We have officially reached the days of “no, you can’t make me sit still for a picture” with Miss Savannah. That girl is off to the races! I remember this happening too with Brooklyn, so we will be in for a challenge for months 10-12, for sure!
The process of taking these pictures went something like this: Set everything up. Place Savannah on blanket, sitting up. Run a few feet away, and grab camera. Try to get her attention (and maybe a smile!). Take as many pictures as humanly possible in the split second or two that you have before she crawls away at full speed. Reposition her on blanket, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. We were both tired by the end of it, and I only got one picture of her smiling for all of my hard work!
So, here’s the visual of what I’m talking about…
“See ya, Mom!”
“Hmmm…what’s in here??”
“If I could just stand up, I could see better…”
“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”
…so close!!
So, we did the best we could with the pictures this month :) Now, onto the update:
Savannah is weighing in at approximately 18 pounds right now. We will see what her official height and weight is when we go for her 9 month checkup on Tuesday. Update: On 2/2/16, she was 28.5 inches (90th percentile) and 17 lbs 8 oz (40th percentile). I feel like she has grown a good bit lately, but she is probably burning a lot of calories with all the crawling and exploring she does. More on that later :) Savannah is now nursing 4 times/day, as of last week: 7 or 7:30 AM, 11 or 12 PM, 4 PM, and 8 PM. She loves to nurse and doesn’t get distracted, even when Brooklyn is making lots of noise in the room. I guess it’s all she’s ever known for the last 9 months ;) She has gotten pretty impatient lately though; she starts fussing every time she has to wait on me to get her in position, and she also spits out her paci on the way to the glider in preparation…haha.
Savannah has grown and changed a lot this month, and that’s definitely true when it comes to eating food. She is now eating 3 meals a day of usually 4-5 oz of baby food at a time. She has tried all sorts of interesting baby food purees this month (too many to remember) and hasn’t disliked anything she’s tried. She’s eaten through all of the homemade baby food I had in the freezer and is now working on the jars/pouches we’ve got in the pantry. She has also tried a few table foods this month, including yogurt, banana mashed up with a fork, bites of plain cooked sweet potato, and some cheese ravioli. I’m hoping she can transition to mainly table food soon so I don’t have to make/buy baby foods much longer! She has started picking up foods like Cheerios and Puffs pretty easily and seems to have mastered the art of the “pincer grasp” rather than grabbing them with her fists. She has also learned how to drink water out of a sippy cup (with a straw) this month, although we aren’t offering it to her very regularly yet. Lots of progress made!
insert only smiling picture here :)
I almost hate to even type this, but Savannah has come a long way in her nighttime sleep in the past couple of weeks. I feel like we have finally turned the corner! It may have taken her almost 9 months to get there, but she is finally sleeping through the night more often than not. I really shouldn’t type that. It’s gotta be bad luck. She usually goes to bed around 8 or 8:15 PM (the goal is 8 PM), and lately she’s been sleeping until around 7 AM, and sometimes as late as 7:30 or 7:45 AM! It’s been SO nice. Occasionally, she will cry out in the middle of the night (I think it’s happened once or twice this week), but there have been many nights lately where we haven’t heard a peep out of her. I’m not really sure what changed because we never did any “hardcore sleep training” for multiple nights in a row. Who knows! All I know is that I didn’t think this day would ever come, and there’s no guarantee it will last. We’re just trying to enjoy the good nights of sleep when we get them!
So much to do, so little time (to sit here for pictures)…
I’m sure this is probably related to her much-improved nighttime sleep, but she is also taking better naps on a regular basis as well. Yay for Savannah! I’d rather have less naps that last longer than a bunch of little cat naps anyway :) So, lately she’s been taking 2 (and occasionally 3 if the first two are short) naps per day. Knock on wood, a lot of them have lasted around an hour and sometimes as long as 1.5 hours each. I’ll take it! Most of the time she goes down for her naps without a fuss, but occasionally she’ll sit up and cry (if I put her down before she’s ready to go to sleep).
