Hadley is Nine Months Old!

Hadley is now nine months old and she is eager to prove she's not a baby anymore! She is extremely independent and confident. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I see the other cuddly babies cling to their moms at story hour, as Hadley charges right out into the sea of kids (and bubbles) without looking back. 

But then Brett reassures me that she does this because she knows I'm there and that it's a good sign she's so self-assured. Today a big kid at story hour (about 5 years old) came over to her and screamed, "ROAR!" in her face to scare her. I ran to her rescue, but Hadley just giggled with delight.

Hadley is as always, moving all of the time. The only time she's still is when she's sleeping. For example, earlier this week she came down with a stomach bug and we tried everything, even watching TV to keep her still and it wouldn't work.  This leads me to Hadley's 9 month pediatrician visit today, where we learned Hadley has grown an inch and a half but has not gained any weight since August. She went from being in the 89% for weight at 3 months to the 27% at 9 months. The pediatrician attributed this to her constantly moving around. We're supposed to start supplementing her meals with some high-calorie healthy snacks such as avocado. 

After interacting with Hadley throughout the appointment, the pediatrician said Hadley is very socially advanced for nine months. I hope this means she'll be a great leader when she's in school and not get into trouble for non-stop socializing like mommy did!

Hadley's Nine Month Stats:

Height: 27.5 inches...49 percentile
Weight: 17 pounds, 8oz...27 percentile
Sleeps: THROUGH THE NIGHT....FINALLY!!! 7pm to 6:30am, plus two 1-hour naps during the day.
Teeth: four on the top, two on the bottom
Favorite Foods: cheddar cheese, Gerber cheese puffs, green beans, whole-wheat toast with butter
Least Favorite Foods: watermelon...for some reason she makes a sour face when she eats it.

Likes:

dancing to music
walking using her walker
climbing on stairs
crawling into small spaces (see pictures below)
books
animals, especially dogs and cats
laughing when other people laugh

Dislikes:

her pacifier, she has made it clear she's done with it
baths, especially having water poured over her hair
diaper changes
getting dressed
wearing socks


Here are some pictures taken over the last month:

My attempt at making her enjoy grocery shopping. It worked for about 10 minutes! :)

She LOVES to crawl into tiny spaces.

 

She also loves climbing on stairs, tables, chairs, you name it!

Hadley and Bode are closer than ever. It warms my heart to see them play and snuggle every day.

And...a little line up of her 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 month pictures!

 

Grandparents Visit!

Fall is always an exciting time for us, because as the heat and humidity of summer finally ease up, we get plenty of visitors!

In September, my mom visited for a week. Hadley had so much fun with Mema and especially enjoyed being read to and taking walks in the stroller. Mema was great about taking her outside during the evening, which always seemed to make her fussy time much better!

Mommy and daddy enjoyed going out on our first date in almost 4 months while Mema babysat Hadley.

My mom and Brett both had hurt knees so they made quite a pair sitting with their feet up.

This past weekend Mommom and Bobbob drove down to Wilmington for a long weekend. We all had fun going to the beach, going downtown and spending lots of time outside. Mommom and Bobbob watched Hadley so I could sleep in, go for a run, and take a few long showers....it was heavenly! The day Mommom arrived I asked her to help me get Hadley to use a sippy cup, something I've been struggling with for a few months. Within five minutes, Mommom had her drinking from her sippy cup like a champ!

Bobbob will always have a special place in Hadley's heart. Along with being an exceptional singer, when he holds her she gets a view from WAY up high.

As always, we were sad to have our visitors leave, though no one seems to get as upset as Bode! He spent all day moping in the guest room until a long walk and some dog treats cheered him up.

We can't wait for our next round of visitors to arrive!

Hadley Swings, Mommy Gets Sentimental

This picture summarizes many of my conflicting feelings of motherhood:

Stay close and be safe

Go far and live your life

Hold on tight

Smile and enjoy the ride

Be careful

Remember to have fun 

I feel so privileged that God chose me to be a mother to this amazing girl. 

Cheese, please!

