Officially left your adorable tummy crawl behind for the hands and knees crawl, often now the hands, one knee, and one foot crawl. You can move so fast too. Your favorite places to dart to are the bathroom (you have discovered how amazing the toilet paper roll is) and the big bookshelf. That bookshelf is probably your favorite place in the whole house, and you happily pull down books over and over and over again.
You are cruising along furniture. No attempts to let go, but your balance is improving rapidly. You can easily hold on with one hand while to look around. You are much more confident and agile, up and down and all around you go.
You like to dance and bounce up and down when you are standing.
You have the most adorable, mischievous grin. A favorite time to employ it is during bath time when you constantly pull yourself up to stand, looking at me slyly with a huge grin, laughing as I say, 'sit down Rua!'. You listen and sit down, but two second later, looking at me with that same grin, you are pulling yourself up again. This happens at least 20 times each bath.
You discovered stairs this month. We don't have any in our apartment so you just haven't been exposed to them. But we were visiting some friends and there were stairs. You noticed them right away and made a beeline for them. You knew exactly what to do and thought you were so clever to have figured it out.
Messes, you love to make messes. Pulling down books, ripping apart newspaper or any other paper you can get your hands on, pulling apart Abby's carefully put together puzzles (she doesn't like this one so much). If there is a mess to be made, you are on it.
Messes of course extend to eating. Along with being messy while you eat though, you have started a new trick of throwing food on the floor. And your spoon. Drives me crazy.
Your favorite foods are: Hmmm, everything? You like fruits, especially melons and berries. You really like smoothies. You have mastered drinking through a straw so you just go at those smoothies.
Dad was gone for a couple weeks this month and you were so glad when he came home. You could not stop grinning at him and wanted him to hold you constantly that day. It was great to see.
You went on your first camping trip and had a blast. You didn't roll around in the dirt nearly as much as you felt you should though, sorry about that. :)
We had Rua's 9 month check-up yesterday and here is how she measured up:
Weight: 16.13 lbs 26th %tile
Length: 27inches 26th %tile
Head: 17 inches 31 %tile
She only had to get one shot but you would have thought it was ten by how much she cried! Poor thing. We came home and she crashed for the next 4 hours.
She has had lots of doctors appointments this month, visiting a geneticist, getting an ultrasound, xrays in addition to our monthly OT visit, all in preparation for our upcoming visit to the Orthopedic surgeon next week, who we haven't seen since she was 3 months old.
The geneticist was a simple visit, she visited with us and observed her and told us it was obvious there was no other syndrome connected with Rua's ectrodactyly. Which was great news! We already figured that was the case because in every way she is the picture of a normal, healthy baby. The geneticist ordered the ultrasound because kidney problems often are associated with ectrodactyly, but that came back normal.
The OT has been a monthly visit, mostly to work on her left hand that has one bent finger She has had so far four splints made, all with the purpose to help straighten out that finger to make it more functional. She wears the splint at night, which has made for some hard nights, especially with the current splint. This splint keeps the arm straight so she can't bend it and chew on the splint. The problem is, that is also the arm with the thumb she sucks. So there goes hermethod of self-soothing. Needless to say, there are several nights where she is already cranky enough and there is no way I am attempting to put that thing on which only causes more stress and tears.
One more week and we will have a better idea of the doctors plan and recommendations for any treatment or possible surgeries. In the meantime, she is sure using what she has just fine. Has that pincer grasp down pat, grabs and hold onto anything and everything, and has no problem standing on those cute feet of hers. So who knows, maybe they won't do anything.
Happy 9 months beautiful girl! You sure aren't looking so much like a baby these days. You are getting so big and so wriggly and full of energy.
Some things from this past month:
You've perfected your tummy crawl and in just the last couple of days you have started to do more of a regular crawl
You can pull yourself back up to a sitting position from crawling.
You are constantly pulling yourself up to stand on anything you can get your little hands on. Even if it's something 5 inches from the ground, you sure try! And each time you are successful, you break out into your beautiful smile.
You now have 8 teeth.
