Music

Ham

Today we went in for Penny's nine-month photos. For those who don't know, we signed up for a "Watch Me Grow" package at the photographers. Technically, you get a newborn session and then a 3 month, a 6 month, a 9 month, and a 1 year session - so five total. But we didn't start until the 3 month one so this was just our third. We didn't do a lot because we did a big outdoor family shoot for the 6 month pictures. This one was just her again in the studio.

Penny was a little bit shy when we first walked in, but in under a minute she wanted to get down and play on the couch and then she wanted to play with Ms. Linda (the photographer). Linda was incredulous that I had said P was a bit shy. She said, "this is NOT shy." And it's true - she really wasn't shy in the least. In fact, she was quite the ham for the camera, as usual.

She's such a goober though. For those who I haven't told this to, when she first started crawling she wouldn't use her left leg at all. She'd take a "step" with her right leg and then drag her left one up to meet it. She did this for about a month until the weekend we were at Tray's parent's house just before she turned nine months old when she started crawling normally. So, I had planned to mention it to the doctor, but she'd started crawling normally by her visit. I did mention it, but he said it was no big deal especially since she started crawling regularly. Well, yesterday she started doing the wonky crawl again and did it the whole time we were at the photographers this afternoon such that all her "crawling" pictures show her doing the one legged crawl. But then when we got home (of course) she started crawling regularly again. Goob!

The other thing that was funny to me is thinking about how much you influence your children and how much is them - the old nature vs. nurture debate. I remember at our first visit Linda asked me about Penny liking the sock monkey so much. She asked if I tried to "make" Penny like monkeys - as in did I have her nursery decorated in monkeys or something. I said no, if anything I was trying to "make" her like dinosaurs. The monkey obsession at that age was all on her own. Well, as most of you know, Tray and I don't like dressing Penny like a girly-girl. As one of my friends put it in reference to her own daughter, I've got nothing against pink, but I refuse to dress her like a cupcake. Right on! We don't like it, sure, but there is also the factor that she just doesn't "seem" like a girly-girl to us, as though that just isn't part of her personality. Well, Linda quite often puts her little girl clients in prop pink ballerina tutus and pearls for some "girly-girl" pictures. Penny did look cute, I'll admit, and I'm sure the pictures will come out great, but you could tell she didn't like it. She took the hat off, examined the pearls and then pulled them off over her head (which I was amazed she was able to do) and seemed uncomfortable in the tutu. Pretty sure that, for now at least, she's a tomboy at heart. Nature? Nurture? Both?

***Update*** Just saw the pics tagged on facebook. Um, so the tutu pictures - absolute perfection. She might not like being a girly-girl, but you'd never know it to look at her. She's gorgeous!

***Update - Photos Posted*** Ok, now they are up on http://longsphotographyblog.com/ That was super fast Linda! Check them out.

A few pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last few days.

Penny discovered Tray's water bladder in his pack. She crawled over to it and just started slurping away:



I didn't want her drinking lying down, so here she is sitting up. I know breastfed babies don't need any additional water, but it's fun to let her have some now and again and teach her how to drink from different containers. I just never thought I'd be teaching her how to drink from this! Guess she can tag along on our eco-challenges after all. :)



It was cool one morning this week and we'd slept with the windows open, so that morning we put her sweater on. Here is her entire zebra pajama ensemble, complete with patented Penny smirk (which she now does as if on cue every time the camera comes out):



And last, but not least, we got her a walker-wagon for her 9 month birthday. I know it's plastic, but it's made in the USA! And it was waaaay cheaper than the Radio Flyer version of the same thing. Unfortunately, now I know why. The Radio Flyer push wagon has a way to slow it down, and this one doesn't. It's too fast for her to push just yet or it would shoot out from under her. However, it is still lots of fun to ride in:



Yesterday, I sat her in it and just pushed her out away from me to arm's length and drew her back to me over and over and every time she would laugh hysterically. The simple things!

Altruism

Today, Penny offered me a cheerio. I ate it, making a big show of it, and she watched me do so very stoically. Then, she offered me a second one. I ate it and she cocked her head to the side and watched me very thoughtfully. Then she offered me a third, withdrew the offer, and ate it herself. With a smile. It made me laugh so hard.

Then, this evening as I was putting her to bed, I gave her Mr. Bear to hug. She chewed on his ear for a bit and then took him and held him up for me - to do what I'm not sure - so I kissed him on the top of his head and she laughed, so I kissed him some more and that seemed satisfactory. I think it is really neat that she gave me cheerios and Mr. Bear today. That's a pretty amazing cognitive shift.

Mmmmm

I knew she'd come out of her silence with a new skill! She started saying ma-ma-ma-ma today! She still not saying actual words, just repeating sounds, but I'm pretty excited.

Nine Month Appointment

Penny had her nine-month doctor's visit today. No shots, thankfully, but she did have her blood drawn. Amazingly, she did not cry at all.
She weighs 16 pounds 8 ounces (between the 10th and 25th percentiles) and is 27.5 inches tall/long (50th percentile).
Once again, the doctor pronounced her to be "perfect."
The only issue is her ongoing milk intolerance, which may in fact be an actual milk allergy. We will try introducing a very small amount of whole milk after she turns one and if she doesn't tolerate it, then we have to wait until she is two to try again and she'll just drink soy milk until then. So, no yogurt for her. (A lot of people introduce that at 9 months.) I'm hopeful she'll grow out of it by a year, but time will tell.

Happy Nine-Month Birthday Penelope!

Today Penny turned nine months old! I can hardly believe it. The time does fly. I don't really keep track of things in weeks anymore, but I get this "this week in your baby's development" email and according to that she's 39 weeks old this week. She was born when I was 39 weeks pregnant, so she has now been out of the womb at least as long as she was in. Pretty wild.

In terms of development, she has really perfected her crawling and can now move quickly from point A to point B with a purpose. There have been a lot of cognitive changes too. I can tell she understands a lot of what we are saying to her even if she can't talk yet herself. She definitely understands the word "no" and will cry because she doesn't like it. :) Tonight, I told her we had to say "night-night" to Mr. Bear (her stuffed bear) and she grabbed him up. I hadn't really expected her to understand me, but she at least understood his name which surprised me. The last few days she has also started coming to sit in my lap and did so twice this morning. Let's see, what else? She will pull up on our pants legs now to indicate she wants to be picked up, and will (most of the time) crawl to us if we ask her to "come here". She has been in one of her quiet phases the last couple weeks, but babbled some again today. She really takes the talking stuff in starts and stops. There will be a few days of babbling followed by a week or two of not. I think maybe she's concentrating on other things when she does that. In terms of eating, she has started taking to finger foods much better. She can now do cheerios and "fruit fingers" (slices of mango or pear). Also, tonight she did the funniest thing. I laid her down in her crib and she almost immediately rolled over and sat up, but she was so tired that she just sat there for a second and wobbled and then immediately fell forward back onto the mattress sound asleep. Too funny!

For some reason, the nine-month mark really stands out to me as a milestone moreso than any other month so far. I think it is my math background - half of the second half of a year is now gone. Which is to say, in my mind, "Wow, a whole year has almost gone by."