When I tell people how old she is, the response is always "is she crawling all over?" And no, but she is definitely mobile. She can army crawl, where she kind of drags her body across the floor with her arms, but that is her least favorite way to get around. Her most favorite is the back breaking walking, with our hands of course.
Along with mobility came the need to start baby proofing. She loves to empty things: the top of the ottoman, the kleenex box, the cupboard, the toy basket. Here she is after emptying the bottom shelf of a kitchen cupboard.
One of my favorite things about this month was the "bopping" or dancing she started doing. She has always loved music, but now she can't help but dance. She loves Stephen playing his guitar, which is a nice distraction when she's fussy.
I found a Fisher Price guitar at a garage sale, and she bops to that when Daddy isn't around to play the real thing. She also dances when she hears music in the grocery store, in a restaurant, or wherever. It's a sure fire way to make strangers we pass smile.
It takes her a few seconds in the video, but you can see her "bop."
Her new found mobility has not seemed to scare the animals away. Lily (the dog) is very tolerant of Kaitlyn touching her, and Kaitlyn is getting better at "gentle." She doesn't grab Lily's hair and pull right away, she mostly pats her. BJ, the cat, still seeks out Kaitlyn's attention more than I ever would have imagined. And puts up with Kaitlyn's pats as well. Although I don't generally allow it to happen much because I don't know how long before he decides it's not ok.
After going through a short period where she did not want to be in the stroller, Kaitlyn has decided she does like the stroller. As long as we're moving, anyway.
Also new and exciting this month is some response to the baby sign language. She started doing the "all done" sign when she is done with eating and sometimes even when she just wants to be done with whatever we're doing. She also waves and gives kisses. And by kisses I mean a giant open mouth coming at you that looks like she wants to eat your face. But it's cute none the less.
She is able to entertain herself a lot better now, although she does check in frequently to make sure I'm still watching. She loves books, especially the kind with flaps that open. She laughs and laughs at the "Peek a Boo Baby" and "Where is Baby's Belly Button" books. While she is better at sitting and looking at books, she still likes to chew on them as well.
Which leads me to teeth. We have gone a bit crazy on the teeth. She now has four top teeth and two bottom teeth! She loves to chew on anything and everything. In the worst of the teething, we gave her Tylonel. It did make her more fussy than usual, and she woke up a couple of times during the night (or got up for good at 4:30am) when she normally is a great sleeper. For the most part, she takes 2 naps a day (between 30 minutes and 2 hours long) and goes to sleep 8pm-6am with one wake up for feeding (usually between 2am and 4am). The nice thing is we haven't had to supplement very many bottles anymore. My milk supply was never enough on its own, but the solid food seems to have taken the spot of the supplemented formula. Hooray!
Overall, Kaitlyn is a good eater. Sometimes she's not really interested in the food, and I have noticed her eating less (which I know is normal at this point in her life). Her favorite foods are probably mango and avocado. She loves raspberries, string cheese, yogurt, and toast, too. The only food she's ever spit out and rejected completely is the Beech Nut Chicken and Chicken Broth (she'll eat Gerber Chicken and real pieces of chicken). Other than that she'll eat at least some of whatever we give her. Some things (like cottage cheese), she'll only eat a few bites and then turn her head away or give the "all done" sign.
She has not said any words yet, but sometimes we swear she'll repeat what we say. Her babbling sounds more like words, but we're still waiting for the "mama" and "dada." She finds the most random things absolutely hilarious. In the video below, Stephen was shuffling his feet to come toward her, then away.
Events this month
Like I said before, this was a busy month. My niece's turned 1 and 3 and had a cute Frozen party.
My father in law and niece
My sister in law with Kaitlyn
My brother and sister in law with their girls. The 3 year old already knew cupcakes were awesome, the 1 year old was not so sure.
My Uncle Dave was in town from Hawaii (lucky duck lives in Hawaii), so we had a family barbecue with my dad's side of the family to see him. My cousin has a daughter about 5.5 months older than Kaitlyn. They interacted a little this time, but it's going to be fun to watch them get older and play together.
Kaitlyn learns to share
Two of my uncles and Adelyn watching Kaitlyn walk
Lastly, we had Mother's Day. Last year I was pregnant on Mother's Day, but this is the first year I've had a baby. I can't help but remember how hard Mother's Day is for so many people. Friends who have dealt with infertility and loss and the loss of Stephen's grandma served as reminders at how precious life is and how Mother's Day is not a happy time for everyone.
Kaitlyn and I didn't make it to church because I didn't want to interrupt her nap when I knew we had a busy day with the possibility of no more naps. Stephen led worship, so he was obviously there. After he got home we headed down to Stockton to go out with Stephen's family. We had a good time and Kaitlyn did really well. It helps that she likes bread and we were at Strings. Unfortunately we left our camera in the car and don't have any pictures :(.
After lunch we went up to my mom's for a barbecue. My parents wanted to make sure the day was special for me, so they made all my favorite foods: barbecue shrimp, peppers, mushrooms, spinach salad from Costco, fresh strawberries, and homemade ice cream for dessert. Kaitlyn slept on the way up from Stockton, so she did pretty well.
My mom and Kaitlyn
Our first Mother's Day
My cousin and Kaitlyn
4 generations: me, Grandma, Kaitlyn, and my mom
My grandma and her four kids
Me and my sister
Kaitlyn and my dad
Me, my sister, and my mom
Final Stats
Her 9 month pictures were interesting. We got some good ones:
But the iPad has become very interesting...
And she (as usual) wanted to stand. On the rocking chair.
But she makes us smile.