You love music and bounce up and down to any music that plays. You especially like me to sing songs like Wheels on the Bus, Popcorn popping that have movements
You get so excited when we talk to Dad on the phone and his picture pops up.
You chew on anything, including Abby's shoes
You love to be outside. You get so happy when we go to the playground. We ran past one today in the stroller and you got so excited and I felt bad because we weren't stopping. You sure did too, and let me know it!
Love this picture, could look at this all day, that smile is so infectious!
You also have so much fun at the beach in the sand. You think the sand tastes good too.
You are sooo attached to me. I can't leave the room without you crying and trying to crawl towards me. Oh and if I even dare try to use the bathroom or shower, you are one mad baby.
You are slightly more interested in books. At least, you enjoy turning the pages. But that's about all you want to do with them.
You have started pulling books off of shelves and making big book messes, so I guess that's one more thing you like to do with them. :)
Whenever you get within arms reach of any other person, you go straight for their hair and try to grab it. Abby especially falls victim to your hair pulls.
You still love to eat, and even look for any remaining crumbs in your bib.
You are babbling a lot more. Mostly da-da-da.
You recognize your name
Time is going so fast, every day is so busy and its hard to just keep up with you! But it's so much fun too. So grateful for you, beautiful Rua.
We had a very simple Fourth this year. Pancake breakfast at church in the morning, followed by a drive to Fontana to spend the afternoon and evening with my family. We had to leave before the firework fun started, which made Abby a little sad, but thankfully it turned out great because we were able to watch parts of different shows from a distance as we droves down the freeway. And without the noise, so Rua slept through it all! :) Next year though, we'll take Abby to a proper show.
And of course, we took some pictures of our girls.
Took awhile to write, Abby's birthday was June 7th
Dearest Abby,
If anyone asks you how old you are, you sure know the answer! "I three!" You are three, wow. My tiny colicky baby is now a big girl. And such a sweet little (oops, I mean big) girl you are. Except for your occasional tantrums, you are such a mild tempered, happy girl. You have changed so much in the last year. You have grown so much more independent, you don't need me to play with you all day long. I can actually clean (!) or cook while you are awake and Rua is sleeping, because you are super content to read or play by yourself for a while.
Some or your favorite things to play or do are
Reading. You love to have me read to you, but you also love to read by yourself. If I stop and listen, I can hear you talking about the pictures or summarizing the story if you already know it. Often, you sit and read to your babies or monkey and bear. If there is a book you really love, you will even memorize it word for word. Top book for you this year would definitely be Mighty Dads by Jane Holub. It's adorable how when you see a crane, for instance, you say, "look mom! It's a crane long arm!"
Puzzles. I sure think it's amazing how well you do puzzles. When we go to the library, your favorite thing to do is sit and go through all of their puzzles. And they have a lot.
Taking care or your babies (this includes monkey and bear). You change their diapers, give them milk, give them medicine, put them down for naps, read to them, carry them in the ergo, and go on walks with them. We were at a group FHE tonight, and the person doing the lesson asked you why God gave you your baby, referring to Rua, but you just lovingly looked down at your baby doll that you had brought with you. I could almost see your little mind thinking, 'God gave me my baby doll?! Wow!'
You like all your necklaces and bracelets. You like to get into my makeup.
But you are not all girly. One of your most favorite past times is playing with your large collection of matchbox cars. You drive them to all of your favorite places, to the zoo, to the museum, to sea world, to get ice cream. All located at different spots on the rug. Anything with wheels - or wings, is fascinating to you.
You love to paint and do crafts. Most days you will come up to me at least once and say, 'mom, I want to do a craft!' Which is great, but usually sounds like more work than fun for me.
You always want to help cook and bake. We have our matching aprons and we sure use them!
Lately you want to help clean. Like mopping floors, doing dishes, doing laundry. I have to always remind myself to slow down and let you help me.
Singing! You are such a little singer. Your favorite songs are 'The Itsey Bitsey Spider' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'
In all of your playing, your imagination has been developing like crazy. It's so fun to hear you tell me what your babies or cars are doing. Lately they've been getting hurt a lot and need a lot of bandaids (this followed an unfortunate fall a little boy we were watching took).
