9 Months

Baby Lulu is nine months old???

I cannot even.  Mommy cannot either.  We are in big time denial over here that Baby Lulu is going to be a toddler sooner rather than later.  Seriously – we went in yesterday for her well care visit and before we left, we had to make her 12 month appointment!  How is that even possible?

In the past month, Baby Lulu has picked up a crazy new habit:

She *will* not be deterred from pulling herself up to standing, even though Mommy does everything she can to discourage it.  Her crawling has improved and she has gotten *much* faster – her favorite thing is to follow me everywhere I go.

Baby Lulu is SUPER talkative; she babbles non-stop, which worries Mommy a teensy bit. I was a pretty quiet infant and I talk ALL the time now; once Baby Lulu starts getting words no one else will be able to get a word in edgewise!

Baby Lulu likes to play with my toys, which is mostly okay with me, but sometimes I take one thing away and give her something else instead. I love to hug her and kiss her, and I make her hold my hand in the car.  Mommy has *finally* made some special time for Baby Lulu to get some attention, too; while I’m in school they go to Music for Aardvarks or run errands and just play.

Dr. Andy says that Baby Lulu is perfect and healthy; at 19 pounds 8 ounces and 28.5″ tall, she is in the 75th and 85th percentiles respectively.  Ummm, WHAT? She is only one ounce away from what I weighed when I was 13 months old!  That’s just crazypants, and just further serves to prove that the two of us are polar opposites.  I was barely even ON the growth charts, and Lulu is up near the top,  I was a loud, demanding, stubborn baby, where Lulu is much more calm and mellow.  She doesn’t even mind when Mommy hands her to someone new! *I* didn’t even want to go to Daddy.  She’s still a little pinhead though – her head circumference is in the 35th percentile… good thing she has those chubby cheeks to balance her out!  She’s also working on her gorgeous smile: she’s gotten FOUR new teeth in the past few weeks.

Should we check in with Baby Center? I think so…

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

• Stands while holding on to something – All. the. time. Mommy wishes she would find a new hobby.
• Jabbers or combines syllables – Yes. She has a LOT of stories to tell!
• Understands object permanence – Yup. She gets *mad* when she drops food or if you take something she wants away from her.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Cruises while holding onto furniture – She keeps trying to walk around the coffee table. And then she gets cocky or forgets she can’t walk or something and just lets go!
• Drinks from a sippy cup – This is such a Mommy fail, and another indication that Lulu is the second child. *I* had a straw cup from about 6 months and Mommy has not even tried with Lulu yet. Oops.
• Eats with fingers – Every chance she gets!
• Bangs objects together – Yup.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

• Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – She *loves* peek a boo!

• Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – There was this one time that we thought she might have said “Daddy,” but it definitely doesn’t happen consistently or anything.

Check out Lulu’s face at the end of this video; she is WORKING the camera!