As far as motor development goes, Savannah is crawling on her hands and knees everywhere now. She’s not lightning fast, but she seems to get faster every week. She also gets more curious every week, so she’s definitely all over the house now (where as a week or two ago, she never left the room that I was in). She is not only crawling, but she is also very interested in things that are above her head. She can get up on her knees with ease now, and a few days ago, she pulled up to her feet while holding on to the door of the dishwasher when it was down. Of course, she lost her balance before I could snap a picture, but she stood there for at least a second or two. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s pulling up to her feet on a regular basis.
If I thought Savannah was into a lot of stuff last month, it has quadrupled this month (and especially in the last week). Her curiosity leads her all over the house now, and I feel like I’m having to tell her “no, don’t touch that” at least every 20 or 30 seconds, making it hard to get anything done. Brooklyn has taken it upon herself to be the Baby Police, but that’s a story for another time ;) Savannah is most interested in power cords, trash cans, the cats’ food and water bowls, the electronics on the TV stand, the litter box (yuck), Brooklyn’s “big girl potty” (another yuck), blinds and curtains. It’s a full time job monitoring Savannah’s activity alone. This curious stage presents new challenges when there’s an older sibling around, as I’ve had to fish things out of Savannah’s mouth like smiley face stickers that get stuck to the roof of her mouth (as well as buttons and cat food too). Surprisingly enough, she doesn’t always cry when I tell her “no” or move her away from something she’s after. She doesn’t always stop what’s she’s doing when I tell her “no”, but occasionally she will look up at me and then move on to play with something else. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I’ll take it like she’s listening and obeying ;)
Savannah started clapping a couple of days ago for the first time! She also started waving that day too, although getting her to clap or wave on command usually doesn’t work :) She is babbling and talking more than last month, and we’ve heard her say “da da” a few times, although I don’t think it had anything to do with Daddy. She also says “ah” and “yah” a good bit. She loves to bounce up and down when she gets excited about something. She’s extremely ticklish and has the best belly laugh! She loves to crawl around with Brooklyn and play “peek-a-boo” with her. She also has a special squeal that she only does when she chases Brooklyn; it’s pretty cute! Her two teeth on the bottom are all the way in, and I wouldn’t be surprised if another one on the bottom is right around the corner.
See my two teeth?
Savannah is a mommy’s girl through and through right now! Even if I’m standing right there, she will usually cry if someone else tries to hold her. For several weeks. she would cry if I walked out of the room that she was in, but that’s a gotten a little better this week since she’s gotten so curious and interested in everything. I don’t think she necessarily dislikes being around other people; she just doesn’t want them to take her away from Mommy! As far as her “medical issues” go, her eczema is still under control with the new body wash and lotion we’ve been using. And, knock on wood, this week she has stopped spitting up nearly as much!! I think she’s only spit up once today and only two or three times yesterday. I thought this day would never come!!! I feel like this is a huge milestone that should be celebrated with ice cream or something (for Mommy!) ;)
Likes: Putting everything in her mouth, “investigating” the house, playing with her activity table (she loves to get up on her knees and push the buttons), chasing Brooklyn around, taking baths (she can be fussy in the evenings, but as soon as we put her in the tub, she’s splashing and having fun!), being tickled, being “tossed” in the air, being with/near Mommy at all times
Dislikes: waiting for her food to be fixed, not getting “enough” food at meal time, waiting to nurse, getting dressed and undressed, the hours between 6 and 8 PM on many nights, being held by someone else other than Mommy if Mommy is nearby
Savannah is now wearing mostly 12 month clothes, and they are fitting pretty well. The 9 month stuff still fits, but some of it is getting a little tight and/or short, so it will all need to be packed away soon. She has worn a couple of pairs of size 2 shoes this month, although most of the time we don’t bother with shoes :) Her hair is slowly but surely coming in, and it is definitely thicker and longer in the back than on top. She has gotten to the stage where she likes to pull her headbands off, so most of the time we don’t bother with those anymore either ;) She doesn’t seem to mind wearing hats, which is a good thing since it’s the middle of the winter! She is wearing size 3 diapers, but may need to move up to size 4s before too much longer.
Can’t believe our baby is 9 months old now! We love you, Savannah!! You have learned so much this month!! Who knows what you’ll be doing in another month from now (Hopefully not walking…haha. I’m in no rush for that…)!
