Sarah At Nine Months

Stats
Weight: 21lb 1oz (88%)
Height: 28.25" (72%)
Head circumference: 17.25" (47%)

Sleeping
Sleeping has stunk this month.  I know that we don't have it as bad as some parents so I don't have room to complain, but compared to what we are used to, this month has been more difficult.  We used to be able to just change Sarah's diaper, put her in the sleep sack, feed her if needed, pop a pacifier in her mouth and put her in the crib awake.  Now you have to hold her until she falls asleep, and she has to be very sound asleep before putting her in the crib or she will wake up.  This takes about half an hour.  She's also been doing some middle of the night wake ups which I attribute to traveling and teething.  On an ideal day she sleeps at night from 8:00-7:00 and takes a 30 minute nap in the morning and an hour and a half long nap in the afternoon.

Eating
Sarah still does four 8oz bottles a day.  She's tried even more baby food this month.  I added cinnamon to Sarah's apple sauce for the first time, and she liked it.  She also ate spinach and discovered that she loves it.  She scarfs it down!  She tried cantaloupe, grapes, and beets for the first time this month and enjoyed them.  Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've peeled grapes by hand.  I made Sarah some chicken, but I think it must have been too dry or something and she wasn't a fan, so I need to keep working on that.  She eats about 2 tablespoons of baby food three times a day.  I try to do a fruit, orange/yellow vegetable, and green vegetable.

Personality
Sarah loves smacking her lips like a little fishy or like a kissy sound.  It's a crowd pleaser!  The second she wakes up she starts doing it.  She is becoming more ticklish and can definitely get into a laughing mood.

She has become more independent and doesn't really like it when you try to help her do something even if she can't do it on her own.  She'll shake her head no and swat you away.

She is happiest when playing with straws, swinging, going on a stroller ride, standing, petting Mittens, taking a bath, and when Robert comes home from work for the evening.

Health and Physical Ability
It was teething city this month!  Sarah got her bottom central incisors at the end of December/start of January when she wasn't quite 5 months old yet.  Because of that I had kind of expected her to get the top ones around 7 months since the average range is 8-13 months.  Sarah's top gums were tight and white for several days.  Her left upper central incisor arrived on April 14, and the right one came two days later on April 16.  She took a breather for a little less than two weeks and had tooth #5 and #6, the upper lateral incisors, arrive on April 29.  She looks so adorable with her 6 teeth!  It's funny to look back and think about what she looked like without any teeth.

Sarah got really good at going from her stomach or back into a sitting position this month.  It's so cute when we go in to get her from her crib and she's just sitting there.  We went ahead and lowered the crib a bit because she can also pull to stand and stands by herself if she has something to hold on to.

The biggest motor milestone for the month is crawling!  Sarah had been scooting and working her muscles for weeks, but she crawled for the first time on April 19.  She's not flying around the house yet, but she can definitely go wherever she wants.  I know we need to do some babyproofing and can't turn our backs now, but it's also nice that if a toy is out of reach she can crawl over and grab it instead of crying now.  She also enjoys holding on to something and standing up.

Superficial
Sarah has had a little curl on the left side of her hair for a few months, but it's getting bigger, and she's developing a little curl on the right side.  Too cute!  Robert swears her thigh circumference has increased by at least two inches.  They're so squishy and soft!

Highlights of the month
April 7 - Jim's 30th birthday - We had a party with Mom, Dad, Memaw, Pepaw, and Taylor.  It was fun!

April 14, 16, and 29 - 4 teeth arrived!

April 22-23 - First time to Oklahoma - Robert was asked to do the music for a DNow.  Sarah and I tagged along and had a good time.

April 28-May 3 - First time to Florida and Alabama - I'll do a whole post on this later, but for now, we went to Alabama for Sarah to meet Robert's dad's side of the family, and we also joined Ray and Terri in Florida on the tail end of their vacation.  This trip included Sarah's first beach day at the ocean.

May 4 - First goosebumps

Dear Sarah,
You got to see the ocean for the first time this month.  It was big and scary to you.  While I hope you are courageous and give the ocean another try, I also hope that you remember how big things on earth are - the ocean, mountains, the sky - but even though these things are so big God is still in charge of them.  He can calm the waves, make the mountains crumble, and make the sky rain.  If he can command these things then you know that you can trust Him to do big things with your life.  When we were at the ocean I told you to look at all the sand.  Guess what - God knows how many grains of sand there are in the whole world.  It's hard to fathom when you can't even count to one, but I hope that God's big world and his beautiful creations remind you of how big He is and that it also reminds you to be thankful that he takes care of the birds in the sky, the fish in the ocean, and Sarah Elizabeth.