9 Months

I have been inspired by friends with blogs to write more about Olive at this age so that I can remember all the details of her at 9 months. We have been taking photos and videos like crazy, but I have not been the best about documenting Olive's daily activities.

Eating
Olive is great at eating solids. She is usually very easy to feed and has liked most of the foods I have introduced. She still prefers very strained foods and my attempts at introducing things more chunky in texture have been met by hacking and spitting out of food. She has made some progress on self feeding and she will feed herself cherrios and toasted bread. It is very cute to see her miss her mouth on first attempts and to see her cute cheeks move when she is chewing. Currently Olive's favorites are avocado, squash, apples, bananas, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. All of these I make and freeze. She also enjoys green beans and chicken dinners from a jar. I have tried making these as well, but I cannot get them fine enough. Olive is not a great bottle eater. Thus she is still underweight at 9 mo. She takes about 25 oz a day and every ounce is a struggle. She takes about 5 oz every three hours, but each 5 oz bottle is usually broken into 2 feedings over a 1 hour period. I am not sure if this will improve when she moves to a cup, which she does drink water from sometimes, or if it will always be a struggle.

Moving
Olive can officially crawl. She moves her hands and knees and makes her way across the floor. However, crawling to get somewhere lasted about 3 days until she discovered that she can crawl to pull up on things. Now, all she wants to do is stand up and sometimes creep along tables, chairs, the fireplace, and anything else that affords her a better view. I fear that she will be a climber when she figures it out. She is such a long thin little girl, but those legs are strong and I dont think it will be long before she is walking. Just this week she has been pulling herself up in her crib and we gave gone into her room in the to see a smiling jumping baby. Oh yes, the jumping. She loves to jump. The doorway bouncer is still a favorite or she is just as happy to test the spring of her mattress.

Sleeping
Sleeping is for wimps, right? At least that is Olive's view. We have transitioned to two naps a day. The first nap, usually around 10 is sometimes an hour, if I am lucky. The second, around 3 or 4 is 30 minutes to the minute almost every time. I think, after trying everything, I have come to accept that this is how she sleeps, and she will never take long naps. When she is awake, she is happy and so much fun, so this is what she must need. Nighttime is a different story. Our routine starts at 6:30. She takes about 2/3 of her bottle, then dinner then a bath, playtime if she is not too tired, a story and finishes her bottle. I lay her down awake but tired and she is usually asleep within 10 min of being put in the crib. She is usually in bed by 7:30. Then, unless she is teething, she sleeps til 4 or 5 when she takes a bottle and then sleeps til 7 or 8. I cannot complain. I dont mind the night feeding because she is still a little underweight and she usually goes back to sleep within 15 minutes. Brian and I are very happy to have our nights to ourselves.

Teeth
Olive has 7 teeth as of today. The 7th broke through this week after a few tough days. Getting her teeth really changed her face and they are the cutest little teeth ever. She has quite the "David Letterman" gap between her top teeth, but I am sure that will go away over time. I brush her teeth every day with a finger tip brush and she loves the feeling. She tries to bite the brush, but laughs when I rub her gums and teeth.

Happy Baby
Olive is all smiles and laughs most of the time. If she knows the person she will return a smile with the cutest squinty smile you have ever seen. She loves to "read" books which usually starts with looking at the pictures, patting the page with her hand then trying to eat the book. This love extends to all paper and printed items. We have a favorite game called "Mail" where I let her play with the printed junk mail until she tries to eat it. She likes to clap her hands and wave bye. She is very ticklish, especially behind her knees and her back and neck. When in the mood, she will give you a very wet kiss on the cheek (a open mouth, drool filled, lick). She could spend hours in front of the mirror smiling and laughing at the "baby." She also loves other kids and babies. She will smile and squeal at them.

Chatty
Olive is now saying da-da and various other repeating sounds. She has said ma-ma once, but she doesnt really know what they mean yet. She is constantly making noise and loves to blow raspberries.


All in all, this is such a fun age and although I want to see her grow, I really dont like the idea that this phase will soon be ending.