Aubree: 9-months

I just looked over at Dean and said, in disbelief, that Aubree is 9-months old.  What in the world?!  How did this happen so quickly?!  Her first birthday will be here before we know it.

She's at such a fun stage right now.  Her personality is really coming through and she is just so much fun.  She's still as busy as ever getting into whatever she can get her hands on.  I've nicknamed her Godzilla.  Ayla will spend a good chunk of time setting up the "perfect" tea party with color-coordinated cups, plates, and utensils only to have Miss Aubree speed-crawl over and destroy it.  And then a battle ensues.  Oh boy.  I can only imagine what they're going to fight about as they get older.

Aubree will eat anything we give her.  Do you realize how good it feels to be able to say that?  It makes me want to do leaps across the room.  She still eats mainly baby food (which she loves) but we have been adding little bits and pieces of "real" food.  When she gets a taste of something she really likes, her face lights up, she smiles, and says, "mmm."  So. Awesome.  Right now, she eats three baby food meals a day...one container of stage two food per meal.  We've recently added a second container at dinnertime.  She can nail two entire containers in less than ten minutes.  Impressive.  She has random snacks throughout the day...she loves crackers, bread, fruit, cheese, puffs...the list goes on.  She's a great eater and I LOVE it.  She has four six and a half ounce bottles a day.  Most of the time, it's a struggle for her to finish each bottle.  She normally has to take a few breaks before getting it all down.  I think she's too anxious to get down and play to "waste" time on drinking a bottle.  Hopefully once we switch her to whole milk when she turns one, she'll be more interested in it.

This past week, she has started making this "stink face" while she breathes in and out like a little piggy.

Off she goes...

I had just scolded her for messing with that night light and this is the look she gave me. :)

She's worked herself into a pretty good schedule.  She eats, has bottles, and sleeps at about the same time everyday.  She goes to bed around 7:00 p.m. and sleeps for about 12 hours...sometimes 13!  Her two naps are around 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.  I've noticed that her ability to stay awake between naps has increased this last month.  She used to go back down at 9:00 a.m. and now, even at 10:00 a.m. she doesn't seem quite ready.  If it keeps going this way, we might be working toward just one nap.  It seems a bit early yet for that, but it would be nice to just have one nap to work around and hopefully less of a fight for her to fall asleep.

She despises being confined.  She only lasts a little while in her  jumper or play pen before she protests.  She freaks out every time I put her in her car seat.  She even dislikes being held sometimes because she wants to be free.  And she haaates having a hat or hood on.  We've been lucky enough to have some pretty mild weather, but this no hat thing is not going to go well when it's ten below zero next month.

She's easygoing but I can see some strong-mindedness coming through lately.  Just today, she started the arm-straightening thing where she lifts both arms up in the air when I pick her up to stop her from getting into something.  She lets out a high-pitched squeal of protest at the same time.  Sigh.  I can see the beginnings of some pretty impressive tantrums...back-arching and all.  Here we go.

It's nearly impossible to change her diaper or her clothes.  She is on the go and does not want anyone or anything to stop her.  Sometimes it's just not worth the struggle so she's let loose with no pants on and half-buttoned clothes. :)

I really tried taking some pictures of her today, but it turned out to be pretty difficult when she literally wouldn't stay in one spot for more than two seconds.  Crazy little baby.  Oh well...I'll take whatever I can get to remember her at this age.

Stubborn or not, she is still my little love.  There's nothing better than seeing the happiness run through her entire body when she sees me first thing in the morning, when she smiles at me, when she rests her little head against my face, everything about her.  Love her.