TriGirl14: 9 Months!

3/4th's of her way into her first year! Crazy! From 8-9 months went really fast. Probably because we were in California for almost a week of that time, but for whatever reason, it seemed really fast.

Her nickname of Dragon still holds true. She is a feisty, independent and demanding child. She still does not crawl, which might be part of her issue, because she knows what she wants but can't get to it. And when we are eating, she knows which thing she wants but I have to go through all of the items she is eating to figure out which one she wants. She will let me know it is not the right item by pinning her mouth closed, turning her head, screaming or blocking it with her arms. I am looking forward to her crawling or walking, just so she can be happier! But I know that it will be way more difficult for me.

Our 9 month schedule is similar to 8 months:

Awake 730ish: Talks in crib for a bit. I come in and then offer her a bottle, sometimes she drinks some, other times she doesn't.

730-850am: Playtime in room and Baby Einstein Video. I allow her to play on her own for most of this time so that she can practice her crawling etc. as when I am around she will just whine.

9:00am Breakfast. Waffles and a fruit pouch, which she usually eats most of the waffle and half a pouch. Today she got raspberries instead of the pouch, she LOVES raspberries.

9:45am: 8oz bottle.

10:00am Nap

11:45-1215pm: Zuri wakes from her nap.

12:45-1:45pm: Gym Daycare! She LOVES the gym daycare.

2:00pm: 4oz Bottle/pouch snack before leaving the gym

2:15pm: Lunch. Her lunch has been grilled cheese (or one of the dinner items listed below), an orange veggie pouch, possibly a fruit if we have one, the last few days have been kiwi, which she has liked. This time of the day she eats and drinks A LOT!

2:50pm: 8oz bottle.

3:00pm: Nap.

4:45-5:15pm: Zuri wakes up

5:15-6:15pm: Playtime or an outing, to the store, park or some place.

6:30pm : Dinner. Something like, Butternut squash mac and cheese, spinach and cheese ravioli, hummus on a tortilla, more raspberries (if we have them), a veggie like carrots, green veggie pouch.

6:50pm: Bath. One of her favorite times of the day!

7:15pm: Bed. She has been laying here talking until almost 8:00pm, probably why her morning wake up has been a little later.

We do have a pretty strict schedule. It makes my life easier and her life much happier. When she gets naps when she needs them she is HAPPY! Now, we have times where that obviously can't happen. Like the other day I had a lesson at 5:00pm, so she had to go with me and I had to wake her early from her nap. She played on the floor, stole her favorite kale and apple crocodile corn things out of my bag, ate cheerios off the floor...you know fun stuff! Her ability to go with me to lessons will be short lived as she becomes more mobile. She loved going to Costco last night and sampling all the food, she devoured the hashbrown's they were sampling and cheese (this is where I learned she liked hummus).

A few times she has had to go to practice with me, which makes for a later night. She really enjoys going, because she loves socializing with everyone! But when she goes to bed late, she seems to wake up earlier in the morning.

We use a babysitter (one of my former players that is a freshman in college) one night a week when Pedro is working and I have a short practice, the babysitter gives her a bath, bottle and puts her to bed. This has been about 50% successful. She behaves great, but she doesn't want to take the bottle from her sometimes (she won't take the bottle from anyone but me about 50% of the time someone else tries, which is very rare occasion). Then on Sunday's when I have games our babysitter has come when Pedro has to leave for work and takes over, usually this is during a nap time, so she just sits here and does her homework, while Zuri sleeps. Babysitting schedule will probably change now that Pedro is going to dayshift...so we will see what type of adjustment will be needed, the downside is that this coincides with my babysitter starting official college basketball practice and games.

She has a few odd issues. One is that she will still not let me feed her with a spoon. So, nearly all puree's are out, except the pouch (a few times she will let me feed some of pouch on a spoon). I have also found that if I put food on her tray and stand in the kitchen she will eat more than if I am sitting with her. She eats and I just replenish the food on her tray. Then if she has slowed down eating, if I go over and stand by her, I can get her to eat more with me feeding her. She will let me feed her with my hands in this situation. She doesn't like slippy food (pasta's, banana, kiwi), I have to feed her these foods, so we don't have them as much.

She has only one tooth, the other one is so close that I can't believe it hasn't broken the skin yet. I'm sure that will lead to another super cranky week, I guess I am happy to have a bit of a break before that happens.

Zuri's unofficial stats (9 Month Dr's appt on the 18th):

Weight: abt 19lbs
Height: no idea
Pant size: 12-18 months. (Old navy 12-18 month size is perfect! wish other brands had 12-18 months). 12month size fits pretty decent now, 18 month is too long, but rollable.
Tops: A few 9 month tops still fit, 12 month tops otherwise.

Likes:
Books!
Gym daycare!
Raspberries
Kiwi
Cheese
Bread
Her blanket
Ball's
Rolling around (her way of getting to her toys)
Bath time
Dogs and Cats (Polar still favorite dog and loves Apollo, but Apollo won't get close!)
Kale/apple crocodile treats

Dislikes:
Other people putting her to bed
Leaving daycare (not sure if she is upset, or just hungry!)
Not being able to get something she wants
Not being able to crawl (she has slithered on her belly a few times).
Me not knowing what she wants when she is eating.
Playing alone (if she see's me).
Slippery foods
TEETHING (I also dislike this one!)

Happy 9 months!