9 Months

I'm not really sure what day it happened, since she was born on May 30th and there WAS no February 30th (or even a February 29th this year), but Louisa is now NINE months old!

Passing the nine-month mark always feels significant to me.

Not because anything particularly important happens at three-quarters of a year, but because it's the point at which, once surpassed, my babies have been out longer than they were in; they've belonged to the world longer than they belonged to just me.  Pregnancy is amazing experience for so many reasons, but one of my favorite parts about it was the feeling that I belonged to an exclusive little club of just two: baby and me.  My babies went everywhere with me, doing whatever I did, and in return I got to feel every flip, every kick, every hiccup.  But now Louisa has reached the point, like her big sisters before her, where she has been her own individual being longer than she was a part of me.  With her first birthday just around the corner, it makes me nostalgic for the tiny baby that she was.  And for the days before she was born, when I didn't have to share her with anyone. 

But there's no going back, and I am exceptionally grateful that Louisa is the happy, healthy nine-month-old that she is! 

At her check-up on March 1, she weighed 21 pounds (up five pounds in three months and putting her in the 88th percentile) and measured 28.5 inches (the 81st percentile).  We also found out that she had her first ear infection, the only indication of which was some minor pulling at her ear the night before.  Since then, Louisa also has suffered through her first stomach bug, ferried home from preschool by Ramona.  She has been a remarkably cheerful baby throughout both, though, needing just a little extra cuddling.

At the doctor's office

In other developmental news, Louisa is now pulling up on everything: the coffee table, the sofa, the trunk, the bottom stair, the girls' shopping cart, Ramona's bed, the bar stools, our legs... You name it, she can use it for leverage!  She also is starting to cruise but falls down an awful lot, so I don't think that walking is in her immediate future. 

Playing with Ramona under the bar stools

Trying to figure out how to get up the stairs

How she greets us when we get her out of bed now -- can't resist that smile!

In addition to becoming more active, Louisa is also becoming much more interactive, and loves to play peek-a-boo and patty-cake, often initiating the games herself, covering up her eyes or clapping and waiting for someone to chime in with the words.  She also gives (slobbery, open-mouthed) kisses and hugs, and continues to enjoy waving.  To everyone.  Including random people on the street or in stores.  And she will now "dance" (wave her arms and kick her legs) and squeal when she hears a song that she likes, which cracks Amelia and Ramona up. 

She really is a fun baby, and we all have enjoyed the past nine months with her so much.  Hard to believe that in nine more months, she'll (probably) be walking and talking!

Smiling with her monkey at nine months

It's getting tight in the basket!

Happy three-quarters of a year, Louisa!