Dear Violet,
You're 9 months old. Wait, you're 9 months old?! How did this happen??? Why do you insist on growing so fast? How did you manage to make time fly?? We have been so unbelievably busy this past month. We traveled to Boston, we moved and now we're getting ready for the busy holiday season.
You have been so busy keeping me on my toes, this past month. You're so active and trying to be independent and I'm just trying to keep up with you! One minute I look at you and you're playing nicely with your toys....one single second later, you have managed to pull ALL the DVDs off the shelf, do a rain dance on them, order a pay per view movie on our dish network, and then you manage to rip off your bow and chuck it across the room...literally, all that happens in one second. Clearly, we still have Violet proofed our whole house...
You've been going through some changes lately and this has been one of our more challenging months. I think you've just spoiled your dad and me with being so easy for the first 8 months! You were and still are teething...which makes for a lot of sleepless nights. You have been waking up a lot and you just cry. Most of the time, your binky will end the tears and you fall back asleep pretty quickly...but then there are times where you pull yourself up and cry for us to come and hold you. This is completely foreign to us! You've always been such a good sleeper!! Please go back to your good sleeping days!!! I realize it's because you're teething and I'm sure you'll start sleeping well again, but this has kind of been a long month, after dark...
But it hasn't all been bad! This has been a really fun month, too! You're learning so much and growing so much and you make me laugh ALL THE TIME! You are such a sweet little lady and your funny personality is really starting to shine!
Here are some of the things you've been up to this past month:
--Right after we got back from Boston, you bottom two teeth popped in! Yay! I didn't think you could look any cuter, but those two little pearly whites make you look simply adorable!
--You are still pulling up on everything and now you're cruising along furniture and anything else you can cruise on.
--We have a little step in our new house and you have learned to go up and down that step on your own!
--Your vocabulary consists of "dada, mama, baba," and a whole lot of baby talk. You understand that "baba" means bottle and you also say "baba" when you're saying "bye-bye" to someone.
--Whenever I'm calling someone on the phone on speakerphone, you automatically assume it's your Daddy. You get so excited and say, "dada, dada, dada, dada" over and over again. When it really is him on the other line, you get so excited and start to smile, squeal and kick! You're mad about your dada...
--You're starting to get over cold #2. I'm the one to blame for this one. I've been sick for a couple of weeks and I managed to keep you well for over a week....but then you got sick a few days ago. You've been stuffy and can't breathe well at night. You've been waking up crying and all you want is my shoulder...and all I want is you on my shoulder.
--You now notice if you haven't seen someone in a few days. When we got back from Boston, "Nam" came to visit us and you were so excited to see her! As soon as she picked you up, you gave her a sweet, sloppy kiss right on her lips! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.
--We celebrated your first Halloween. You were a sushi salmon roll. Adorable.
--You still love reading books, but you flip through the pages so fast, I can barely read 2 words!
--Your eating schedule is pretty much the same as last month. Although, you haven't had as good of an appetite as last month...I'll blame teething again.
--You don't really eat baby food anymore. If you see us eating, you want what we're eating. If it's something hot, I always blow on your food to cool it down, and you instantly know that you're getting something yummy. You start to kick and squeal with excitement and your mouth is wide open, ready to eat some grown up food!
--I bought a baby walker for you a few weeks ago and you didn't really know what to do with it. Just a couple of weeks ago, I looked up and you were walking across the room with the walker! You figured out how to use it on your own! We now take it outside in our long driveway and walk up and down the driveway. You always get distracted by the leaves, the wind, cars driving by, but you still love using the walker.
--You are still in size 3 diapers, but you sleep in size 4. You really should be wearing size 3, but we bought a big ass box of 3s from Sam's and we're not about to waste them! So your poor little tooshie will still be squeezed into them for a few more weeks...sorry!
--Right before we went to Boston, I bought a bunch of 6-9 month sleepers. They were still big on you last month...you've now out grown of them! Like I said, you've been busy growing and changing this past month! That's the fastest you've grown out of clothes! Can you say, growth spurt?? Pretty soon, you're going to be taller than me!
--You love playing the xylophone. It's the cutest thing. I'm sure you're going to be a musical genius.
--You love opening and closing doors. Not MY favorite game, but you seem to enjoy it. You also love to open and close cabinet doors and pull everything out of it. Again, not my favorite game.
--You do a good job feeding yourself (picking up food with your fingers) but I prefer to just feed you myself...ugh, I can't stand sticky fingers!!
--You like to clap your hands. It's so cute!
--One of my favorite times with you is after you wake up from your afternoon nap. We just sit in the chair and cuddle and play tickling games. You just look at me, then cuddle with me, then look at me and cuddle with me. I love it more than anything.
--You seem to understand what your daddy and I say to you. You especially understand, "No" and you especially don't like that word.
--You definitely test your boundaries with us. It's fascinating to watch but also drives me crazy at times.
--Whenever your daddy and I hug in front of you, it makes you smile and then you get serious and make a noise that sounds like, "stop it."
--You hate getting your diaper changed. And I hate changing your diaper.
--You hate getting your fingernails clipped. And I hate clipping your fingernails. But I hate long fingernails even more....
--Your favorite chew toy: dead leaves. Ick.
--You can drink out of a cup! In fact, you prefer a cup instead of a sippy cup.
I'm hoping month 9 brings more full nights of sleep than month 8....but I don't take anything for granted. I'm trying to enjoy being able to cuddle with you at night and that you still need me. I know that one day I'll wake up, and you'll be off to college! There have been many days this past month that I couldn't WAIT for your dad to get home...and I'm pretty sure you felt the same way! I know that the button pushing has just started and I'd like to say, "bring it!" :)
Thank you for bringing me so much joy and for challenging me everyday to be more patient, more loving and more forgiving. You are truly my sunshine and I love you more and more every single minute.
Love,
Mommy
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| My doll baby is 9 months old! |
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| The 9 month sticker prop has become a snack. |
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| Power to the babies! |
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| Being 9 months old isn't always unicorns, rainbows and butterflies... |
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| Loves using her walker |
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| Love that smile! |
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| Dead grass. Yum. |
