Emelia at nine months

She’s getting so big. She’s going to be a year old in three months and yesterday I cried about that. I’m not ready to leave the baby stage behind for the last time. I want to bottle her up and keep her this little forever.

OK, but then I think of how much easier it will be when she’s old enough to play with her sister. And walk around. And at the same time, I just want to stop time.

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Eating

Baby led weaning is in full swing around here. A few days after she turned eight months, I had a virtual physical therapy appointment and brought up to her PT that we hadn’t started solids and I was suspicious of a tongue trust still there. We also talked about her not yet sitting on her own, but she said as long as Emelia was in her high chair sitting up, she’d be OK. It makes me wish we would have started this sooner. Well, she got the speech therapist to come in so I could feed Emelia a banana. She just thought we needed to practice and that she’d get better as she learned how to maneuver food.

So we started practicing. She had already tried steak and chicken strips, Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, bananas, and lemon wedges. The speech therapist said to keep things soft. She ended up doing really well. When we met again the following week, her PT said to go ahead and have her keep trying foods. It’s like a switch came on for her and she became way enthusiastic about food. FOOD! ALL THE FOOD! GIMMAH! Foods tried: sweet potato fries, roasted Brussels sprouts, cauliflower rice, hamburger, peanut butter, blueberry muffins, broccoli, fettuccine alfredo, turkey meatballs, steak, roasted carrots with dill, spaghetti, tilapia, and rice.

Actually, after I gave her the peanut butter one morning, she had broken out into a rash on her back and neck later that evening. The triage nurse said it was strange, but told me to give her Benadryl (she slept like a rock that night) and we had a virtual appointment with her pediatrician the next day. No more rash. It would return the next day. But she wanted me to consult with allergy. Luckily, we got in with the same allergist Olivia saw with her rule-out egg allergy. He’s a wonderful, wonderful doctor, and he basically said her rashes weren’t following what a peanut allergy would do, but still, to rule out anything, he recommended skin testing.

Luckily, all her testing came out negative. She’s since had pancakes without any issues, and I’m planning on giving her eggs soon.

Otherwise, she’s still nursing all throughout the day and once at night. Besides for being distracted, that’s been going really well. Sippy cup is still a work in progress. She likes to drink water from it but I need to work on giving her more opportunities.

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Sleeping

She was previously waking once at night, but then gave us a 4-5 day stretch where she slept from 7 pm to 7 am and it.was.wonderful. Overall, she’s doing good, going down without a lost of protest most nights. She’s on her usual two naps a day and those are going well.

Milestones

She’s still working on sitting up. I can sit behind her and she’ll play independently for a bit before falling backward on me. We’ve been working in PT on reaching for objects while sitting to practice the motion of getting down on the ground to crawl. We’ve also been putting her on her knees to play (which she is NOT a fan of) to practice for crawling, but it’s slow going. What she is all about however, is rolling all over the floor. She can get four rolls in a row sometimes and travels all over the place. She also loves banging toys together and has started clapping her hands. She’ll sort of scoot backwards, and is starting to mimick the motions of getting up on all fours, so it’s coming here soon.

She’ll mimick sounds we make like Mooom!!! and Aba! and will purse her little lips together like she’s going to whistle and makes all sorts of weird noises.

Health

See allergy testing above. Besides the weird rashes, I’ve just noticed she went a few weeks coughing a little more than usual, but hasn’t had any other symptoms. I feel around her gums every few days, but no sign of teeth as of yet. She’s been more screechy during the day unless she’s being held, so I’m not sure if this is teething related, or if she’s just finding her voice a little more.

Personality

Oh this girl. She’s so much fun. She learned how to shake her head no, which kind of looks the same as if you ask her to dance. So now everyone she sees, she’ll smile big and start shaking her head side to side and expect you to join in. Prior to that, her new skill was “waving” which she’s still trying to get the hang of.

When she’s excited, getting food or her sippy cup, her whole body will dance around and she’ll kick her legs wildly. She also loves squealing and screeching. Still smiles 24/7 and loves life. She’s getting so curious, and loves to stare at people.

Likes

Waving, rolling around on the floor, eating food, stroller rides, nursing, playing in her exersaucer, being read to, being sung to, her rattles, being startled.

Dislikes

Putting her down when she wants to be held and walking away from her when she wants you. I’ve been trying to think of more, but can’t. She’s just such a happy baby overall.

Undecided about

Car rides, being smothered by her sister, other people, being licked by Toby, being put in her pack n play, taking showers.

Looking forward to

Getting this baby out in the pool more this summer. We discovered she loves being in the water and splashing. I got her a baby floaty at a consignment sale for $12, so I can use it in the pool and not have to hold onto her the whole time.

Planning her first birthday? No, I’ve decided I don’t want to think about that right now. I can’t think about my last little caboose being a year old. I can’t.

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Past monthly updates

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months