Day 137: Being Brief

What a face.  Love it.

Day 136: Nine Months

Today's photo shoot did not go quite the way I expected.

Since today was Michal's 9-month birthday (!!!), I picked up a white onesie for her usual monthly picture and got her all set to go.  Normally, she gets dressed in her special outfit, sometimes with BabyLegs, sometimes not, and then I sit her on the couch, grab the FAO Schwartz monkey we picked up in New York the day we found out we were pregnant, and then snap a ton of pictures, hoping a few look cute enough to share with the world.  Usually that is it.  Today, there was something in the air.

I should not have been surprised - apparently she ate everything in sight while at day care today (more of that delicious tofu!) and did not take her usual afternoon nap.  It is as if she woke up today, decided she was a Big Girl(!), and was now going to act the part.  She had no interest in sitting nicely for any of the photos, even doing a number of somersaults from a standing position.  Luckily, my cat-like reflexes saved her head every single time.  This is the baby who was only starting to THINK about movement.  Suddenly, she is Mary Lou Retton, practicing her dismount from the balance beam.  She had a blast.  I laughed through my bewildered terror.

We do not have her 9-month well baby appointment for another week and a half, so I will post her stats then, but for now, here are some facts about Michal at 9 months:

She has now existed in the outside world longer than she did inside.

Michal still wakes up around the same time every morning, 9 times out of 10.  

Michal has not met a food she does not like - even garlic sauteed tofu!

She is just starting to show interest in moving, but so far, any travel is done by rolling.  Usually in a circle.  Not so efficient.

Michal is a very confident stander... probably a bit more confident than is deserved.  While she has great balance holding on with even just one hand, her overconfidence has led to many a fall - one of which ended up with a scrape by her nose when I attempted a save.

Michal still ADORES Bailey.  He tolerates her more than he used to.  He discovered she comes with snacks.

She is a very social baby and waves to everyone.  Even the TV.

Michal is incredibly detail oriented and focused.  I'm convinced she could spend a good 10-15 minutes investigating the fibers of the carpet.

She is now officially in 12 month or 12-18 month clothing.

She loves to find sneaky ways out of shoes.

Michal now has four teeth - two on the bottom, two on top.  There are at least two more on top just about to make their appearance.

Michal does not laugh.  She chuckles.  She's low-key like that.

She is brilliant.

Day 135: Hiding From the Rain

 Busy day today seeing friends and bringing smiles to sad faces.  On the way home, the skies opened up and Michal and I decided to hang out in the car until the rain let up a bit.  Here she is, looking back to make sure I'm still there.

Back to watching the rain pounding against the back window. 

Much later, we made it into the house without getting too drenched, played for a bit, then managed some dinner.  On the menu for tonight: sauteed tofu (with garlic - yum!), peas, and some avocado.  She LOVED the tofu.  I've never seen her eat that quickly.  She's usually quite methodical with her meals, picking up a piece of food, savoring it, then picking up another. She couldn't get enough of the tofu.  I hope she's always this open to trying new things!  Or at least, if she goes through a stage where she eats only one thing, I hope she follows in my footsteps: grilled cheese.

Day 134: Goodness Gracious, Great Ball of Baby

Busy day today.  The big event was a drive up to Baltimore to get pictures taken with Josh's family, including some nine month photos of the babes.  Despite the fact that she started to cry hysterically about five minutes before we started the photo session, it did not take her long to warm up, even getting goofy silly for the photographer.  I think at least one of the pictures we purchased is similar to the one above, in that you can just barely see peeking out beneath her top lip - two teeth poking through.  I think I spied two more on top today - wowza!


Once we got home, we spent some time playing in the living room, which ended up being an exercise of old and new tricks.

Michal up until this point has shown little interest in moving, being more or less content with her lot in whichever spot on the carpet she possesses.  Today, though, she continued developing her reach to the point where she nearly ended up in a hands and knees position.  She never quite got there, getting frustrated after a few unfortunate meetings between her face and the carpet.  This is her frustrated retreat.  She's a little ball of baby, folded in half.

I have no idea what caused this face, but it does make her eyes look huge! 

We did make progress with the sippy cup.  While she did not grasp the idea of holding the cup and tilting it, as she does with her bottle, she successfully drank some juice from it - with my cup-holding-assistance, of course.  

And, the good old standby - her raspberry.  It's really a work of art.

Day 133: Great Age

This is such a fun age.  People always told us that 8-9 months is a great age, but it's hard to know what it will be like until you're in the midst of the baby fun.  It seems like her personality is really starting to blossom. 


Every time we are out and about, she smiles, waves, scrunches up her face, and generally charms everyone we meet.  Late this afternoon, we met Josh for frozen yogurt and Michal found a great perch on a fun wicker seat.  Through the window, a security guard walked past, looked in and saw Michal and her goofiness, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up.  The picture here was taken right when Michal saw a friend walking towards us at the yogurt place - I'm not sure she had met this person before, but she is still SUPER excited to see a friendly face.

Day 132: Mango Baby

It is tons of fun trying new foods, which we try to do all the time.  Both Josh and I were raised to explore different cuisines and tastes, so we definitely want Michal to learn to love a variety of food.  Tonight was mango.


Apparently eating mango is tiring.  Or maybe we pushed dinner a little too close to bed time.  No meltdowns at all, but she is definitely a bit fatigued. 

 Hmmm.... this is tasty.

 Oh, the paparazzi - always in my face.

 Hmm... what is Bailey doing.  (She stops every 30 seconds or so to check in with him)

Is there any left??  I think it's a hit!

Day 131: New Bling

My Mother's Day gift arrived today, and Michal approves!  We are not huge gift givers, but there was one thing I wanted for the day - a necklace for Michal.  I really did not need anything terribly fancy, as I will get something a little nicer once our family is complete.  It is a simple silver disc with her name stamped into it, with a peridot-colored charm for her birth month.  Perfect.  AND she likes it - bonus!


We took a short walk when we got home today, purposefully walking by the nicer playground near the house so we could get some swing time in.  She really enjoyed that, especially watching the other, much older kids, who were hanging in the park.

Loves it! 

Michal's SUPER excited smile - the wider it gets, the happier she is!