9 Months In, 9 Months Out

Izzy has officially been in the outside world as long as she was on the inside. 

Here's Izzy at 9 months in:

 

And Izzy at 9 months out:  

Of course, this month was even more lively than last month with her.  She's learning new tricks daily!  She started crawling right when she turned 8 months old.  Now I would say she is run/crawling.  I don't know if that's a thing, but I just made it one.  Needless to say, she is moving across the house swiftly these days.  We have spent the month trying to get all things out of reach that aren't appropriate for little hands: the dogs water bowls, toilet water, and anything breakable sitting in places less than three feet off the ground.  We have also tried to figure out which pieces of furniture need to be strapped down since miss mover thinks she needs to be standing at all times.  I guess crawling and sitting really weren't cutting it for her anymore.  

I finally came to terms with the fact that she is growing and bought some vacuum bags to pack up the clothes she has outgrown.  For now, we are hanging onto them.  It remains to be decided if Izzy will be an only child.  Probably depends on the time of day you ask the question!  She still fits in a few of her 6-9 month clothes, but for the most part is in 9 month and 12 month outfits.  She has the curse of her mom and dad when it comes to shirts... they are all belly shirts.  Sorry kid... a long torso will do that to you. 

Turns out, I might have measured her wrong last month.  I blame Izzy; she was moving too much to get an accurate read.  She did have her 9 month check up at the doctors office this week and was measuring just shy of 30 inches.  She hasn't gained any weight over the last month, and remains at 22 lbs.  I'm guessing her weight gain will start to level off now.  Although, with the way she eats some days, I don't know.  The kid could probably throw back an entire carton of blueberries if I let her.  She also loves cheese and black olives.  This last month we introduced her to some fish, beans, turkey, and a little bit of hamburger.  Andrew thought it was pretty hysterical to watch her mow down some lentil curry.  She also went after some salmon pretty seriously, so that's good.  I have found we have to give her veggies and meats before fruit, or she will fill herself up on fruit.  It wasn't so much of an issue when she was first starting out on foods.  Probably because I didn't leave her much of a choice since I was feeding her.

We have enjoyed quite a bit of time outside this past month as the temperatures climbed.  We bought her a pool, which she loves to splash in and Maya likes to drink from.

 On days where we don't feel like getting completely wet, we still play in the water on the deck. 

Since you asked (if you didn't, pretend you did), that is her Harry Potter onesie we purchased while on vacation last year at Universal Studios.  We decided, even before we knew the gender, that our child was likely to be a Ravenclaw.  So far, she holds pretty true to that.  Time will tell; her personality is developing quickly.  

She also loves to splash in the bath.  After fighting to wash her hair for months, I finally broke down and got her one of those bath hat/visors.  Let me tell you, this thing has been a LIFE SAVER.

And here we are post bath when we are supposed to be going to sleep...

The question we always get asked is, "is she sleeping through the night".  With a few exceptions, yes, she is now sleeping through the night.  I have enjoyed several uninterrupted nights of sleep, and they have been the most glorious things ever.  It's been well over a year since I was able to sleep through the night.  Of course, gone are the days of sleeping in until 10 am on Saturday's. That was nice while it lasted.  I look forward to retirement when I can enjoy those days again.  I experienced my first real "mom" moment this past month.  I had to be gone a couple of hours for two nights in a row a few weeks ago for work, which meant Andrew was in charge of dinner and the nighttime routine.  On the first night, I came home to find Izzy sleeping on our bed with Andrew sitting next to her reading.  She had just fallen asleep when I got home shortly before 9. I knew it was going to be rough because I had only been away for two other nights.  I picked Izzy up to carry her into her room, and for a minute I couldn't even move.  I just held her close and let the tears run down my cheeks.  I missed that little girl more than I thought was possible.  Even in the moments when she has pushed me to my limit, I try to remind myself to enjoy those moments.  They will only last for a short period and in the blink of an eye they will be gone and I will be longing for the days when life was simple with her and I was worried only about her not eating veggies for dinner.  

Also, in case inquiring minds would like to know, we continue on with our nursing journey.  There are days when I really detest pumping.  Ok, that's most days actually.  However, I know I do it for her benefit.  We have officially made it 3/4 of the way to my goal of one year.  I may not be supplying all the milk she gets, but every little bit I can get her is a win.  These last three months are going to be a push.  Since mother nature reared her ugly head again (it was nice while those 16 months lasted), my supply has taken a pretty serious hit.  Again, another part of the nursing journey they don't tell you in the two hour breastfeeding class in the hospital... 

Now we look on to the next month. Izzy kicked it off with a real bang by coming down with hand, foot and mouth.  Andrew and I have been splitting duty this week since we have to keep Izzy home until her sores are scabbed over.  As difficult as it is to try and work and make sure someone is with her, it's kind of nice having her home for a few extra days; I do miss her when she is at daycare.  

We are also making the big change to the convertible car seats this coming weekend so we can have them checked next week at the car seat safety check they hold once a month at a local car dealership.  She's is seriously getting too big to lug around in the infant carrier, and most of the time we end of taking her out of it anyway.  More evidence that she is growing up way too fast. I started to look ahead to her first birthday; got seriously sad, and then put it out of my mind.  I'm going to have to force myself to think about it here before too long.  

As a final note, if you are wondering about the flooring project, I promise we are seriously almost done.  Really, it is mostly done.  The final piece of furniture came back up out of the basement a few weeks ago, and the final set of boxes is now sitting in the dining room waiting for me to unpack.  I can see the light at the end of the remodeling tunnel!

I leave you with a photo of Maya enjoying her birthday treat earlier this month.  Miss Maya celebrated her 5th birthday this year!  She keeps life in this house fun, and keep Buddy young.