9 Months with Baby teeth

Seriously, can blogger be any more annoying trying to arrange the pictures?  I was trying to get them in chronological order, but gave up.  Anyways, I'm a bit late this month because of our fun trip back East.  Katelyn's stats are:

• Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz (13%), Height: 27.36" (41%), Head: 16.9" (16%)
• She sleeps through the night (still), going to bed from 6:30-8 depending on the night, and waking around 7-8:00 am.  I've been putting her down while she's still a little awake, she cried at first, but doesn't cry anymore.
• She takes a morning and afternoon nap, the morning nap lasts about 30 minutes usually, and the afternoon nap can be 60-90 minutes.  I try to put her in her crib for the morning nap, she cries for a minute and then is asleep.
• She has learned to clap her hands and just today she mimicked me clapping my hands.  That's the first real time I've seen her recognize an action I make, and mimic it.  
• She does make sounds after me, but they don't always match.  She mostly makes throat noises (grunts, gurgles, yells), but every so often she works on her consonant sounds too.
• Her bottom two teeth have popped through.  The first was on Oct. 28th and the second one was Nov. 8th.
• She's very close to crawling, she props her chest all the way up so she just needs to get her knees up under and push them.  For now she mostly rolls to whatever she wants to get.
• I did get a jumper seat, and I think it has helped her trunk strength because now she can sit up better in booster seats and things without shoulder straps.  She's not sitting on the floor all by herself yet, but she's close.
• I've been working on getting her to put more weight on her feet, but she fights me and cries the whole time.
• She's still doing a really good job at eating the pureed baby foods.  I've tried introducing crackers and the food with little bits in it, and she hates it all.  I know she can chew, I've seen her do it, but I think she gets upset that she can't just swallow the food like she's been doing.  She pushes my hand away if she sees something in my fingers and presses her lips closed.  If I put bits on the spoon she'll take an initial bite, spit it out, and then won't open her mouth for any more food.  I don't know where she gets her stubbornness from...
• I've let her play with crackers, hoping she'll put them in her mouth herself, but the only things she'll put in her mouth are her pacifier, a bottle (only if she's hungry) and a spoon (only if she's hungry, and it has regular baby food).
• Her favorite toys right now are board books, she doesn't usually open them but she likes looking at the cover and flipping them over.  She really likes the stacking rings too, mostly pulling all the rings off and throwing them.

It's been an eventful month with quite a few changes.  We got a carrier so I can wear her when we go to the aquarium, she likes being able to get close and see the fish.  We got the jumper seat which has been really nice as she's gotten more mobile.  I can set her in it and she'll stay entertained for 15-20 minutes.  She will roll 3-4 times all in a row and end up at the other end of the room.  I've rolled up some towels to work as bumpers so she doesn't bang into the tv stand or other hard things on the floor.  She's so curious about everything and wants to hold and look at things.  She doesn't put them in her mouth which is nice, but it makes it hard to get her to eat.  She's doing better at catching Milo (rolling over to him and getting a swipe/pet before he runs away).

Our trip back East was a lot of fun.  I'm still getting used to traveling with a baby, it's definitely a challenge and takes planning and patience.  I don't know how the mothers do it on their own, getting through security takes at least 2 people.  Katelyn did pretty well on the flight there, but on the flight home she was really tired and cried for a good portion of it.  She was a little wary of meeting the new family at first, especially Cathy the first night because she was so tired.  If she was well-fed and rested she got along with the "strangers" really well and warmed right up.  On Tuesday we went to the aquarium in Inner Harbor with Cathy.  We really like that aquarium, but with all the escalators you can't bring a stroller, so I wore her in the carrier.  It's times like that that I'm grateful she's small for her age.  Thursday we went to the Maryland zoo.  The weather was perfect, overcast but warm.  Then we drove to Pittsburgh on Friday.  The drive there was really pretty, a lot of the trees still had colored leaves, and it seemed like the majority of the drive had trees on the side.  Katelyn had such a fun time with her cousins in Pittsburgh.  They were always ready to give her toys and attention.  I'm glad we got to be there for Spencer's baptism.  It was cute to see his excitement, and Mom and Sarah gave some really good talks.  I'm glad made the trip, but I definitely need a little break before we travel again.

Almost everywhere we go, people comment about her hair.

She loves her books

An example of nicely petting Milo, seconds before she grabs fur.

She loves her jumper seat, the flower is fascinating.

Big girl sitting on the church bench

Discreetly snapping a photo, service hadn't started yet.

She's so good at opening her mouth for me when she's hungry.

Had to get a get a photo on Great-Grandma's couch

Adding more tummy time

Oct. 29th, peek at tooth

Maryland Zoo, the walk to the exhibits was beautiful.

