Dear Nellybean,
Happy 9 months sweet girl! When I look at you now, I see a little girl. You are no longer a teeny tiny baby. It is rather bittersweet - I am sad to say goodbye to the baby in you, but I am also so excited to watch you grow into a toddler.
This has been a busy month for us! Not only have you learned many new things, but we have been very busy with lots of fun stuff!
To begin with, you are so close to crawling! I can tell that it is getting frustrating to you, but you are figuring out how to move regardless. You are able to get up on all fours, but you move backwards. The other day you were in the living room, near the kitchen, and before I knew it you were by the front door. Silly girl! Soon enough you will figure out how to move forward:) Life is about to get really busy, isn't it?!
You are growing like crazy! Last week you were 19lbs, 13oz so my guess is that you are 20lbs now. You are wearing 6-12 month clothes and even a few 12-18 month outfits! You are now wearing a size 4 diaper. You nurse 4-5 times a day and have 1-2 bottles of formula (between 4-6oz). We have started feeding you solids 3 times a day -breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Your favorite right now is definitely green beans and brown rice. You devour it! You also really love applesauce. We gave you yogurt this month, but it seemed to upset your tummy a little bit so we are going to wait another month before we try again. We began giving you finger foods this month, which has been pretty exciting! You absolutely love organic puffs - and your pincer grasp is great! We have also tried banana, broccoli, avocado, freeze-dried fruit (pears and apples), and pancakes. We started using the highchair this month and you really like it.
One of the most exciting things that happened this month was that you finally got your first tooth (on February 26th). I know Uncle Brent would have been so excited! We had bets on when that first tooth would finally come through:) I actually had a dream about a month after your Uncle died and in my dream he actually got to see and feel your tooth. That made me so happy:) I can see and feel your other bottom tooth getting ready to come through any day now.
We have established a really good nighttime routine for you. We all eat dinner together at 6:00. At 6:30 you take a bath with daddy. Speaking of baths, you still LOVE the bath! We are convinced that you are a fish:) We recently bought you some foam letters and numbers for bathtime and you love them - not only are they fun to play with and stick on the side of the tub, but you love to chew on them. At 7:00 I feed you and daddy rocks you to sleep at 7:30. Something great happened this month! We don't have to swaddle you anymore. This is huge! Up until a few weeks ago we had to swaddle your arms in order to get you to sleep. Of course you would always bust out of the swaddle within a few minutes of going to sleep, but it was the only way you could relax. One day I put you in a sleep sack and we haven't looked back since. Great job baby girl! You sleep through the night and wake up for the day between 6-6:30am. We have also started two naps a day, which I love! It makes it so much easier for us to do things in the afternoon. So right now you usually take a morning nap around 9am and then an afternoon nap around 2pm. The length of your naps is still pretty unpredictable (yesterday your morning nap was 30 minutes, this morning you are going on an hour), but they average about an hour.
Just last weekend you learned how to clap! It is the cutest thing ever! I love how you get excited and start clapping. You even like to clap when we are rocking you to sleep. You are such a sweet girl! The other day we were at Trader Joes and you just kept clapping at the cashier - it was hilarious! You have also learned how to wave, which is also super cute. You love music, especially if it is daddy playing the guitar. As soon as you see the guitar you start dancing:)
This month we started swim lessons on Saturdays, which works out really well because daddy gets to come with us! You love being in the water, splashing and kicking around. It is also fun seeing your friend Grace and her mommy and daddy who are in your class too. We started Gymboree classes this month (on Tuesday and Wednesday). You seem to really enjoy the songs, you love the bubbles, and the parachute is very intriguing. You also really love Gymbo and when he plays peek-a-boo with you:) We still go to story time at the library too, which is always a fun way to spend Wednesday mornings.
We had a busy month filled with fun playdates and adventures too! We took you to the Seattle Aquarium for the first time. You loved looking at the fish swimming around. We can't wait to go back again when you are a little bit older. Auntie Sarah has been spending lots of time with us, which is always lots of fun. One afternoon we had cupcakes together and you were just sitting with us like such a big girl! We had dinner with the Swansons this month and you did an amazing job staying up way past your bedtime at their house. I think they were pretty impressed by you - and you gave them a taste of what is to come when baby Stella arrives next month! We have been to the elementary school a few times, which is always fun. All the teachers (and students) love seeing you! We hung out with our new friends from Gymboree, Lindsey and Hunter. We had a really fun day having lunch and going to the park together. We look forward to getting to know them more! We have been playing with Steph and Grace lots - we all went to lunch at The Rock last week and we had the two of you in highchairs next to eachother. You two had a great time, even if there were puffs all over the ground by the time we left:) We headed up to Bellevue Square to see Jodi and meet baby Jordan. Jordan is 6 weeks old and so cute! It is crazy to me that you used to be that small:) We had a fun lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe and did some shopping. We have been to the mall a lot - you actually really love shopping! We look forward to our weekly mall walking with Alicia and baby Ashlynn. The two of you love to look at eachother and Alicia and I love the exercise. We are looking forward to the weather getting nicer so we can walk outside. Grocery shopping is also fun - you sit in the shopping cart now and love to look around and help mommy pick out groceries:) We visited with great-grandparents Bob and Lois - they said seeing you was the highlight of their week! Grandma Lois shared some toys with you - a xylophone, a little felt deer, and a doll. You had so much fun playing with her!
The jumperoo and exersaucer are still lots of fun, but I think your most favorite thing to do is play on the floor with all of your toys. Daddy got you your first doll last week after your doctors' appt:) We can already picture you carrying her around with you like she is your baby in another year or two.
We love you so much Nelia! Thank you for another amazing month - we are so blessed to be your parents!
xoxo
Mama
*These monthly photo shoots are becoming quite challenging. Nelia just wants to crawl away the entire time:)
