9 Months

Some months seem to go by faster than others, and this last month was one of them.  I feel like I was just sitting here yesterday writing a post for P turning 8 months old.   Every month that goes by, I get a little bit sad because I know that it means that she is getting closer and closer to turning 1.  It is so bittersweet to think that she is only 3 months away from having her first birthday.  I have to admit though that also with every passing month, I fall more and more in love with her.  I am having so much fun watching her grow and change and reach new milestones.  With each new month she shows us more and more of her sweet (and curious) personality.

Peyton is such a laid-back, happy, and loving baby.  I think that last month I wrote something about how busy she was, well boy I had no idea what was to come as she mastered the skill of crawling.  In the last week and a half our lives have drastically changed.  She no longer will stay in a room for more than a few minutes before she has crawled her way out to find something to get into.  She is completely unfazed by crawling on the hardwoods that make up 95% of our house.  She is also unaware of heights and has no fear about crawling onto the edge of our bed, the chair, or even her changing table.  She is about as curious as she can be, crawling around EVERY inch of our house and checking out anything and EVERYTHING.  Her new favorite discovery is Ellie's food and water bowl.  She loves to sit and splash her hands in Ellie's water bowl and as soon as I tell her no and move her away from it, she crawls right back to it.  I have also caught her picking up pieces of Ellie's food and trying to put them into her mouth.  We are working on understanding the meaning of "no" but so far it's not working...  Peyton continues to love Ellie and my parents' dog Zack, and has no problem letting Ellie lick her hands and feet.  She can easily pull up onto her knees but hasn't really started pulling up to standing yet.  She will however push up onto her feet with her hands still on the ground---I call this her downward dog position.  Her vocabulary consists of "byebye," "momma," "dadda," and "no no no."  She still loves her baby food and we have slowly started giving her some table food but not much.  She LOVES LOVES LOVES water and is getting better at drinking it out of a sippy cup.

We had P's 9 month check-up on Tuesday and to my surprise our pediatrician said that she can have anything to eat but honey.  When I asked him about peanut butter and chocolate he said again "she can have anything but honey."  I was shocked!  He also said that we can start giving her milk.  Of course I second guessed him again because surely I misunderstood him...everything I have read says that you have to wait until they turn one to have cow's milk, but again he said that it was fine to start giving it to her.  We haven't tried to give her any just yet.  Peyton had to get one shot during her check-up.  Why is it that as she gets older the worse I feel that she has to get shots?  Maybe it's because I think that she is more aware of what's going on.  Well anyways, she was such a trooper! She didn't even cry! She was getting ready to start fussing after the nurse had finished giving her the shot and was putting the band aid on her thigh, but as soon as I picked her up she was fine.  I was so proud of my little baby.  Her stats are below:

Weight: 20lbs. 6.5 oz (75th - 90th percentile)

Height:  28.25 inches long (75th - 90th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17.25