Wondering where Mommy is

The giraffe house at the zoo

My own baby giraffe face, she wasn't amused.

Elephants in the distance.

In Pittsburgh at the nature reserve park. (Photo credit: Sarah)

I can't look up when she's on my shoulders, her legs are so short she would fall off.

The whole happy group.

Family photo

Enjoying refreshments after the baptism.

All the cute cousins!

"Funny-face" poses

Photo bombed

Katelyn's ticklish toes

Halloween, she didn't like the head piece.

Look at this cheesy face

8 months, or 2/3 of the way to 1 year

Another month has come and gone.  I'm so excited for the Fall weather, adios 80, 90, and 100 degree days, hello peaceful 60 and 70 degrees!  Here's what we've been up to:

• Height 26" (approx. she is so wiggly and kept trying to grab the measuring tape). Weight 16 lbs
• She's doing great at eating her solids as long as it's something she likes.  In the afternoon I give her a "big meal" and she can eat 6-8 oz of baby food.  She has decided she doesn't like the cereal flakes (I've tried 3 different flavor/types and she gags with them all) if it's mixed with formula or I put them in with fruit.  Funny thing is she loves the premixed cereal/fruit combos, her fav being the pear cinnamon oatmeal.  So I don't know if it's a texture issue or what, because she used to be fine.  Other baby foods she likes are: Mac and cheese, anything with sweet potatoes, and most all the fruits and fruit combos.  The only foods she won't eat now are plain peas (she'll eat them in the veggie combo) and the flaked cereal.
• Her bottle consumption has gone down from 30 oz per day to around 17-21 oz.  I've tried introducing a sippy cup but she's not having any of that.  She refuses to drink anything other than formula as well, I've tried water and diluted pear juice.
• She hasn't grown much this past month, so she still fits in the 9 month sized clothes just fine.  I have a couple 12 month outfits that she wears too.
• She's making more consonant sounds, her favorite is the "V" sound, but she also does, "B" and "D".  Sometimes she blows air out almost like she's trying to whistle.  She makes her little gurgle noise a lot too, just not when I pull out my phone to make a video.  I've also caught her kind of whispering noises to herself.
• She's gotten into a routine of two naps per day and they can last from 30-90 minutes.  The morning nap she can fall asleep on her own on the floor or crib, but she usually needs me to hold her to fall asleep in the afternoon.
• Still no teeth (though I could've sworn she was teething because she was so cranky).  No crawling or sitting up on her own either.  She could sit up (and has for a few minutes) but she gets nervous when she doesn't feel me supporting her and will lunge backwards (trust fall!).  No crawling yet because she doesn't like being on her tummy and rolls right back to her back.  And even when she's on her tummy she has her legs pulled up so they're not even touching the ground.  I've noticed she doesn't like putting any weight on her legs, so I'm thinking I'll try getting a bouncer and see what she does.  She will do a half-roll to get toys just slightly out of reach, but if they're any farther away she would rather play with her hands or toes.
• I just got a wearable carrier for her yesterday and the two times I put her in it she was upset at first, but then seemed to enjoy it.  I tried both the facing-in and facing-out positions.  Since she won't sit up I have to carry her in her carseat in the store and restaurants, so I'm hoping I could wear her instead, still heavy but without the added car seat weight.
• I think she's gotten pretty attached to me, because every time I leave the room she starts to cry.  She gets over it pretty quick if there are still other people around, but if she's alone she will get pretty worked up.  I hope this is just a phase...
• I've noticed she has a little more dexterity with her hands, she likes to touch and pet interesting things rather than grab the whole object.  For instance, I have a dress with beads around the neckline and she likes to touch and feel the beads rather than grabbing at the masses.  She doesn't quite have the pincher grip thing, but she's getting close.

Her little personality shows through more every day.  She can be stubborn one minute and a total doll the next.  It's fun (and sometimes aggravating) to see her have preferences and opinions.  Most of the time though she's super easy-going, she must be repenting for the months of colic.

She's still not sitting up on her own, so I have a pillow propping her up.

Sitting for too long = falling over

She loves this fox

She was laughing like crazy when they fell on her face.

We went to the aquarium and looked at giant fish.  Stroller in the corner for size comparison.

Milo gets jealous when she is on my lap, so he wiggles his way in.

I kept thinking of A Christmas Story, "I can't put my arms down."

We went to Strawberry Reservoir and she enjoyed the trip in her car seat.

First time seeing this different "toy", now she loves playing with it.

Her favorite food, Mac and Cheese (baby food).

Still doesn't especially like the bumbo seat.

She was sitting up on her own (proving she can and just won't).

First hairdo! She only cried a little.

I can't get over how cute she is.