Myla at 9 months

Myla bean,

9 months has never gone by so fast. You have been out as long as you were in now and I can't believe how big you're getting. You learn new things every day and you are always surprising us with the cute things you do. You're clapping (or trying to - you have one hand open but you keep the other one in a fist), crawling so fast you'd think your pants were on fire, climbing to stand on everything, jabbering with "baba, gaga, dada, kaka, googoo, gaga, etc", and... dancing. It's my favorite! Not only do you dance to music with a good beat, but all I have to do is sing the first few words of "popcorn popping" and you start to move your booty. I need to get a video, pronto.

Your favorite game is "peek-a-boo" and your favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy Spider. You also are starting to understand "anticipation" and squeal and smile when we chase after you saying "I'm gonna get you!!" You can walk on your own pushing your walker around but get stuck when you hit a wall/furniture/person. You LOVE to drink water... whether it's from your sippy cup, our cup, or the bathtub (we try to prevent that one). You really like other babies but you have yet to learn how to be gentle. You are very... assertive. Meaning. you aren't afraid to explore their faces (esp eyes) and try to "climb" them.

We went on an extended road trip and were in the car for about 30 hours total over 2 weeks. Our longest stretch was 6 hours and you did great! We just bought you a bunch of new toys from the dollar store (including a dog toy - which was your favorite) and you were entertained (well, that and plenty of snacks). We went to Vegas where daddy took his first dental board exam and you and I hung out at the pool (hard life, right?). From Vegas we traveled all over including St. George, camping for a family reunion near Cedar City, Eagle Mountain, Newton to see your great grandma Petersen and some aunts and uncles, then to Riverton, back to St. George, and home again. We were all happy to be home - but especially you! You were so glad to be able to crawl around and climb things all day without being strapped in a car!

We were all impressed with how well you did camping. You took great naps, slept (decently) well at night, and only had mild stranger danger with the over 100 new faces. I loved dressing you up in some cozy winter clothes - you looked so cute in a jacket and hat... You don't get much of a chance to wear those here in AZ! I'll do a separate post with pictures about the road trip later.

We've had a little trouble with you pulling up in your crib and not being able to get back down. We thought removing the bumpers would make it so you wouldn't climb up... yeah right! You can get down now by yourself, but you don't like to :). I actually love coming into your room in the morning and having you standing there, peeking over the edge, waiting for me.

You're sleeping like a champ still - 11-12 hours at night and 2 naps during the day ranging from 1.5 to 2 hours each. I'm in heaven! You love to eat and are pretty demanding about it. You're eating about everything and are only starting to get more picky. You aren't needing prunes anymore - so that's nice! When you eat something you really like you start kicking your legs, smiling, and making excited noises. I'd say yogurt is your current favorite food... followed closely by frozen peas (ha!).

You're loving having dad home from school - now you have 2 people to play with all the time!

We love you baby girl - don't grow up too fast.