Nine months old

Happy nine month birthday, Taylor-tot! Our little monkey is three months away from turning the big One. Unbelievable. We have her nine month check-up on Monday and Chris and I are starting to take bets on her new stats. One thing’s for sure, she’s totally over 20 pounds. And the reason I know is because she refuses to hold on while I’m holding her. Won’t help me out one bit. And so not only is my left bicep becoming more and more chiseled, but I know that she’s bigger than most babies her age. And cuter.

But here’s a twist in the story, even though she’s getting heavier, she’s starting to thin out. Which I’m sure is a result from the constant crawling and motion. The girl is only still when sleeping and eating. Taylor’s puffy popeye arms are down to three rolls, and she starting to lose her chubby cheeks. NO! What am I going to put in my mouth all day? She’s starting to look more like a little kid, not a cherubic infant.

We were blessed to spend our first holiday as a family this past month. Pretty big milestone. In fifty years we’ll look back and think, Ah. Remember that first Christmas when Taylor just wanted to tear off all the wrapping paper and eat the bows?

Another big deal that happened during the eight month is that Taylor weaned to a bottle. Unfortunately we had to do it suddenly and not gradually, as I had planned. But luckily Taylor handled it heavenly and hasn’t made it difficult at all. I, on the other hand, didn’t deal with it as easily. Not only was the physical pain pretty harsh – cabbage leaves are amazing! – but emotionally it was extremely tough. Thanks, hormones. But now that I’m back out of the fog and have stopped eating pans of bars and buckets of brownies, I’m happy to have my body back and the freedom to stay out a few extra hours at ladies night and not have to worry about my baby starving.

So Taylor’s just on the bottle, plus she’s eating three square meals a day. And now she’s also eating a super snack after her nap, which consists of the dissolvable cereal puffs. Her favorite thing ever. Whenever she sees the yellow container she throws her arms in the air and whoops like a bird. And then she feeds them to herself. Her motor skills are getting a lot better, but it’s still pretty amusing to watch.

And not only do the puffs – or, poofs, as we call them – make my little princess happy, but they also delight my four legged daughter. Yep, Ruby has finally warmed up to Taylor. All it took was her throwing food on the floor, and now the Rubes will guard her with her life. Typical lab. And the other night, when Chris and I were sitting on the floor playing with Taylor, Ruby came downstairs and laid next to us. She even tolerated Taylor poking her in the face and grabbing her ears. And she was all, See, Kid. This is how much I’m forced to love you. I got down from the bed for this.