Nine Months

Our tot turned nine months last week, and since then I feel as though we have a completely different baby! It's like someone snuck into our house in the middle of the night and swapped our little sweetheart with this wild child. This girl is constantly on the move and curious about everything.

She is pulling up like a rock star and walking along anything that will hold her weight. She is quite crafty (a trait that I'm sure comes from her father) and can maneuver her way into (and out of) even our most clever attempts at keeping her contained. As you can imagine, taking photos of a baby on the go is quite difficult. Most of my shots are blurry or only contain half of her body. So, it's a rare instance when she is still long enough to get a full body shot. I seized my opportunity this morning while Tay was fixated on Jake's toothbrush. I felt like a real-life safari hunter. Jake, don't...move.

Gotcha!

Her new favorite obsession is hearing herself scream. And not just any scream, but a shrill, high-pitch, heart-stopping scream. (Girlfriend would be cast in a horror movie in a second.) But at home in day-to-day life, this gets old real quick. Especially when she's in her room playing and I hear one of these screams from down the hall. I panic, of course, and immediately run to her room. She's sitting there laughing and clapping because - yay! - it worked and now mommy's here. Not cool, Tay. Momma just wet her pants.

She is actually screaming here. See how sweet and innocent it looks in mute form? In real life, it's blood curdling.

This girl loves to drink out of sippy cups and has recently learned how to drink out of a straw (only because she grabs my tumblers when I'm not looking and proceeds to slobber all over them). For the record, if you think slobbery kisses are gross, you should try drinking out of a straw after a slobbery baby has had her paws on it. Nas-tee.

She loves to climb the stairs (when we let her anywhere near them) and we are constantly trying to come up with new ways to keep her away from them. The bottom of our stairs are extremely wide with a half-wall on one side and a banister on the other. Needless to say, we haven't found a baby gate that will work in this situation. Suggestions are welcome!!

And just yesterday, she discovered Charlie's food and water bowls. Nothing says cleanliness like bathing in dog backwash! She splashes in the infested water and Charlie tries to hump her leg. (I'm sure that Mother of the Year award will be arriving in the mail any day now.)

Most days I just try to keep my head above water (and contain her long enough so that I can do a load of laundry or wash dishes), but I wouldn't trade it for the world. She brings so much fun and energy into our home and even her piercing screams remind me how fortunate we are to have her in our lives. I can't get over how much she's changed in the course of a month, but I'm loving this new chapter!

Even when she won't smile for the camera. ;c )