9 Months Old

This beautiful girl is always doing things with her tongue.  Sticking it out, curling it around, or flipping it over (upside down) like her Aunt Katie can do.  Sometimes I think she looks kinda goofy with her tongue hanging out of her mouth all the time, but I know that means she's happy.

Elaina's most recent accomplishment is cutting her two bottom teeth. And let me tell you, those are some well-earned little baby teeth. There was much, well, gnashing of teeth. Crying and whining and whimpering and fussing and chewing and gnawing and biting and moaning. One of her favorite things to chew on is an apple from the tree in our backyard. There has been some ear pulling (but no ear infections. Babies sometimes tug at their ears when there is pain in their mouth), and some low-grade temps. Lots of teething tablets and a few doses of ibuprofen and tylenol. And since we were desperate, we figured we'd see if she responded well to an amber teething necklace.The first night she wore it, we all slept better than we had in weeks.  So she's been wearing it around the clock, and seems to be doing much better.

Elaina's personality becomes more apparent every day.  She is determined, stubborn, tough, and affectionate. With all of her mobility comes lots of topples and tumbles, and sometimes she is a tripping hazard for her big sister.  She flails and flaps her arms when she gets excited, and likes to babble and make noise when she's happy. She has a sort of squawk-chrip-call that she does when she wants to beckon me.


And she really just likes to babble and chatter.


She is certainly learning how to communicate.  We aren't quite ready to claim that she's said her first word, but she will definitely mimic destinct sounds.

We've been trying to take advantage of this nice Fall weather we've been having, and spend as much time outside as possible.  Elaina loves all of the beautiful colors and crisp air, and gets very excited when we go to the park that is just up the street.  She loves the baby swing, and gasps when the cool breeze hits her face.

She loves to observe the world around her.


The first fire we've had since she was a newborn.  She seemed to like it.

Elaina also loves playing peek-a-boo games, being tickled, rubbing foreheads together, and being with her sister.  Naptime works best if the girls sleep at the same time, because if they don't, they just miss each other. They play together so well, and really entertain and occupy each other for a good portion of the morning.  Elaina also loves it when her daddy gets home from work, and bounces up and down with a silly grin on her face, and sometimes claps her hands.  She claps for all sorts of things; particularly if she hears me say "good job."

Elaina has mastered the art of crawling. We have recently reevaluated the location of everything within a couple feet of the floor, and have to be quick to get something off the floor if we don't want her to snatch it.


Sometimes she plays so hard she just passes out right where she is.  Even if she happens to be in the Johnny Jump Up.

And then sometimes she just needs a good nap with Daddy.


Last week, Elaina measured in at 28 inches (67th percentile) and weighed in right at 18 pounds (36th percentile).  So there must be some really chubby babies out there, if Elaina's chubbiness is out-chubbed by two-thirds of her peers.  She still nurses throughout the day (and night), and eats a decent amount of solid food as well.  She likes to munch on solid food, especially with the rest of us at dinner time.  She eats a lot of mashed rice and veggies, Cheerios and Rice Chex, and I found these wonderful "potato straws" (puffed, and no weird ingredients that I can't pronounce!) that she thinks are delightful. She is obviously healthy and strong, and for that we give thanks.

She had her first "real" bath last week.  Chloë needed a bath, so we decided to throw Elaina into the big bathtub.

She went absolutely nuts, flailing her arms with wild joy, scooting backwards with the movement like a little crawdad.  We had to put a towel in the tub to give her buns some friction. This was after she had calmed down quite a bit.


I love being her mama.