{Miss Maylin} 9 Months Old

It is incredibly amazing to me how much Maylin has grown and matured this month. I feel like each day she makes a new discovery or has a new facial expression. And she's definitely outgrowing those pants! Sister has some long legs! I so enjoyed doing her photo shoot this month. Michael was home on vacation so he was able to be in the room and help me get her to laugh. In most of the pictures she's looking up at him and smiling. She loves her daddy! Here's the 411 on Maylin Sidney during her ninth month.

At 9 Months Old, Maylin::

~ is a crawler!! She is getting around everywhere these days. And can crawl around the kitchen floor while I'm cooking supper to cling to my ankles. While screaming. Sigh. Hopefully this crying during cooking will end soon??

~ makes the sign for milk. I've been consistently "speaking" sign language to Maylin since she was six months old, and she is just now beginning to sign back. This is huge for me! I'm so excited that I can actually see our work paying off...even if she does now use the "milk" sign for anything she wants at the time.... At least it's progress!

~ drinks from a straw sippy cup {water only}. This is something I've also been working with her on for a little over a month. We tried a lot of different sippy cups at different times. This is the one that finally caught on after several days of trying. It's strange the way she "gets it." One minute she was not drinking correctly from the straw at all. The next she was. How does that happen?? Now she drinks from one during play time and meal time all by herself.

~ breastfeeds 3 to 4 times a day. She is becoming less and less interested in nursing, though. Which is a good thing considering we have another baby coming up in June. Maybe weaning will be easier {for her} than I initially expected. Still hoping to make it until 11 months before I officially begin weaning her.

~ eats solid food 3-4 times daily. Sister love, love, loves to eat "real" table food. Anything and everything. She has turned nothing away that we've ever given her. In fact, now I usually just give her bits and pieces of our supper instead of pureeing special food for her. For example, we had baked potatoes, roasted carrots, and venison the other night, and I just gave her small pieces of everything we had. She loved it all.

~ especially likes to self-feed. In fact sometimes she refuses food if given to her on a spoon, but when set on her tray will gobble it right up. My hunch is she's going to be a "do it myself" type of person.

~ self-feeds plain whole wheat pasta, broccoli, mango, peaches, carrots, peas, organic chicken, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and {her favorite} grilled cheese.

~ still rocks those size 2 diapers. Not sure if we'll grow out of those any time soon!

~ wears size 6-9 month leggings, which are still too big in the waist but perfect in length. Just this past week I stuck a pair of 12 month leggings on her that reached all the way down to her ankles {hallelujah!} but swallowed her tiny waist and booty. She may be like her mama in the fact that it's impossible to find clothes that fit in the length and waist. Except I have the opposite problem in that I'm too short.

~ wears 3-6 month {yes, these actually still fit!}, 6 month, and 6-9 month onesies. I'm really getting my money's worth out of those 3-6 month sizes.

~ sleeps like a champ.

~ takes two 2 hour naps daily.

~ sleeps 6:30 PM to 7:30 AM. That PM bedtime keeps creeping earlier and earlier. These days she starts getting fussy and rubbing her eyes right around 6:00, which is when we get in sleepy-sleeps {pajamas}, read a bedtime story with Daddy, and have our bedtime nursing session. Baby girl is out like boom by 6:30. Typically. {I really hope that we're not jinxed by me writing this.}

~ is definitely going through separation anxiety, which really probably started around 6 months. "Perk" of staying home with her I suppose. We're really working hard to combat this. And I'm so sorry to all of the sweet ladies that work in the church nursery on Sunday mornings.

~ has an independent attitude {despite being endlessly clingy to her mama} in that she wants to feed herself, get it herself, do it herself. I can see more and more of her personality emerging each day, so I can only imagine what I'll have to write for her 10 month update.

~ loves to dance with Daddy. Any time a peppy song comes on, Daddy dances her around the room, wiggling and jiggling and swaying and moving up and down. She laughs and squeals through the whole thing. 

Maylin Sidney, just writing about you brightens my life. I can't wait to know you more as you mature and come into your own little personality. Our first-born sweet thing, we love you so!