Ada hit nine months yesterday! That means she’s been out just about as long as she was in.
It’s amazing to look back at all the changes that take place in such a short amount of time. Ada continues to amaze us with her new skills and endear us with her adorable, developing personality.
Ada got to travel again in February. She and I flew to California for a week with the family. She got to meet Uncles Aaron and Steve (her birthday buddy), Aunt Kelsey, and Grandpa Frank, hang out with grandparents, and visit the magic kingdom. I think she enjoyed the warmer weather.
Ada seems to produce a new skill every day! She still has no use for crawling, but she has found plenty of ways to move around. She’s starting to pull herself up on things if she finds something interesting enough to motivate her. She still hasn’t managed to get on her feet on her own, but she loves to stand when we put her on something. I’m wondering if she’s just planning to skip crawling.
Where we’re seeing the most growth these days is with Ada’s social skills. She makes friends wherever she goes and smiles at everyone. I don’t think she understands yet that not everybody loves her as much as Luke and I do. She’ll see somebody whose look pleases her, start to quack at them, and then continue to stare until they’re out of sight, waiting for them to talk to her. In the last month, Ada has mastered clapping, waving, sharing, and talking. Well, saying mama. She is truly a joy to sit and play with these days as she learns to interact with us.
Since January 1 Ada has sprouted four new teeth, giving her six total. She has four on top now, wih two more on their way (I think). She handles teething really well, with new buds not really affecting her sleep at all.
Sleep continues to be our greatest challenge with Ada. She is sleeping pretty well, but it requires constant schedule tweaking to keep her going. She even slept through the night once last week
Food is another really fun area right now. We’ve basically transitioned from purees to finger foods. Ada loves to feed herself, and if it comes off my plate, she wants it. I really never expected her to have such an obsession with food. We can no longer eat in front of her without sharing. We are not giving Ada meat yet, so we have to make sure there’s something else on our plates that we can give her. But we usually eat dinner after she’s gone to bed, so it doesn’t matter much. She loves just about every food she eats, with plain avocado being the exception. Her favorites include a black bean and avocado mash, blueberries, and yogurt.
She did have quite a large breakfast this morning that included some new foods that, sadly, didn't agree with her. At all. And made a reappearance. Three times. Twice in the car. We feel like we're definitely in the parenting club now.
After hearing a lot of comments about Ada’s size while we were in California, I got curious. We hadn’t been to the pediatrician since early December, but I wanted to know what she weighed. I took her to the office and weighed her on the baby scale. 14 lbs, 10 oz. This means that in two months, she had gained just 6.5 oz. It also puts her in the 2nd percentile for her age. We have a checkup next week and will find out then whether or not the dr. is concerned. My gut tells me that this isn’t a problem. I was an epically skinny baby as well, so it runs in the family. Besides, she’s happy and healthy, so I think she’s fine. I do enjoy still being able to put her in some of her 3 month clothing (although even that is coming to an end).
Our favorite two purchases in the last two months have been Ada’s Skip Hop Playspot and her B Toys Zany Zoo.
The Playspot is a set of interlocking foam tiles that create a soft place for baby to go boom when they fall and keeps all of her toys concentrated to one area. It is also free of all the unsavory chemicals that many other foam play mats contain (this also means it doesn’t have the smell many others do).
The Zany Zoo is a wooden activity cube. Ada can stand up while holding some of the toys on top. She really loves this thing and it entertains her longer than any other $50 that we’ve spent. You’ve probably seen this featured in several pictures over the last few weeks. The B Toys line has lots of colorful, fun toys that encourage creativity. The colors are unlike all other toys, so the Zany Zoo is less of an eyesore than most of Ada’s other toys. We plan to give B Toys lots of money over the next few years.
Well I think that’s it for nine months. I’ll leave you with a fan favorite- a picture my dear sister-in-law, Nicole, snapped while we were at Disneyland.