Notice the band-aids on Monkey's head
Favorite places: The zoo. The beach. The Children's museum. Costco. Target (if it's one with an escalator). The library. The park.
You get so excited about your friends and spending time with them. It's so cute to see you run around, holding their hands as you play. You love to go to nursery at church. Though you did have about a two month period where you were suddenly fearful, like really scared and crying hysterically, to go. But you are back to loving nursery.
You love your baby sister. You try to help keep her happy and play with her. You are still learning to share with her, but you've come a long way already. But you have no hesitation in giving her love and kisses.
Your language has taken off so much in the last year. With that, your sense of humor and ability to say something intentionally funny. The things you say! I wish I wrote some of them down! And the questions. Over and over. 'What's that?' 'What you talking about?' 'What are we doing?'
You are so brave in certain things. Like climbing.
And then the things you are afraid of - anything that make air sounds. Meaning, air mattresses or inflatable anything. Especially bouncy houses! This even extends to Eric or I filling up the tires on the car, bike, or stroller. You will run as far away as you can (or sit in your car seat and cry in the case of filling the car tires)
Abby, I think you are the most beautiful and wonderful little girl. I love spending time with you and talking with you. Before Rua was born 8 months ago and I had to the hospital and stay overnight for tests and you were home, I missed you so much and wanted my Abby with me. Even though you are three I really feel like you are one of my best friends, one of the few people I always want near me.
Now, there are times I get frustrated and upset. Especially when you don't listen and throw tantrums. I know I don't always handle those situations the best, but I am trying, I am learning. Our year-long to date potty training has also been very trying for me. It has brought me to tears several times. So much that I would have done differently with that! Here's hoping we'll get that down soon!
Three years old. Time that has gone so quickly but filled with so many memories. Three of the best years of my life. I love you Abby-girl.
8 months old now! This
month you really took off, literally. You are now a mobile baby. You were doing
your rocking thing on your hands and knees last month and beginning of this
month, but then you decided scooting on your tummy was more your thing than
actual crawling. You've got the tummy crawl down pretty good and pretty fast
too!
Some other things from
this month:
Teething, more teething. Your seventh tooth broke
through this month. That seems like an awful lot of teeth for an 8 month
old, are you sure you need all of those right now? It gives you a cute
toothy grin, but the bites on mom are less than cute.
You finally turned a corner with tolerating the jogging
stroller. In the past two weeks you have suddenly gone from screaming
almost as soon as we start moving to calmly looking around as we run. Your
limit is 3-4 miles right now. But that is 3-4 miles without having to stop
to try and soothe you or hold you. It is sooo great! We've gotten a little
routine down now where we go right after breakfast since now I don't have
to wait until the second you wake up from a nap or are about to sleep.
It's so nice to not have to plan the entire day around when we might
possibly be able to run.
You continue to love eating. You have tried tons of
things and seem to like them all for now.
You try to grab and eat anything. Today we were at the
store and I was holding you on my hip while looking at produce. I glance
over at you and see you snatch a handful of swiss chard and stuff it in
your mouth before I can stop you. And you seemed to really like it. Did
the same with some fresh basil later too. And then sand and seaweed this
afternoon - not quite so edible, but you seemed to like it just as much.
Strange girl.
You are now officially a predictable, 2-nap a day girl.
This makes planning our days so much easier! We do a lot of lunch time
outings now which makes for lots of fun picnics.
You love watching bubbles
You love going down the slides with me holding you.
You love standing. You can lift yourself up to your
feet holding on to my hands, with no help from me. And you are so proud of
yourself when you do this!
You want to play with all of Abby's toys and anything
she is holding. This drives Abby crazy.
You are so attached to me. The separation anxiety
started about 2 months ago and has just gotten worse. But once I take you
back you calm right down, snuggling in with your thumb in your mouth.
You are still the happiest little baby and I love how
your face lights up into smiles over and over all day long.
