Marissa 8-9 months

Wow, the ball pit makes for a colorful photo.

Marissa is 9 and a half months old now.

She is energetic and curious.  She pays attention to her surroundings, looking around and turning to sounds, and now crawling all over the place!

Stats at her Dr. appt-- 9 months and 2 weeks (last week):

Weight: 15 lb 15 oz (13%ile)
Height:  2'3" (27") (20%ile)
Head: 17" (30%ile)

In the last three months, she has grown 1 lb 10 oz, and 1.5" in length.  Her weight seems low, but we figure since she was CRAWLING for two weeks, she probably stopped gaining weight with all her new-found exercise.


At 9 months, Marissa started with an "army-crawl" using forearms to pull, dragging her belly, and primarily using her right leg/knee to push, but now she seems to like the "seated-crawl" (like her cousin Jacob used to do) with one leg forward and looking somewhat monkey-ish.  And occasionally she will do a proper belly up crawl on all fours.

She also navigates the single step of our living room intentionally.  I watched her try to go up with her upper body elevated with straight arms, but she self-corrected, backing up to a sit, then trying again by sliding her belly on the step, army-style.  I only watched her try to go down the step once, rolling awkwardly over, but usually she is just trying to escape the living room to follow us around the rest of the house. I've only stepped on her fingers three times so far because she wanted to be right next to me.


Marissa has lots more FIRSTS to document:

SITTING UP ON HER OWN-- sitting sounds like small stuff compared to her active lifestyle just two weeks later, but she first sat up on her own pushing up from her belly at 8 months and 3 weeks, then sat up on her own from her back/side the next day.  She loved sitting so much, she would sit in her crib at nap time and collapse sleeping that way.

SITTING IN SHOPPING CART-- oh, why didn't mommy think of trying this sooner?  After 8 months of carseat in the basket or front pack, mommy is loving this!  She was able to turn to watch what I put in the cart and also tried standing in it.

PULL UP TO STANDING-- guess who we found standing in her crib? First time on September 2nd (two days before 9 months old).

FALL OFF BED-- mobility comes with its challenges.  She waited for me to look away, then tumbled from the front bed the trailer (we were camping that weekend), scraping some skin off her nose.

FINGER FOODS-- she already had Gerber "puffs" for a month, but she had her first cheerios and breads a week after 8 months.  She now eats small pieces of banana, steamed carrots or cauliflower pieces, peas, grapes (peeled and cut up), and scrambled eggs.

SIPPY CUP-- she finally "got" how to use the sippy cup with the low flow valve at 9 1/2 months.  I was giving it to her w/o the valve so she could understand the concept of water in there, but that also caused a splash zone and small "floods" in the high chair or stroller when she slammed or tipped it.

TALKING-- she makes the sounds: "ah, ma, ba, ga," and grunts (usually that sound is just imitating her sister).  We are working on signs, mostly making her show "please" before getting more snacks in the high chair, but I have to move her hand, she doesn't do it yet.

TEETH-- FOUR top teeth all broke through the gums in the last two weeks.  That makes for a total of 6 teeth now.

SOLO BATHTUB TIME-- Marissa can now take a bath in the "big bathtub" unassisted.  For some time, I would only put her in there with her sisters so they could hold her, but now she can sit up so well, that I let her in on her own (completely supervised and just an inch or two of water).  Marissa loves water so much, she gets excited when she sees the tub, flailing her arms and legs and reaching her way down and out of my arms to get it.  She has no problem with water poured or sprayed over her head and face.

PEEK-A-BOO-- if I put the bath towel over her face, she grabs it with both hands and yanks it down.  Then I say "boo" and get all silly excited (positive reinforcement) and she will giggle and bring the towel up and down again and again while I say "peek-a-boo" again and again and again... 

PACIFIC OCEAN-- We went beach camping twice in August and Marissa got her first experience in the waves.  The water was a nice temperature and with her love of bath time, there was no question she would like this too.

TWO HOUR NAPS-- She is doing well with just 2 naps per day, and now that she is burning so much energy crawling, Marissa will nap 2--and sometimes even 3--hours for her first nap of the day now!   

What does she think of sitting in the water?  Like a bathtub, with waves--she LOVES it!!  This photo series is one of my favorites...I love how she tips over in giddy-ness!  I can't help but giggle just looking at the last picture.

Exercise in Perspective:  Try laying down flat on the floor and take in the baby's view.  Yes, you should do it right now.  Go, actually go lay your whole body on the floor and look around.  Look different? Yup, I'd be intrigued by those knobs and nooks and crannies too.  She was determined and then excited to reach it!  And it was a knob on the coffee table that originally was her lure to crawl for the very first time.

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Gymnast at Addisyn's bday party.

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"Whoa!  Who are YOU!?"  Still enthralled with the mirror two months after first discovering it.

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Marissa gets around:

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Baby-proofing--Having fun while putting child locks on drawers and cabinets in the kitchen: 

She already emptied a drawer full of plastic food storage containers on the floor and pinched her fingers while closing drawers a few times.