Nine Months In...

...Nine Months Out!































































It’s been another month of crazy new developments in our house. Parker is getting so strong and adventurous. She is pulling herself up onto whatever she can--on the furniture, on me, on her bigger toys, on the bed--if she can get her hands on it she wants to climb it! She also tries to climb out of the bath tub every chance she gets. This keeps us on our toes during bath time ;) She is also “walking.” When we’re holding onto her hands she walks towards us. The balance isn’t there yet but it’s amazing to see her trying! And let me tell you…Parker LOVES standing. When she is on her feet she talks and yells in such a cute way. Will her yells be cute in a couple years? Probably not. But for now, I love the adorableness of it.

Parker’s list of foods has grown even more this month. She’s had whole wheat pasta, hummus, kiwi, chicken, kale, and cauliflower. I spread the hummus on bread, tear it into pieces, and let Parker go to town. She is obsessed with it, as is her mama. We haven’t given her any sort of poultry or meat until this past week. I go between two baby food resources—Super Baby Food and Wholesome Baby Food—and Super Baby Food leans more towards the vegetarian side so we sort of ended up that route. I didn’t really realize it until one day a teacher at daycare asked if we were vegetarian. I had to laugh when she asked this…if you know Kris you know that he loves him some chicken, turkey, burgers, and steaks so going meatless is not an option for us! I’ve been making sure that Parker gets enough protein from eggs, legumes, and tofu but figured there was no harm in adding some poultry to the mix. Parker didn’t see the harm it in either because she gobbled it right up. This girl loves her food. She loves it so much that when the other babies eat at daycare Parker grabs the food from their hands! Parker has mastered the pincer grasp, which is using her forefinger and thumb to pick up food, though she prefers to shove food in her face. I have some pictures that capture her unique eating style that I will surely be posting!

I have no height and weight stats (last weight in was around 8 1/2 months and she was 20lbs!) since we don’t have her 9 month well visit until the end of the month. Our poor, wonderful pediatrician fell and broke her leg so she’s cut back her office time temporarily. There is a back up pedi who works with her who is filling in who Kris and I both like. I had the chance to talk to him a few weeks ago when Parker was in for a visit. We got on the subject of vaccines and their side effects which then led into a discussion on autism. He told me that in his 25 plus years of experience he has never seen an exclusively breastfed baby with autism. He has seen autism in babies that have been fed both formula and breastmilk, but never in those fed just breastmilk. Incredible, right?

We still have separation anxiety going and it’s gotten worse. I can’t even set Parker in the exersaucer for the five minutes that it takes me to apply makeup and do my hair in the morning with out her crying to be held. Yes, I’m that raggedy looking mom now that can get ready in mere minutes. At daycare she doesn’t want me to set her down, though she is fine a minute after I leave and is playing with her friends. I love seeing Parker play with the other babies. It’s too cute and she really loves all the interaction.

Parker now claps and moves her arms around like crazy when she is excited. When she is happy, she hits her hands on the ground. When she’s mad, she does the same thing. The daycare teachers crack up at this because they’ve never seen a baby do that before! When Parker wants your attention she wants it now and you better listen ;)

We’re nine months in and Parker has yet to sleep through the night. I knew this would come with bedsharing since when Parker is close to me she wants to nurse. Honestly, we’ve done nothing to try to get her to sleep through the night; she stirs, I try to rub her back or give her the paci, and if that fails (85% of the time it does) I nurse her back to sleep. I don’t necessarily believe that babies are designed to sleep like adults so I’m not in a rush to “train” her to sleep. Is this the right path to take? For now it feels right to me so I’ll stick with it. One day she will sleep through the night and I’ll miss the late night cuddles. Or maybe I’ll realize just how blissful a full night’s sleep is ;)

I’m 28, my baby is 9 months…how did this happen?!?