Happy 3/4th Birthday!

 

Charlotte,

Watching your personality develop this month has been so much fun!  You started doing so many new and exciting things!  Nine months sounds so much older to me than eight months did.  And you seem so much bigger.  Although I don't want you to have to get more shots, I can't wait to see how much you've grown at your doctor's appointment on Thursday.

Here are some of the things that you are loving at nine months!

You have developed your parents love of books, although you lean more towards Mama's preferred genre of fiction rather than Daddy's preferred genre of military history.  You definitely have favorite books like "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", "Where's My Sweetie Pie", "Twinkle Toes", "Peekaboo Farm", and Peek-a-Baby".  You also LOVE the soft nursery rhyme book that KayKay made for you.  You will lay on your back and "read" it to yourself.  I hope that you develop a love of books like I have!

  

You have learned all kinds of new things with your hands.  You now wave bye-bye like you're waving above to The Wonder Pets.  You can also give us a high five if we ask for one.  I can't wait for you to put your hand movement together with a "Hi!" or "Bye!"

Your gross motor skills have greatly improved this month!  You went from getting around quickly by army crawling to full blown crawling this month.  You still scooch around on your tummy but you are quite a crawler too!  We are letting you explore the house and you are having fun going into rooms that you have rarely been in!

 

You have become a master stander this month.  You still have a hard time getting down from the standing position except when you're in your crib, but you can pull yourself up on just about anything!  And you are pretty steady on your feet also.  We don't really worry about you toppling over any more like we used to, we just worry about you leaning over to get something on the floor and doing a face plant.  One thing you are is fearless.  I guess it means that you trust that we will be there to catch you but it scares us sometimes! You think nothing of letting go of whatever you pulled up on to grab at a toy or turn around and look at something.  You are so brave!  You have also started walking with us holding your hands or walking behind you walker.  You are still walking on your tip toes instead of your flat feet so that cracks us up.  I can't wait to see when you start walking -- we'll really be in trouble then!

 

You are such a sweet baby!  One thing that I think I've really noticed this month is watching you become more attached to your people.  The past few days you  have been not even wanting to go to Daddy, when he holds out his arms you'll just turn and bury your head into me.  You give the sweetest hugs and you give me and Daddy sweet kisses.  You are one of the easiest going, most happy babies that I've ever seen!  Memma and Papa G still kid us about how little you cry in comparison to how much I cried.

As of yesterday you are now taking two hour and a half naps.  You're still waking up early in the morning though so we're probably going to either move your bedtime back 15 or 30 minutes or permanently move wake up time up because you function a lot better with an hour and a half nap than a shorter one.  You are a fantastic sleeper and Daddy and I are so THANKFUL for that!  You might fuss for a few minutes or you might stand up a few times before you finally go to sleep but once we put you in your crib you are usually good to get yourself to sleep.

You are also a great eater!  We think that you might have a bottomless tummy!  You will eat pretty much anything that we put out for you.  You love finger food and feeding yourself even if you don't always love the things that we're giving you.  You've eating a lot of big girl food now -- green beans, baked potato, peas, pears, apples, tortilla, bread, etc.  You aren't a huge fan of most of it, but you will try anything once!  

We love you so much baby girl!  You are our pride and joy!

love, Mommy