9 Months

Vanessa is doing great! As you know, she’s finally getting teeth, not that we were in a hurry, but from all of the chewing she’s done for several months, we were certain she was teething for all of this time. Even her doctor thought she would be getting a tooth soon after her 6-month appointment. She’s growing stronger. She sometimes leans into things while standing so she can free up her hands to use. She’ll even let go and try and stand, which only lasts for a second or two. She’s become creative with using her toys to walk around her playroom -- she uses her music table a lot. She really knows how to take off when gates are open or when she wants to play with her mommy while getting her diaper or clothes changed. (Her mommy made the mistake of encouraging this one evening and she hasn't forgotten.) :) She’s getting better with understanding books – she likes to turn pages and watches me while I’m reading to know when she can turn the page. (She's especially interested in The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle right now. When you get to the last page, the cricket gets his voice and chirps a song. Vanessa has tried looking behind the book to see what makes the noise. She's figured out that she can control the chirping by opening and shutting the book to that page, so she'll just sit there and do it over and over.) She likes to try and do O-H-I-O -- she throws her arms up over head. She’ll sign “eat” and is getting better with “milk”. For a short while, one of her favorite songs was “Where is Thumbkin?” And she would try and do the finger movements to it. She’s very fascinated by her fingers and loves to study how others use theirs. I don’t think I’ve mentioned recently how she’s taking full advantage of napping now – she’ll often take two good naps and sometimes a small one before dinner. Oh . . . Vanessa has figured out how to flip herself out of her Bumbo, so we have to keep a close eye on her when she’s in it. She’s typically okay for a little while but once she gets tired or bored of being in it, watch out! She’s also doing more finger foods -- those peas can be slippery little boogers! I'm sure I'm forgetting other cute things -- she's now to the point where she learns and does something new several times a day!