Since Hadley was 6 months old, we've been introducing food other than breast milk. It has been a fun adventure to learn what she doesn't like (prunes) and what she loves (carrots, sweet potato, hummus and fish). Today I gave her cheddar cheese for the first time, and there is no going back!

When she tasted the cheese, she stopped picking it up with her hands and put her head down so she could lick the high chair:

Later that day, I had the idea to mix a little bit of cheddar cheese with her peas and carrots. She LOVED it!

Of course, she had to share her new-found delicatessen with her dog, Bode.

I get so excited when my family enjoys the healthy foods I make!

Hadley's New Skills

Over the last two weeks, Hadley has had 4 teeth poke through the top and has learned a number of new skills. These new developments have made her very fussy, but we can see how much she is learning and growing!

Mommy turned her back for about 5 seconds (big mistake) and Hadley found and learned to climb the stairs! We have a baby gate shipping from amazon as I write this!

Hadley's other new skill is she must crawl and pull up with TWO objects in her hands. These objects include cell phones, coasters, toys, hair bows, dog collars, cardboard, dog toys, socks, pajamas, etc.

Here are a few snapshots of her crawling and pulling up holding her two random objects:

Crawling with a toy banana in one hand, and a dog toy in the other....

Bode's dog collar in one hand, and a coaster in the other:

A toy banana in one hand, and a toy caterpillar in another,,,,

A dog collar in one hand, and a coaster in another:

Last night's pajama's in each hand...

A giraffe in one hand, and a toy car in the other...

A coaster and hair bow:

And two diapers:

And last but not least.... two pink socks!!

First we had pulling up, then pulling up on moving surfaces, and now pulling up with objects in hand. We have seen her stand by herself for a few seconds at a time, so we think that standing on her own is coming next!

Hadley is Eight Months Old!

 

Where is the time going?! I cannot believe the sweet little newborn I held in January is eight months old already. It is getting increasingly difficult to get her to sit still in this chair long enough to take her monthly picture!

Hadley is quite a busy bee. She likes to put everything in her mouth and is babbling non stop. Her favorite words to babble are dada, hey, and yeah. She understands what "good job" means, but thinks it's hilarious when mommy and daddy give her a stern, "no!"

Hadley is still pulling up on everything. She pulls up on surfaces I didn't even know were possible to pull up on such as our sliding glass door, mirrors, and walls. When she feels like taking a bit of a risk, moving objects like her jumperoo, a rocking chair, and the dogs are all exciting objects to use for balance. She loves to have her positive reinforcement. After she practices a new skill, she looks over expectantly for us to cheer her on! 

Hadley's Eight Month Stats:

Height: about 27 inches

Weight: 18 pounds

Hair: sandy blonde and wavy

Eyes: bright blue. Our pediatrician says they'll most likely stay this way. 

Teeth: still just two bottom teeth, though her top teeth look like they'll poke through any day now. 

Sleep: 2 naps a day, then in bed by 7:30pm. She is getting a little bit better about night wakings and hopefully by my 9 month post I'll be able to write that she's sleeping through the night. 

Favorite foods: hummus, salmon, chicken, carrots, green bean purée, puffs, Cheerios 

Likes:

Having her feet ticked and nibbled 

Books

Feeding the dogs her food

Coasters

Grabbing cell phones and waving them around like she's at a concert (and she knows if the cell phone is a toy or an old version that isn't activated and won't pay it any attention)

Paper products 

Pulling wipes out of the container

Balloons

Long, quiet stroller rides in the evening

Dislikes:

Any type of shopping

Car rides 

Diaper changes

Maybe someday she'll enjoy shopping...

Her pal Bode shares her enthusiasm for squeaky toys!

...and tape measures

I love this picture of her trying to pick up the sunlight on the floor. 

A close-up of her curly locks:

And a few of her pulling up on various things:

Happy eight months, Hadley! 

Happy Grandparents' Day!

September 7 is National Grandparents' Day, so Hadley wanted to send a special shout out to Mommom, Bobbob, Papa Don, Nana Sue, Mema and Gramps! Thank you all for being such wonderful grandparents to Hadley! She is blessed to have such a great team of grandparents who love, support, and guide her. Thanks for all you do for our little girl!