9 Months

Ellie is 9 months old and one word describes her best right now - DETERMINED! From 8-9 months, there wasn't too much change in what she can do, what changed is how hard she tries to do it (and how mad she gets when something gets in her way!) Crawling got faster, and barricades are just an obstable now instead of a diversion. She goes under/over/around anything she can. If you're on the floor with her, you're basically a jungle gym, because she's climbing all over you! We have gates at the top and bottom of our stairs now because those were getting too tempting. She'd even ventured up the first couple steps a few times. She's standing on her own a bit, and easily cruising around furniture or anything she can hang on to. She's gotten quite vocal, Mamama, Dadada, Bababa, and Geegeegee being her favorites =) Ellie also has 7 teeth!! It was a rough month for teeth, but we're back on track now. Dr. said Ellie might even get a little teething 'break' now since she has so many already (a lot for her age I guess!) The new teeth have been somewhat fascinating for Ellie - she's biting and grinding them a lot and chewing on EVERYTHING! Funny story, we put locks on most of our cupboards already, but left some (with non-breakable things) open. Well, Miss Ellie was getting into these drawers which was fine UNTIL she started chewing off the little foam pads inside the doors/drawers. So, not only do we have to lock cabinets so she doesn't get into them, we need to lock them so she doesn't eat them now too! Ellie had her 9 month wellness check last Monday, and she's healthy and right on track - 28 3/4" long (90th percentile), 22 lbs (90th percentile), and 45 cm head (80th percentile). Her favorite things right now are eating (anything she can eat with her hands, the bigger the mess, the better), bathtime, reading stories, and playing all the time!

Instead of photos this month, here are some videos so you can see and HEAR Ellie these days. I am on the floor with her, so you can see what I mean by 'jungle gym', there are some real close-ups! =) It also looks like I took these in the middle of the night, but sadly it's like 4:30 pm (I hate the short days this time of year!)