Izzie, You're 9 Months Old Today!

Dearest Izzie!

You turned 9 months old today! Nine months is exactly the duration that you were supposed to reside inside of mommy's tummy, but you decided to come a few weeks early. So you have now spent more time in the outside world than you have sheltered in the womb. Last month was pretty hard to top, but I would say this past month may have been even more exciting! You truly are a dynamic little person these days, and it seems like every day you are doing something new. You're a lot more fun these days, but we also need to keep a much closer eye on you. Twice in the last week, Daddy had (early!) morning baby-sitting duty, and whenever I tried to use couch cushions to hem you in to a part of the living room, you would always find a way to escape my make-shift fort (or prison, from your perspective). So much for sleeping through morning baby-sitting!

This last month was eventful for a number of reasons. Right after you turned 8 months, we flew to California and Hawaii, where you met not one, but two sets of your great-grandparents! You are the first great-grandchild for ALL of your great-grandparents, so you are the undisputed star of the family right now. You hammed it up on occasion for them, which in hindsight was great, because these days, you seem to get stranger anxiety. Sometimes when our friends hold you, you get panicky and immediately start looking for either mommy or daddy. On a related note, you get separation anxiety quite easily these days. Whenever one of us leaves the room, you start screaming and flailing around. So as a result, we try to walk backwards out of the room whenever you're looking at us. (Or else, we sneak out when you're not looking!)

You've been sitting up on your own for a few months, but we can confidently say that you have it down cold now. About time, too! We can leave you sitting upright and you can sit there for as long as you want. Once in awhile, if you're reaching for something behind you, you'll fall backwards, but you always find this to be a lot of fun and end up giggling. Don't do this too much though, because we don't want you killing too many brain cells! Speaking of brain cells, we really think you will be a smart kid one day. When we look into your eyes, we see a sparkle, and we can tell that little brain of yours is churning away and forming new neural connections.

One of the ways you can tell is that you're starting to imitate us. You learned to clap this month, and you learned to do so by watching us clap. This is a really positive development for you, because we've been trying to teach you baby sign language for a couple months now. We suspected that you were recognizing the signs awhile ago, but last week, you signed "milk!" to mommy for the first time. And now, sometimes when you're nursing, you'll sign milk while you're chugging away. And that's not the only thing you can do with your hands. You developed a rudimentary pincer grip (holding something between your thumb and index finger), something that's not supposed to be mastered until you're 12-15 months old. So I guess while you're taking your sweet time in certain areas, you're charging ahead in others.

We used to be able stick you in the jumperoo and leave you alone for awhile, but with this new grip, you've learned how to turn off the music. That makes the jumperoo a lot less fun for you, but you generally stay patient and play in it until we come and take you out. A funny thing happened last month: around 2am, you woke up and cried a little bit, but stopped after a few seconds. We thought you would go back to sleep, but instead, you reached over your shoulder and turned on your crib attachment! So for the next 20 minutes, you were mesmerized by a glowing blue light and baby music, until you presumably fell back asleep.

As exciting as this month has been though, it hasn't been all fun and games. Last week, you got really sick for the first time (not counting the minor fevers you usually get after your shots). You had a viral infection that made your throat hurt. Mommy had it a few days before you, and that's probably where you got it from. So that made for a difficult few days, since you refused to eat or drink anything, and we got worried that you would become dehydrated. We almost took you to the ER twice, but right before each time, you decided to drink a little bit. Eventually, you were able to shake it off, and after a little less than a week, you were pretty much back to normal. We think you lost some weight during that period, but it looks like you've gotten it all back since then. You are so big these days! Yesterday I looked at you and just marveled and how long you've gotten. Hopefully you've inherited your dad's height gene.

Well, these letters are getting longer and longer each month, but that's just because you do so many new things! Who knows...in a few months, maybe we'll have to start dividing up these letters by chapters! Be good for us this month, sweetheart. Try not to give us any scares, although we know that when we eventually ride out the storms, we just end up loving you even more. You are truly our little bundle of joy.

Love,
M+D