[cauliflower]: you seem to really like this. You didn't even make an "I'm
not quite sure about this" face when you first tasted it

[carrots]: like I said earlier, you love carrots pureed. You're just not sure
when I've made them soft cooked. If my intuition is right, it's because
you're not quite ready for finger foods, though you are rapidly nearing
that phase.

MEATS
[turkey]: you like it ok, but you're definitely no fan when you're gums are sore.
It absolutely has to be mixed in with a fine puree, otherwise you're gonna
reject it. The puree can be thick (i.e. sweet potato) but it cannot be
chunky/coars (i.e. peas).

[chicken]: you seem to prefer chicken to turkey. You will not eat either when
they are on their own. It must be added to a veggie. However, chicken is ok
in coarser veggies like green beans and peas. Not sure why either.

GRAINS/GRAIN-CONTAINING FOODS
[cheerios]: girl, you love cheerios! It's so cute to watch you crunch them with
your front teeth.

[puffs]: you also like to self-feed with these. Both cheerios and puffs are
becoming a rare floor find when you feed yourself. Almost all of them
end up in your mouth :) Oh and by the way, we're having to work on
not playing chubby bunny when you eat these. You like them so much
you'll put one after another after another in your mouth.

[pasta]: your growing in your liking of pasta. It has to be mashed into tiny
pieces but the only time you really seem to refuse it now is when you're
gums are giving you problems.

[rice]: you like rice in your food. You'll even eat it in your fruit. You may
even prefer when it's mixed with fruit. Currently I cook it really soft and
chop it into small bits with a food processor. No more rice cereal for you :)

[oatmeal cereal]: you love this only if it's mixed with you're fruit. Can't say I
blame you as I'm not a huge fan of plain oatmeal either.

DAIRY PRODUCTS
[cottage cheese]: we just started this a couple weeks ago and you love it! I think
it makes you feel like a big girl. Not sure why, other than I do tell you you're
eating big people food. Maybe you understand me more than I think you do.

[cheddar and mozarella]: you love cheese. It also makes you proud that you feed
it to yourself. I don't think you're so into it that it will cause digestive problems,
you seem to know your limit, but you do like when I give it to you. You've
even seemed to ask for some with your eyes if I'm eating a cheese stick.

[plain yogurt]: HAHA! You LOVE yogurt! I'm talking love probably as much
as apples. It tastes almost identical to sour cream to me, but hey! Glad you like it.
It helps me get you to eat on days where you've been kind of fiesty at feedings.

Whew! Long list! I don't think I'll do that again. Not that I'll really need to. But I wanted to jot some of this down just to show how far you've come since the beginning, which is a little over four months ago now.

• You're scooting around like a pro! You pretty much army crawl but it's hysterical to watch you because you'll push your little bottom into the air while propelling yourself forward with your feet. You also are a pro at using your elbows like you're actually army crawling.
• You pick yourself up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth a lot! Crawling is in the not so distant future, but you're just getting to the phase where you're frustrated with yourself for not being able to do what you're attempting. My guess is we're another 2-3 weeks out from all-out crawling.
• You're completely out of 6-9 month clothes but you still fit a majority of your 9 month clothes. I'm hoping you gain a bit of chub before you're too long for your 9 month pants because, honestly, you don't have enough chub to really hold up your 9 month pants. It's cute, but it gets annoying for you and I hate watching you get frustrated over something so simple.
• You babble all. the. time. You constantly say "ma ma" now and have said something that sounded like "apple" and you on occasion say "poppa". You have yet to even say "da da" or a string of the syllable so who knows when that will come out. You love to say "ba ba" and are into finding new noises every day. You're most recent and favorite is a hard "C" or "K" sound. You laugh when I repeat it back and follow it with a word, such as " 'K' is for kite or 'C' is for cat." You love it so much that, at times, it sounds like you're trying to get up phlegm. Makes me and daddy laugh.
• Laughter has become a regular around here and it always brings laughter to me. Sometimes you giggle at the silliest little things. Among my faves was earlier this week, we went outside to watch the rain. You enjoyed watching and listening so much you began to chuckle. The simple delight you had in such a simple activity brought joy to my heart.
• You're beginning to learn "no no" as the Christmas tree brings you plenty of mischievous joy and you have seemed to find the only electrical wires that I have to leave partially visible. It only prooves that I was correct in assessing you were going to be strong willed because even if I flick your hand, you will think about "no no", pause for a second, and then decide it's worth being flicked. *sigh* I think you're going to put my patience through the ringer. 
• You're a dare devil. You love, love, love for daddy or me to act like we're going to drop you, swing you back and forth in the air while holding you in a supine position, and toss you up into the air.
• You've started turning the pages of books by yourself and it's adorable! I love watching your interest in each page. You're also sitting still longer for me when we read books together. And as you're able to turn pages, you like for me to tell you to turn it. I'll lift it up just enough you can grab it, you'll grab the page with your pudgy little fingers and then gingerly flip it. Gah, you're so precious!!
• One of the joys you're scooting has brought me is you now come to find me at times and you definitely come for me if you're hungry or fussy. It melts my heart to know you love me and want/need me. I'm hoping I will cherish every one of these moments as I know the days where you won't want or need me will come.
• You still don't completely have waving down 100% but what you can do is give five. Not sure why you caught on so quickly but within a weeks time I could ask you for five and you would slap your little hand to mine. HAHA! Too cute!
• You give me kisses a lot! Melts my heart when you do it on your own initiative, especially because many times you will reach back to hold my head with one hand and turn to kiss the opposite cheek. Of course, it's more like a lick right now, but it's what you know to do. I'll take wet kisses over none! You also like eskimo kisses.
• I'm pretty sure you're very discerning. I thought you were hesitant with all strangers but it turns out that, once in a blue moon, you will immediately go to someone. These people also tend to not send my "caution radar" off which means you're a pretty good judge of character. There are even people that send up red flags with me (and other people at times too) and you'll just stare at them, never flashing a smile their direction. Hoping this keeps up and it will mean less talk of how we handle strangers. Not that we won't talk about strangers and what you should do when they approach you, but that we won't have to have several "reminder" conversations.

That long list is what I get, I guess, for not posting an 8 month update. At least I will have these sealed away for memories sake!

Zoë Girl,

The more time I spend with you, the more I grow to love you and wonder what I did before you were in my life. I can't imagine life without you now.

The more I think about it, the more I know God gave us your name because you are so full of LIFE, exactly what your name means. I can only hope that one day that life will come from Him.

Your sweet, vivacious personality comes out more and more. I am so thankful that you will stretch me in some areas as this only means I will grow because of you. I am sure to never have a dull moment when I am with you. You're curiosity will surely kill the cat and allow for ample learning opportunities. 

I'm enjoying seeing where this road is taking us and I can't wait to see all that God has in store for you.

Loving you fiercely, sweet girl,

Mommy

P.S. Here are some pics from your 9 month photo shoot. It was really hard to capture any great pics because 1) dogs had done there business in several of the spots I liked and 2) you wanted to eat the leaves, grass, shoes...yeah...do anything EXCEPT look at the camera :)

See...told ya! ;)

This was the best "see how I'm growing" pic I could get. You aren't a fan of bows/head bands are way too interested in what's on top your head to keep it up there. So much for making sure people know you're a girl! HA!

"OOOOOO BUTTONS!!!"

"Hmm...not so sure they taste as good as I thought."

"Let's see what you can do OFF my foot? Alright?"

The only good shot I could capture. You're still one darn stinkin' cutie though!! Oh and notice I had to put a white sheet under you. Otherwise, even this pic wouldn't have been possible...