9 MONTH CHECK UP!

Wow! We really have had a busy last 60 days!! Alexis has decided to hit a ton of Milestones between month 7 and now month 9!! I guess the easiest way to explain it is, the only thing she isn't doing yet is walking! So..YES!! We are now crawling as of a couple of weeks ago so the baby gates have gone up, we have rearranged the kitchen so that all the chemicals are out of our turbo crawlers range, and all the outlets are covered. Whew! And we are in the process of deciding on which convertible seat to buy since we will need one that travels nicely and can be used on an airplane because YES, grandma and grandpa have already started planning next summer to go see Great Granny.



We had our 9 month check up today and the DR was very pleased with Alexis's progress even though her weight is in the 65% and her height is the 50%. I was informed that babies at this age tend to lose weight since they are very mobile! Her head measurement is in the 90%!!! As daddy would say, someone has to be the genius of the family! :-)

Alexis's Milestones Include:



1. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING to stand and even takes a few steps side to side while holding on.

2. She loves to bang things together to make sounds! She also will say dada and mama separately now when she wants either one of us instead of including it in her daily jabber. She can also say ball and turtle for some reason..maybe its because she has a turtle bath toy? But, Alexis will repeat sounds that you say or sing to her..we play this game on the way to school.



3. She actually knows the meaning of "no". She still trys to get into those "forbidden" items but she does pull back when we say no and looks at us. Now that she is crawling, she hears NO a lot which of course we are not thrilled about and with her getting into everything, parenting really has begun!

YEP! She has pushed the glass off the coffee table! This table will be "disappearing" soon from the living room.

Put something new out of reach and she will find the quickest way to get there!

4. We are on 3 meals a day and 4, 6-8 ounce bottles. We have been having to give her more formula in her bottle even though she is on the highest level of baby solids now that she is moving so normally she will get an 8 ounce bottle at night before she goes to bed and the other 3 are still 6 ounce. But she has mastered the sippy cup..still no juice because mommy is not sure how hyper she will become with a little bit of sugar but she loves water! And daddy puts ice in there when she is teething so it is extra cold for her gums. We have been introducing table foods to her a little bit each weekend for the past few weekends and she is still not sure what to do with it. She will eat it if we put it in her mouth but hasn't figured out once she picks it up to put the food in her mouth. The DR says she will figure out the more we expose her to the "food to mouth" concept.



5. We have 4 Teeth! 2 bottom and 2 top! The bottom 2 were no problem but the top 2 took their sweet time and really did bother her quite a bit...we are so grateful she responds well to baby Tylenol, orajel and teething tablets. Thank goodness because teething babies are clingy, moody, drool alot, and cranky!! Those days sure aren't fun.



6. She is a really good sleeper!! We are so fortunate!! Her sleep time at night has actually lengthened the last few weeks since she has been so active and mobile. So, she normally sleeps from 8pm-7am with 2 naps during the day. It is getting easier to put her to bed when she is super tired but still awake since she really loves her crib, whether she is sleeping her 11 hours or playing in their with her toys.

7. Daycare gets a kick out of her since she is one of the only babies there that will turn the pages while reading a book and tell her own story as she flips the pages. WE actually tried this at home and wow...we couldn't stop laughing because storytime with Alexis comes with hand gestures and different sounds.



8. Diaper changing has become a HUGE challenge because in about 5 seconds, Alexis can flip over, pull herself up and sit up or start crawling(all on the changing table which makes me super nervous). And she wants to TOUCH EVERYTHING!! So if she sees something she wants to take a look at and you are trying to change her diaper...GOOD LUCK! I have learned to put a diaper on her backwards. We have had to pin her down since she moves so quickly...of course she fusses but once her diaper is on and the drama is over, she is good to go. But wow...I actually work up a sweat while trying to get her changed! And toys and songs don't seem to do the trick anymore...she wants to GO!

Checkingo out the new gate

On the move!!

Let me out!

Fine, if you won't let me out, I will just stand up!

Using the gate as monkey bars

Lexi loves to pull up on our entertainment center

This is how she likes to watch TV lately

I thought today was going to be a shot free day but NO!! Since we are in the middle of flu season, the DR recommended we start on the flu shots SO, Alexis got a half dose today in her leg which made her cry for maybe 30 seconds. She really is a good patient when it comes to shots since she doesn't cry that much and the paci and mommy cuddling seem to do the trick. We go back in a month for the 2nd dose.



Time really does fly by after your baby starts to become more independent. I couldn't believe I made Alexis's 1 YEAR APPOINTMENT today when I left the DR's office. She is getting so big and Joe and I love our little princess so very much! Crawling has let her express herself a whole lot more which of course cracks us up. Our families are very much looking forward to the holidays!!



I have not posted too many more pics but will in the next few months. She is hard to take a picture of now that she is mobile and hates to sit still! Hmm...sounds like someone I know. We have Fall Pictures at school tomorrow so we are anxious to see how those turn out since we got to pick out a few different backgrounds.