Ivy || 9 Months Old

Ivy is nine months old! That's full term! I'll be doing a little nine months in - nine months out post later but here is her little monthly recap.

Ivy at Nine Months

Weight: 19 lbs. 4 oz. (15 lbs. 4 oz. at six months)

Height: 29.8 inches (27.4 inches inches six months)

Personality: sensitive and opinionated

 

She was cooperative for this little photo session so I got a couple of cute shots.

 

Likes

Waking up in the morning

Nursing

Being held

Playing with LEGOs

Peek-a-boo with Dada

Jumperoo

Getting to go outside 

Yogurt, applesauce, purees

Dancing to Alphabet Train

BATH TIME!

Sleeping on her tummy (ha! and she resisted it so much at first)

Being in a standing position

 

Dislikes

Being put down for naps

Getting dressed

Not being held

Being left alone

Being any more than 2 inches from someone

The "moo" sound 

When Kip takes toys from her

Getting her face and hands wiped after eating

 

Wearing 

Size 4 diapers

9-12 month clothing

0-3 month shoes

Fleece sleep sack

Things I want to remember about Ivy at 9 months:

How her whole body gets excited and wiggles around

Her scrunch nose smile with snuffy laugh

How she knows when it's time for bath - her favorite time of day

Her endless noise making

How I love her SO much and at the same time be completely drained by her 

Blowing raspberries

The terror of someone saying "mooooooo"

Those two little teeth poking up

Full fist shoving Cheerios

The food she keeps hidden up in the roof of her mouth instead of swallowing

How she seems completely unaware that she is a baby and therefore cannot possibly do half of what she is trying to attempt

How she may end up being a dancer. She can't help but move to music

Sleep

Most of the time I feel so desperate. Ivy is 9 months old and by this point I had hoped we would have figured things out and been well on our way to those blissful baby days. We are not. This month I got so fed up with short naps that we forced Ivy into a two nap schedule. Kip was still taking three naps at this age but that didn't seem to be working for her so we dropped to two. She goes down at 9 am and then again three hours after she wakes up from the first nap. Some days she does so great and I get really happy and hopeful. Then the next day is trash. We have more bad days than good. And, she still wakes to nurse 1-3 times a night.

I'm just going to speak this out into the universe in the hopes that someone out there with some sort of magic energy with make it happen. 

I want Ivy to sleep from 6 pm to 6 am without waking to nurse. I want her to nap from 9 am to 10:30 am and then nap again from 1:30 pm to 3 pm. 

I know it's unreasonable to expect that but it's my truth. That's it. That's all I want. 

I could even tolerate a night feed so long as she doesn't wake up for the day at 5 am. I CANNOT handle 5 am wake ups. I just can't. 

Eat

Slow and steady. Not to peg this girl right out the gate but she seems trending towards a picky eater compared to Kip. She LOVES purees and gets pretty upset if nothing of that sort is offered at mealtimes. She likes yogurt for breakfast and applesauce or a pouch for lunch and dinner. We give her the food we eat and leftovers from dinner the night before. She will put it in her mouth and chew but somehow manages not to swallow it. She can drink water and swallow purees but somehow the noodle or meat or whatever solid food we gave her will stay in her mouth until we manage to scoop it out with a finger. I'm worried about putting her to bed with potentially peas and rice stuck in her cheeks or the roof of her mouth! How is it possible to swallow without swallowing? 

Play

Ivy thinks she is a toddler. She will get INTO things to play. She loves sensory things so kicking her legs in a bunch of LEGOS or digging into stuff is her jam. She likes interactive toys and she seems to really understand buttons and spiny things. Even though she isn't crawling yet she does manage to move herself in a circle or across the floor by rolling and she is very bendy and can stretch quite far to reach something. She loves her jumperoo and gets very excited when Kip tries to play with her. Also, she is mouthy. Everything goes in her mouth. This causes me huge amounts of anxiety since we can't always be watching her every second and we have SO many toys that are choking hazards. We try to put her in her pack n play when we have to do something out of sight but she really hates being left in that and has less and less tolerance for it throughout the day. 

This month Ivy got her first two teeth! She celebrated Kip's half birthday and Valentine's Day. She got to experience bubble bomb baths and try lots of new foods. She only got to go outside a few times due to cold and snowy weather. She was reintroduced to the baby carrier since she insists on being held all the time. She is sweet and snuggly and sensitive. I had many hard moments with her this month but she doesn't hold it against me. Every day I'm overwhelmingly happy to see her gummy grin and feel her soft cheek against mine.