I've watched other babies. Some of them sit still on the floor quietly playing with a toy or watching the activity around them. Others lay peacefully in their parents’ arms while taking a bottle, calmly soaking the nutrients into their growing bodies. Still others obediently open their little mouths for spoons full of baby food, finishing the entire jar. We apparently don't make these kinds of babies. What you are is adorable, bright, animated, determined, joyful, mischievous, and very active. Even your doctor agrees. After describing your eating habits and asking for advice to get you to take more food, she offered, "Well, it sounds like she's opinionated!" So my arms may get a good workout while trying to contain your spunk and I may need to calm my frustration sometimes, but I am still intoxicated by your budding personality.
You've just turned 9 months old, and it's hard to believe how much change we've seen from you lately. The most obvious change is your mobility. You've been rolling over well for a long time (and had been using that skill to get where you wanted to go), but one day in December you decided to try and go forward. Within a day or two you had developed an "army crawl" that takes you anywhere you want to go in the house. You've become very proficient, and can surprise us if we take our eyes off you for a second. You still haven't moved up to your hands and knees, but it's not clear you'll have any need for that. You are also finally starting to sit. It’s taken you sometime to develop the desire for this stationary skill. Now that you’ve realized the increased access to toys sitting up allows, you have learned to pull yourself from the floor to a stable sit. You've also started climbing stairs and pulling yourself up, even to a wobbly stand once and a while. Like your sister, you are a very brave (or maybe naïve) girl. We're placing bets right now on how long until you take your first steps. Until then, it looks like we will spend much of our time spotting you.
While your new mobility is the most visible change, your personality changes have been more dramatic. In the first few months you seemed more mellow than your sister. However, when you learned to move, your personality seemed to change. Now YOU have become the active one in the house, often not content to sit still or be held. While it is fun to watch you explore, your dual goal of having us nearby and yet doing things by yourself is a challenge. You have also developed quite a babble, which both entertains us and sometimes drowns us out in volume. We often hear Mamamama, Babababa, Dadadada, or Thppppbbbb (with a spitting spray).
We've been working for many months to try to get you to eat solid foods, with less success than we expected. When we come near you with a spoon full of anything, you usually purse your lips and turn away. We stopped offering most of the pureed baby food and just started giving you small pieces of whatever was on our plates. (You just cut your first few teeth, so you have some chance of actually chewing now.) You've liked this, and it had made mealtimes more bearable. You only get bits and pieces of food into your mouth, but hopefully the coordination will come with a bit more time.
