Nine Months!

Caroline is nine months old today. Well, technically, I guess it was yesterday, since it's after midnight.

We went to the doctor on Friday for her well baby check up. She's now tipping the scales at 19 lb. 3 oz., which is still around 60% for weight. She's 29 1/2" long, which is still 97% for height. And her head is around 18", which is still about 90% for head circumference. She's nothing, if not consistent! Even though the pediatrician described her as "tall and skinny", she has some very respectable rolls on her thighs and arms. I keep telling her to enjoy them now because in a few years, rolls on her thighs won't be so cute!

Still no crawling yet. The other day, she got excited about a toy that was in front of her, and she got up on her hands and knees and prepared to throw her upper body toward the toy. But instead, she threw her entire body backward, and boy, did THAT make her mad! It took her a second to register the fact that she was now farther away from her toy, and then her face got red, her mouth opened, and she let out the angriest yell I think I've ever heard her make, all the while flopping her arms and legs up and down like a little fish. It would have been funny, if it hadn't been so pathetic! She wants so badly to move, and she can scoot with the best of them, but she just can't work out how to get where she's going without getting rug burn on her tummy!

One thing she has learned to do is to actually manipulate small things into her mouth. I keep giving her those little Gerber fruit puff things to play with, and she tried for WEEKS to get one in her mouth. Finally, last Saturday she did it, and she was so proud of herself! After that, she got better and better at it, and I'd say that now she has around a 50% success rate when she actually goes for her mouth (as opposed to dropping them on the floor and saying, "Uh-oh!"). I guess it's time to get serious about frequent vacuuming, since a baby who can put food in her mouth can also put other things in her mouth!

I'm planning to make an appointment for her nine-month portraits in the next week or so. In the meantime, I took pictures of both the girls for Mother's Day. I started taking pictures of Anna sitting in rose petals when she was about Caroline's age, and I continued the theme for the next several years. Last year, I never got around to it, but I decided to start it up again this year. So I took pictures of both the girls with rose petals this time. Caroline wasn't particularly smiley that day, but I think the pictures turned out pretty good, despite her somber mood.

I went to Walgreens.com and made an 11x14 composite with the pictures I got, and I really like the way it turned out. I made a copy for myself, my mom, and my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I'm especially fond of the way the bright colors pop against the black background.

Uh-oh!

Caroline has had some pretty significant developmental advances in the last couple of weeks. One of my favorites is her newest word: Uh-oh! She doesn't say it consistently yet, but she does say it appropriately, right after she drops something. It has become a really fun game to drop things off of her high chair and say, "Uh-oh!" and then grin at us. We then have about 5 seconds to pick up the object and give it back before Her Majesty gets mad. I remember this game from when Anna was little, and fortunately, it was a fairly short phase. Good times.

She has also started giving kisses. Well, "kisses" is probably not the most accurate description. It's more like she's trying to eat your head, but it's still adorable. She started that about a week ago. I was kissing her cheeks (which are yummy and very kissable!), and she suddenly turned her head and laid a big one on my cheek. Fortunately, I don't mind a little baby slobber, and she just looked so proud of herself afterwards!

Another new trick: clapping. This one just started yesterday. Prior to that she would occasionally "clap" her fists together, but she hadn't quite gotten the hands open to make noise. Yesterday, she was sitting on the floor with her toys and just started clapping her hands and making noise. Again, she looked at me with a huge grin, obviously proud of her new accomplishment!

Still no crawling yet, but Caroline is trying really hard and manages to move herself, even though I can't always figure out how she's accomplished it! She's great at pushing herself backwards on her tummy, but even when she's sitting up, she manages to move herself around. Today, she covered about two square yards without actually using any discernable form of locomotion. She's also figured out the beginnings of how to pull up, and she managed to pull herself up onto her knees in her crib the other day.

Here's a picture of one of Caroline's "push ups". She has the basic idea, but she can't seem to get the arms and legs coordinated.



Here she is, happily playing with her toys. She has recently developed an ability to entertain herself for longer periods than before, so I can actually put her down for more than 5 minutes at a time. Let me just say that it is about time!



And here is one of her favorite new activities: taking things out and putting them back in again. Here, she had her whole basket of toys, which was fun, but it doesn't compare to the fabulous Stride Rite box I gave her a day or two later.



Big Sister Anna has recently taken an interest in the digital camera, and she got a GREAT picture of Caroline the other day. We may have a budding photographer on our hands! And don't you just want to pinch those chubby cheeks?