Nine Months
Nine months is always a bittersweet milestone. Nine months it took to grow this little human, and now here she is, nine months earth-side.
"How has it already been _____ months?" I keep asking myself this as we hit each monthly milestone.
Time has truly flashed before my eyes with my second. As much as I try to soak up each and every second, it just feels like the seconds are speeding up.
With each giggle and each new skill she learns, I'm reminded of how fast the first year goes and how drastically different these tiny humans look once they turn a year old. She's been taking 1-2 steps this past week and as she becomes curiouser and curiouser about the world around her, she looks bigger and bigger.
But in the quiet of the night, as she's snuggled up next to me, I stare down at her as she sleeps, and she doesn't look quite so big. With her round little cheeks and perfect little lips, I see my newborn. The tiny 7 lb. 4 oz. babe that I welcomed into the world, just nine months ago.
And though the days seem long sometimes, my three year old reminds me the years are so short.
So what is this busy nine month old up to?
She loves to be wherever her big sister is! From day one, she has had little to no desire to play with "baby" toys, and has spent most of her time in her sister's room. Lately though, this has worked well, as Audrey loves eating big sister's delicious *wooden* food creations. She now knows what music is and will usually stop whatever she is doing once a song comes on and boogies away. Food is her jam (no pun intended!) whether it's playing in it, or shoveling it into her mouth, she is a big fan of both. Our nursing journey is still going strong, but bottles never made the cut.
Her cute little blonde hair is getting thicker and thicker, and we've recently discovered a small curl making its appearance sometimes, will she have curly locks like big sister? Fingers crossed, but we'll see. After months of having only gums, she finally popped through her first two bottom teeth last month. Since then, the teeth have continued to come - currently has 5 through with two more fixing to pop. With essentially 7 teeth in a month, sleep hasn't been the best this past month.
We nicknamed her "little hippo" "Jack-jack" and "David," as her first two bottom teeth were gapped - oddly, but thankfully, it wasn't a true gap, just a late bloomer on that middle bottom tooth. The combination of the teeth and her, what looks like bald head, her resemblance to those three was quite comical.
She's taken 1-2 steps several times over the past week, so I imagine she'll be fully walking by the time month 10 hits. Watching big sis has been motivation. She has the sweetest giggle that makes us all laugh when she does it. Still no "ma-ma," but "da-da" is usually on repeat. Speaking of dad, this little girl adores him! Much more than my oldest did at this age. If you sing pat-a-cake, she'll "roll em' up" all day long. My favorite though is when we say "hi" or "bye" and she waves, sometimes saying "hi" back.
Being a pandemic baby, she's not too fond of other people. As long as I'm holding her, she'll grin and put on a show for them, but the second I even try to lift her off me, if someone else is around, be prepared for a puckered lip and lots of tears.
While they seem like total opposites in many ways, the sister bond is strong with these two.
We're planning to do the "9 months in, 9 months out" photos this week and I get teary eyed just thinking about it.
My sweet second born, here's to 9 wonderful months of loving and getting to know you.
