Dear Madeleine,We can't believe you are 9 months old! I think we are going to blink and your first year will have passed us.
The word of the month is "GROWING." While that might seem obvious, it just seems like everything you are doing has just grown exponentially in a month. Your mobility - there's not a surface you don't pull up on, and your crawling is so fast; you are standing up and cruising right along as you hold onto things, and much of the time you are on your tip toes; your fearlessness - you will try anything, even standing for a second or two; your independence - you love to try to do things for yourself, like feeding, and you don't even use your baby bathtub anymore; your messes - you are making a mess with all this new food you are trying to eat by yourself; your understanding - you are starting to know what we are saying; your sense of humor - there are so many things you think are just hilarious; your teeth - you have six now; and your experiences - this past month you've done so much - you spent over 1/3 of the nights away from your crib!
Here are a few facts about your 9th month:- You really respond to your name - when we say "Madeleine!" you will turn around and crawl back toward us. You also respond well to "No!" Thankfully, for now, you will turn away from that electrical cord or other forbidden object and focus on something else! You also respond to "Madeleine, come get Mommy!" (you crawl to me) or "Madeleine, go get Daddy!" (you crawl to him.)
- You had a cold from VBS for a long time before you got your first ear infection! That made our first night of vacation a nightmare as you woke up burning up and wouldn't go back to sleep for about 4 hours. We felt so bad for you, and we were concerned and exhausted as well. This is you the morning after - you slept until 10am!
- You were so adaptable on our road trip to DFW, but by the time we went to the beach you had developed quite the case of separation anxiety. I think your ear infection made it worse, but you were a homing beacon on MOMMY all week. That was hard because your Mommy needed a bit of a vacation, and there were so many other people that wanted to hold you and play with you! You're better now that we are home, for the most part, and you still don't cry when we drop you off at the church nursery, so we are hoping this phase passes soon. We also hope this phase of putting everything in your mouth passes soon, but we know you are just exploring.
- You were fearless at the beach! You just crawled right into the waves every chance you got. You were also fearless when you met the Gormans' boxer Laney. You were not afraid of that big dog one bit, you just giggled and giggled when she licked your face. You continue to love our kitties too. You showed Winston you could almost reach him even when he is on the window seat!
- Madeleine, our days at home are a bit like a dating relationship. If Mommy is too busy or trying to get things done while you are awake, you pout and cry and get very clingy. As long as Mommy is paying lots of attention to you, you are as independent as can be; I just can't be doing much of anything else. :)
- I don't want to rush to claim your first word, BUT yesterday you were looking for me, and your Daddy and I both heard "ma-ma-ma-ma" very clearly...just sayin'.
- I am still breastfeeding you in the morning and pumping for the rest of your feedings, but this week we started adding a couple of ounces of formula to a bottle or two/day. I noticed my supply changing just a little bit, and rather than try to stimulate more milk production, I thought I'd rather just let it start declining a bit and not stress about it. Breastfeeding and pumping have gone so well for us, I didn't want it to get dramatic now. You've done really well with the added formula, so we will continue to use that as a supplement.
- You are still sleeping basically 8p-8a. You typically take 2 naps - one around 10 and one around 2. The length of the naps vary. If we happen to be out and about between 5:30-6:30, you'll take a little snooze in the car, but you don't usually do that at home.
- You are so happy, Madeleine. When we say "Yay, Madeleine!" and clap our hands, you smile so big and you put your hands high over your head and bring them down repeatedly on your thighs.
Oh I just love that picture of you with your monkey pj pants on your head - too cute. I had to post it again.We love you, Madeleine. God has blessed our family so much through your spunky little life!
Love,
Mommy
