9 months

Dear Leila,

You are 9 months old today! You've been out of my belly just as long as you were in it. This is the last month that you'll be a single digit. Before I know it, we'll be celebrating your first birthday. Unbelievable. When you have a baby you sometimes think you'll always have a "baby". Not true. Not true at all.

Leila, I'm so lucky to get to see you grow, feel what you feel and see what you see. You teach me to be in the now. Sometimes I feel like I need to read a book or ask another mommy to assure me I'm doing the right thing, but all I really have to do is watch you grow to know we are doing a pretty good job.

Though you're not quite as mobile as I thought you would be by this time, your dad and I are grateful you're not getting into everything right now. We haven't put much effort in baby proofing the house. Pretty sure your daddy and I are going to have to move everything off the lower shelves of our bookcases any day now. You never know though, you might by pass crawling all together and go straight into walking. You love to stand and lean up against the ottoman, couch, crib. The other day you stood all by yourself, unassisted, for a total of 3 Mississippi seconds. You haven't quite mastered how to get up or down on your own. 

Between this month and last month, you're eating habits are night and day. You eat anything and everything we give you, but you still aren't fond of the green veggies. Those are the best veggies for you with the most nutrients. Oh well, we're just happy you're eating. You'll learn to like them one day. For the last couple weeks we have stayed away from feeding  you anything that needs to be chewed or gummed because you have choked on these things in the past, choke like can't-breathe-need-to-stick- finger-down-throat-to-save-you type choking. You've choked on mum mums,yogurt melts, puffs, yeah...we'll stick to the runny, smooth things for now because mommy doesn't want to have to give you the heimlich maneuver when daddy's not around. We'll try again soon before you'll never learn if you don't try.

Your favorite meal is Earth's Best Chicken and Rice Dinner (it's very runny, like soup). Whenever we go out to eat, I order soup so you can have some too. But daddy's tomato basil soup is still your fave. When it comes to baby food, you can eat half or a full 4 oz jar in a sitting.

You're 9 months old now and we're STILL swaddling you. I know we've gotta nix it soon but I don't want to have those sleepless nights all over again. I know the adjustment won't be easy because you just love being swaddled and can't sleep any other way. Trust me, I've tried. You fight falling asleep in the car seat and only give in when you are hours past your nap time and are exhausted. 

As far as entertainment goes, you love your exersaucer. It's been the best investment so far. I can put you in there whenever I need to get something done and you rarely complain. You can last up to 45 min in that thing - we only leave you in there for that long when I'm trying to make dinner. 

You're more than happy to entertain yourself too. I'll set you down in the living room surrounded by toys and you are perfectly content playing with them by yourself, which is a huge plus for mommy when I'm trying to get some things done at work. You haven't quite figured out how to reach for something that is just out of your reach. You don't tend to get too upset if you can't grab it, you lose interest rather quickly if its not in our immediate reach and look for something else to play with. If there is nothing else around you, you'd rather play with your toes, hands, or the rug before reaching for a toy you can't grab. Putting you on your belly and putting your favorite toy in front of you to try to get you to crawl doesn't really work quite yet, but you'll learn on your own time.

And those fingers!  Your uncle Greg has joked that you're gonna be a magician the way you're always waving them around! It's a rare moment when you aren't flailing those spirit fingers around. When you grown up, I think you'll do something related to having to use your hands: hula dancer, pianist, choir conductor, etc. 

You enjoy sitting on my lap when I read to you - you can really only last for the length of 1-2 books. Your favorite books are the touch and feel kind. You love to run your little hands over the different textures. I think how you'll soon be walking and will have turned into a little girl, no longer a baby. I hope when you learn to be mobile that you'll still want to sit still on mommy's lap.  

Speaking of touching, your way of greeting any new face is to grab their cheeks and/or nose - you do that to mommy and daddy every time you see us. It's adorable the way you get to know somebody new by grabbing their face. And who in their right mind could complain with those gorgeous eyes and long lashes staring at them?! The first time someone meets you they usually say, "look at those eyelashes". You are complemented on how long and dark those babies are...can I take the credit? Let's just say you got them from me.

Oh, and I love how whenever you let out a sneeze, a huge smile always follows. Sneezing makes you happy...sneezing makes me happy too Leila.

Your daddy and I love you very much,

Mom