9 months

Nine in, nine out. Caroline, you have officially been on on the outside as long as I was pregnant with you. That is pretty hard to believe. In some ways it seems like it has been so quick but then it also seems like you have always been a part of our family. I certainly can't imagine our family without you.

You continue to be the happiest baby. You love to smile and laugh. Sometimes you get shy and bury your head into my shoulder and it is so cute.

You love to babble all the time. I love hearing your fun noises. I am not sure but you may have said your first word or two. On the way home from an evening event at church you screamed "mama mama mama" the entire way home. I really think you were calling my name because as soon as I opened the door at home you were calm and screamed no more. You also may have said "dog". We were reading a book and you kept turning back to the cover where there was a dog and saying "da". I am so excited that you are about to start communicating.

We have been pretty lazy with sign language and need to get better about working on that with you. Katherine knew so many words and it was so helpful. I want to give you every opportunity to learn to sign as well. Tonight you may have actually signed "all done". Either that or you were just waving your arms in frustration as I tried to feed you more.

Speaking of feeding, you continue to be a pretty good eater. You have liked most things we have fed you. You were not sure about egg yolks and still are not a big fan of avocado though you will eat them. Your favorite is breakfast when I give you a mixture of yogurt, applesauce and cereal. You like to feed yourself when possible and have a very good pincher grasp. We are trying to get you to drink from a sippy cup but you are not very interested. You have also lost interest in the bottle which is unfortunate but you only were given 1-2 bottles a week anyway so it is not a huge deal. You currently nurse about 4 times during the day and then sometimes at night.

You have also discovered gravity and enjoy dropping things from your high chair, especially if Hooligan is there to eat it.

This month is "mobility month". It is both fun and problematic. This month you have learned to really crawl. You were just scooting before but now you can really get across the room. If I leave the room I hear you trying to crawl and find me. For some reason you usually end up at the front door. This new skill also means that you can get stuck in tight places, find the dog food to eat, spill full bowls of the dog's water and mess up just about anything that Katherine is working on. This creates a lot of learning opportunities for both of you.

You have also learned to climb up not only to your knees but to your feet. You have fun looking at things from this new level but it also can cause problems because it is not always easy to get back down gracefully. It is especially hard because every time you wake up in the middle of the night you sit up and then stand up until someone comes in there.

We are in a rough place with sleeping right now. You pretty much don't ever nap in your crib. You prefer to sleep either in my bed with me or on my lap. The problem is that since you are now crawling I can't leave you on my bed. I hate making you cry it out at nap time because it will wake Katherine up from her nap and that is not good. At night you go to sleep easily and usually wake up 1-2 times. You don't want to nurse but usually just need us to put your paci back in or a little cuddling. I am ready to make you cry it out just out of frustration but you have another ear infection so your doctor said to wait.

You love to explore things. You frequently will take all of the toys out of a basket either one at a time or by dumping the entire things over. You like to look through Katherine's toys or the stuff in my office as well. You were very interested in all of the stuff I bought at a consignment sale.

Your favorite person is Katherine. Your face lights up when you see her. Every month she has more fun with you as you grow and are able to do more things. It is so fun to see you all becoming friends.

Now that it is warmer outside we spend a lot of time in the back yard. You enjoy crawling on the grass and you keep my on my toes making sure there is nothing in your mouth. I have seen you try to eat all kinds of things.

You are in the separation anxiety phase and that is not fun. You tend to cry every time I leave you somewhere like the church nursery and you also will cry if I am out of sight. I know it is just a phase but it is quite annoying when we are at home and I can't leave the room without you crying.

Sweet Caroline, you are such a joy. We love you so much.