Hoofprints: 9 Months Old

9 months old

T-minus three months until little miss Evie turns one year old! Also, in a completely related countdown, three months until I am breastfeeding, no more. I'm trying to treasure the whole closeness and sweetness of the breastfeeding experience. I am. I really am. But here's the thing. Have you ever tried to breastfeed an octopus? No? Well, that's what it's like right now. Evie thinks that she can eat upside down, walking around (no joke), play with toys, bite (hello first tooth!), and watch what everyone else in the house is doing...all at the same time while eating. She also is (are you ready for this?) patting my...um...breastfeeding utensils when she's hungry. I hate to say it, but it's a little awkward for me. But here's the deal with Evie. She's busy. Very, very busy. She officially gave up crawling a week ago and is a full-on walker now. She climbs, she bounces, she even tries to run. As of now, she can wave bye-bye, nods her head 'yes', signs a few words and gives kisses. She's eating mostly finger foods now, as she rejects being spoon-fed 90% of the time. Literally, she rejects it. Spits out anything on a spoon that goes in her mouth.

At her 9 month check-up, she is checking in at 18 lbs 4 oz. By far, she is the lightest of my three. The doc says that she is way beyond her peers in the mobility department and that is why she isn't gaining a lot of weight. He told me it's time to up her calories. I'm also supposed to introduce the major allergens that they used to tell us Americans to hold off on until the first birthday. Apparently, America got it wrong with the whole "wait until they're one" method. According to the studies, countries that don't hold back on peanuts and the like have almost zero food allergies. I gotta admit, I'm a little nervous about giving her stuff, but I guess we'll do what we can. Waiting late in the game didn't help Alex so we'll try the other way with Evie. Here's hoping. He wants me to give her peanut butter soon. I'm hesitant, to say the least. We'll see.

So Evie's a busy girl and right now her biggest problem is missing her big brother and big sister when they are at school. She isn't coping well with that. She gets pretty cranky when they are gone. The moment they get home, she becomes the happiest little thing on Earth. Oh. And she is a horrible sleeper. The doc told me that if she won't sleep in her crib, I should try co-sleeping. I laughed. Docs don't normally tell you that. But apparently, because of her high skills for movin' and groovin', doc says it's okay. Who knew? I laughed because I already co-sleep half the time. I lie. It's more than half of the time. I won't say how much more.

Happy nine-month birthday, baby girl!