Zoe: 9 months

Zoe is 9 months old now!

I just love watching her grow.  Time is flying too fast and I just need a moment to hit pause  Pause long enough to share where this sweet little girl is at, right now, because it’s changing daily.  Development is flooding right now!  I hope you enjoy reading these posts.  I half write them for a totally selfish reason – I love going back and reading about my kiddos!  I so easily forget the stages and events so it’s nice to see what has happened months/years back.  9 months in…

Birth

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

EAT

She is still nursing about 5 times a day [early morning, breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and before bed].  She is devouring food like crazy now too!  We began solids around 6 months (baby led weaning style) and about 1.5 months in food really took off.  She pretty much loves everything we feed her and shoves it in her mouth as fast as she can.  The only two things I remember her not really liking are pineapple and grapefruit, but everything else has been a hit.  Zoe is especially into beef.  She likes other meats and basically all food, but she gets super excited and pumped up about beef.  Some other big favorites: pear, cheese, raw bell peppers, applesauce, bread, steamed broccoli, raw cucumber, avocado, blueberries, bananas, steamed yams/sweet potato, pasta and chicken.

She doesn’t have any teeth but that doesn’t stop her one bit.  Even with foods like bell peppers I wouldn’t expect her to eat them very well, but gumming off pieces and mushing them up in her mouth works perfectly fine.  It’s so fun to watch her eat and get excited about food.

I’m thinking about weaning the afternoon nursing session away by offering a snack first when she wakes from her nap, then nursing, instead of nursing first then a snack.  We’ll see how it goes.  I totally rely on what worked for Hunter so I’m hopeful she adapts easily as well.

WAKE

Zoe is getting mobile!  While she’s not crawling or walking, she can definitely get around by scooting on her butt, rolling, pivoting and reaching/belly flopping.

She is sooooooo close to crawling.  Any day now.  Today I captured her straightening a leg and also saw her straightening both legs into a downward dog kind of pose.  Also the mess of toys below was mostly her, she’s pulling out baskets and playing with blocks, legos and music makers.  Basically anything she can get her hands on.

They played like that for a solid half hour. It was so cute watching them play independently and then sharing together too.

Hunter is still her number one person.

She is actually becoming more of a snuggler now, and I completely love that.  Some favorites continue to be bath time, books, cups, all of Hunter’s toys, Hunter, our dog, her taggie blanket.  She dislikes having her diaper changed and getting dressed.  She just wants to move around and not be held down!

SLEEP

Zoe is now sleeping and sharing a room with Hunter!  It finally worked around 8.5 months (before there was lots of waking from both kids).  Her typical pattern is bedtime around 7pm, wake to nurse around 5:30/6am, then morning wake around 7/7:30am.  When she does cry at night Hunter just sleeps right through it and doesn’t seem to be affected the next day any more.

That’s how it’s been the last few weeks, but it’s definitely been off the past 4-5 days.  I’m pretty sure she’s congested and having a hard time with the snot draining back when she lays down to sleep.  I felt like I was back to the newborn stages a couple nights ago after being up with her until 2-3am in the morning.  It was rough business, but nothing a good power nap couldn’t fix.  And I am not a napper, but felt amazing after that one!

She typically naps 2 times a day.  Her morning nap is still really short from about 10:30-10:50am in the car on the way home from the gym, then her second nap tends to be longer from 1:30-3:30pm or sometimes lasts until 4:30pm.  If she wakes early and only gets about an hour nap in for her second nap I’ll usually put her down around 4:30pm for a cat nap.  I find that if she wakes before 3pm we have a rough time making it to bedtime at 7pm and she’s super fussy all evening.

She sleeps in a sleep sack to keep her warmer, but it also helps her move around a little less at both bedtime and naps in the crib.

I love this little girl’s smile and itty bitty top knot.  The filter in this picture makes her eyes look black, but really they’re hazel-like.  Sometimes they look brown, sometimes green and every once in a while blue.  They always go with her outfit. 🙂

When did your baby start scooting and moving around?  Do you have good memory or not so good like me?

Heather