The Story of Us: Abigail is 9 months old!

Our little princess is 9 months old today! She went for her well check yesterday - Robby took her since I had to work, but they did quite well. I sent a list of questions with him to make sure that the time was used wisely. No shots this round, so he was lucky with an easy visit!

Abigail is 28.3" long (90%), 19.14 lbs. (75%) and her head circumference is 18.75" (>97% still). Her pediatrician wasn't concerned with her head circumference since her 6 month CT scan came back normal - whew! We got the okay to switch from regular Similac Advance formula to Similac Go & Grow, which is specially formulated for babies 9 months+ to get ready for the switch to whole milk at one year old. The good news is that the Go & Grow is $4 per can cheaper! Yay! Also, we're supposed to let her eat more table foods and drink from a cup more. At one year old no more bottle and no more baby food! I don't know how we're going to make it, but we'll try.

She wears 6-12 month or 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and size 3 shoes. She has 2 teeth in and 3 more on the way. They're so close that I check every day to see if they have popped out yet. She has outgrown her love of the jumperoo for a more challenging sport - crawling! She can get around quite well for only having been at it for a little more than a week. Also, she can pull up on just about anything and is trying to climb up everything. As soon as she learns how to get her knees up, I know that we'll find her on top of who knows what. Sometimes if she pulls up she will cruise along the side - like down the couch or the side of her crib, for example. No telling where she will go!

She can clap and wave and when she has a toy in each hand she can bang the toys together. She can open and close things (like a laptop), turn the pages in a book (she LOVES reading!) and turn light switches on and off. Oh my goodness if I walk out of the bathroom without letting her turn off the light.

She's pretty good at feeding herself finger foods and has gotten the pincer grasp down. She can pick up cheerios almost as well as I can! At day care she has made friends and the teacher calls her a social butterfly. (Okay, so I added the butterfly part. The teacher just called her very friendly and social.) The teacher has commented on how much she talks compared to the others (her pediatrician also said that she is advanced on the jibbering and talking, too!). We know she talks a lot, but we think it's normal. It's abnormal when she's quiet - that is for sure!

Speaking of expressing herself, she is very vocal about letting anyone within earshot know what she wants. She has no problem screaming (screeching? squawking?) when she wants something - especially when it is food. At least she's outgrown the crying for food tantrums she had when she was younger. Those were unbearable! She can say Mama, Dada, Hi, Dog and has imitated Papa and Jojo (my parents' dog's name). She can tell the difference between Mama and Dada and if she says Dada she wants DADA - no exceptions. Also, if you say something, like "Say, 'Thank you,'" her vocal inflections mimic the tone I use. It's really fun when I tell her 'I love you' and her voice sounds like it, even if the words aren't there yet. I get excited when I hear it!

She "inch worm" crawls. Down and up and down and up and down until she gets to where she needs to go.