9 Months in the Big World!

Charlotte Noelle turned 9 months old on September 23, 2012.  The 9 month mark seems like such a special one to me.  It means my sweet baby has been outside the womb equally as long as she was inside.  I've been sharing her with the big world for 9 whole months now.  I remember when 9 months of being pregnant seemed like quite a while.  I was the only one to feel all those movements, bond with her, and await her arrival with such anticipation.  The 9 months she's been out seem to have gone by MUCH faster, but my love for her has only grown, she's been able to bond with so many more people now of course including her daddy and brother, and she's grown into a little person with such a beautiful personality.  The picture above completely captured her personality! That's her favorite little smile that she gives to us with a wrinkled up nose and squinted eyes.  She blows out her nose making a little snorting sound at the same time. Love it! 

 

Waiting for Dr. Scott

 

Miss Charlee had her 9 month check up just last week.  Her stats are:  weight- 19lbs., 14oz. (64th%), height-28.75in. (82nd %), and head circumference 45cm (75%). She checked out wonderfully and was very cooperative.  She received one shot, the flu vaccine, and of course was not such a fan of that one.  She still has four teeth-two on bottom and two on top.  She's wearing size 12 and 18 mos. clothing now.  She's still nursing about 4 times a day and eating three meals as well.  The only way she'll eat any baby food is if you're not eating food of your own otherwise she definitely wants what everyone else is eating and is adamant about feeding herself.  She loooooooves bread!  Last night I put blueberries and avocados on her plate (both things that we were eating), and she grunted and fussed for awhile.  As soon as some bread went on, she gobbled it all up.  The girl can not get enough carbs-rolls, biscuits, toast, bread sticks, you name it-bring it on!  She also seems to really like apples, applesauce, pears and pasta. 

Yum, carrots are great for teething!

 She's wearing 12 month clothes and even beginning to wear a few size 18 month things too. She seems to only need 1 nap most days, which seems crazy to me, but just a two hour nap seems to be about all she requires.  Her night time sleep is still very inconsistent.  Some nights she sleeps throughout the night, and other nights she's awake anytime between 3 and 5AM and then back down usually until 7:30 or 8AM.

She began to crawl right before turning 9 months.  She still prefers to army crawl to get where she wants to go most quickly, but she'll crawl around pretty easily now, too. 

 

This was one of my favorite little moments caught thanks to my iPhone cam-seriously, what did I do before that thing?  This mirror, which is from our bathroom,  is propped up in our bedroom currently as we're remodeling the bathroom.  Charlotte was hanging out in my room while I was getting ready and suddenly discovered this cute little baby in the mirror.  She was so funny!  Notice her diaper hanging out, too?  Hehe!  Time for some bigger pants, mommy!

Charlee loves her bath time!  She likes to splash around and play with her boats.  MJ and her take baths together most times, but on this occasion she had the bath all to herself and was just happily playing away! 

MJ loves to come creeping into our room when he wakes up in the morning.  It's become his new thing since we've moved into this house.  Usually he'll ask to watch a show, and typically we oblige as we try to wake up ourselves (yup, we're clearly not morning people).  Sometimes Charlotte even joins in, and on this morning I thought it was sooo cute.  They were both propped up on their elbows holding their loveys, Cuddle Bear and Cuddle Bunny, in the exact same way.   These are the little moments when I just want to freeze time!

The first weekend of October, we went to Czipar's Apple Fest.  Great little family-fun event for kiddos, not to mention wonderful goodies all things apple related!  This seemed very special to me because last year I took MJ to this apple orchard one afternoon by myself.  I remember feeling very pregnant, loving the fall weather, and so in love with my little boy.  We went home and made applesauce and apple cake that day, and he was so proud!  This year, we all attended, and it seemed quite special having little Charlotte there, this time enjoying along with her brother. 

Charlotte seems to agree that fall time equals fun time! 

 

And, my absolute favorite thing about 9 months so far?  Charlotte is clearly saying mama with understanding and direction.  She says it A LOT right now, and I couldn't be happier!  Happy 9 months Charlee girl!