Stella 9 Months

Time is flying by so fast and my sweet baby is getting so big and changing so much. 

Stella,

This month was a big one as you finally got your tubes placed in your ears. It was a long time coming and I'm so glad it's behind us. You actually did great minus the hour you were awake at home and hungry. Once we got to the hospital you were super happy and could have cared less you hadn't eaten in a while. After placing the tubes, they retested your hearing and found it to be nearly perfect. Initially it meant you were really scared of a lot of stuff like toilets flushing, hand dryers, people's voices, and hair dryers. You are more clingy and having more separation anxiety issues, but I can also tell you're hearing so much better. You are following some simple directions, imitating clapping and waving, and just so much more responsive. The sleeping wasn't great after the tubes. You also cut two teeth that same week so it wasn't pretty. You were waking a lot and making mommy and daddy exhausted. With some work we've gotten you sleeping in your crib for most of the night. We ditched your "zippy suit" aka swaddle suit and the Dock a Tot and have been letting you just sleep on your belly. Getting you down isn't always the easiest, but you usually do okay once you're down. You're so interested in everything and want to know everything that's going on. Now that you're hearing better it only heightens that. With the teething and tubes you decided you no longer wanted a pacifier. It made things more difficult initially as you wanted to use me as one, but it's since gotten better. I'm bummed you don't want to take one as I felt they really helped with your sisters, but giving them up wasn't fun either. I'm hoping we're just saving that misery by you giving it up on your own. You love to babble and have a lot to say. You produce a wide variety of consonant sounds (b, n, d, m) and often shriek and squeal. You love taking baths with mommy and your sisters. If we let you sit up on your own you don't do too well because you're just so excited. You're around 14 pounds and really starting to crawl. You're moving little bits here and there, taking around two strides before falling back down to your belly. You're getting yourself far enough to get those objects just out of reach. You're so alert with your big blue eyes and are just the cutest little thing. You are so incredibly photogenic and cooperative for photos, at least for now. You'll still wear headbands and barrettes in your hair and I have so much fun dressing you up. Your sisters adore you and you love them so much. You are so bored when they aren't around or are napping and are just so happy to be as much a part of everything they do. You light up when you see them every morning. You love to eat anything and everything. We give you small pieces of whatever we are eating and you're so enthusiastic about it all. You are yet to refuse anything we have given you and you will eat so much. We joke you often eat more than your sisters. You are such a big girl already! I just love you so much sweet Stella and can't wait to see how much you grow and change into a one year old in the new few months!!

Father's Day