Violet at 9 Months

Growth & Appearance: Your hair is soft and stick straight. It's medium brown. There's enough to make a little turbo pony on top. Your eyelashes are getting longer and your eyebrows darker. You seem slimmer, especially when you're standing. You still have booty for days and soft biscuit thighs. I hope they never leave, but I'm sure you won't want biscuit legs when you're a teenager. We've been affectionately calling you Biscuit for a month now, especially when you pant and act like a puppy.

You weigh 21.5 lbs and are 29 inches long. You can still wear most of your 9 month clothing, but you're clearly better off in 12 month clothing. Size 4 diapers.

Teeth: You cut four teeth in two weeks. You were in surprisingly good spirits throughout the process. You now have four pearly whites on top. Fourth tooth: January 20 Fifth and sixth tooth: January 22. You have a whole new look.

Development: You like to play chase. We'll get down in the floor and growl at you and you will squeal wildly and then dart off crawling as fast as you can, stopping to look back every once in a while to make sure we're following. You pant when you crawl.

You can be found standing often. You cruise around the coffee table, making your way from end to end. You will sometimes let go and ease down into a squat, hover there for a while, then stand back up. You're going to have killer leg muscles. You've let go and stood independently only briefly.

You live to outrun me to the toilet. You'll reach up to grab hold of the seat and pull up, but not without looking to see if I'm watching. It's a gross fascination. I try to always remember to put the lid down now. If I don't I find random things in the toilet. My grandmother used to have a cat that would run to the toilet every time you flushed it. You remind me of that cat.

You love water. You come running (crawl-running) when you hear the bath water running. You stand holding onto the tub and bounce up and down and reach for the water. You'll also hurl yourself forward to put your hands under the faucet when I'm holding you.

You're really interested in drawers and cabinets. One kitchen drawer in particular has already claimed your fingers a couple of times. We have outlet covers everywhere and I love them until I need to plug something in.

You understand what no means and you take it quite personally. I usually only have to say it once and you give a pitiful fake cry. You also know when I'm approaching to take something away from you. You draw it in close to your body and tuck your head down to protect your prize. When I finally rip it from your death grip, you scream and sling your arms up and down.

You say "Mama." You usually say it when you want to be picked up. You'll hang from my leg saying it over and over in a sweet tiny voice that no normal human being could resist.

You wave bye often, especially to Daddy when he's leaving for work. You will also follow him all the way to the door when he's trying to leave, forcing him to put down his stuff and pick you up for a final kiss. You're turning him into a real sap.

You like to watch the five minute baby cartoons on the baby channel. You have good taste. You show little interest in the painfully annoying ones.

You really like music, particularly bluegrass. The intro to one of the little baby cartoons involves a banjo and you like to break it down every time, even when you can't see to television. You'll be sitting in the kitchen floor and start rocking back and forth wildly.

Eating: You like to feed yourself. You're not quite coordinated enough to get the spoon to your mouth yet, but you try. I give you lots of foods you can hold.

You like: melon spears, sliced up turkey, diced cheese, steamed carrots and broccoli, peas, blueberries, banana, black eyed peas, and whole grain pasta. You love meat. You also love yogurt and cry when it's all gone.

You don't like: asparagus, greek yogurt, oatmeal. I think oatmeal is a texture thing, because you've eaten it when it is ground to powder first. I've dressed it up with fruit and everything, but you just make a terrible face and spit it out. However, if I'm eating oatmeal you will happily accept a few bites from my spoon and my bowl.

For the most part, you will really eat almost anything. We sometimes call you Big Hungry, like a few days ago when you had a tiny speck of food on your chest and you pursued it by pushing your chin down into your chest and licking it.

You're still nursing about 5 times throughout the day and 2-3 times at night. Some nights you binge nurse every 2 hours, woe is me.

Sleeping: You fought sleep pretty bad for a week or so recently, but for the most part you nurse and stare at me until you drift off. A few nights ago you decided it was morning at 11 pm. You were as happy as could be to get up. You played and babbled until 4 am. That's right. F O U R. That's the first (and I desperately hope only) time you've done that.

You're down to two solid naps a day, both for 1-1.5 hours. One around 10 and one around 3.

Favorites: You love me. L O V E. You also like to play with balls, pots, and wooden spoons. Most of your favorite things aren't toys at all, but way cooler things like cords. You do love books. You like to smack them in excitement as I'm trying to read to you. You still love the remotes.