Nine Month Checkup and Other Baby Girl News

I took Keira in for a very belated nine month checkup on March 3. I took the above picture on March 4. She was a week away from ten months. I can't believe it -- time is flying by, too fast. It seems impossible to soak up all of her babyhood, as I feel like I'm always running to keep both kids happy and the house looking at least decent.

Everyone keeps telling me what a big baby she is, but the growth charts at the doctor told a surprisingly different story. She stretched 28 inches, which is the 51%. She weighed 20 lb. and 8 oz. which was the 64%. The one area she was decidedly big in (as her brother always is) was her head circumference. Her head measured 46 1/2 cm, which is the 95%.

This age is so fun. She's turning into more of a little person with each day that passes. She's still talking up a storm. In Disney World, she added "bye bye" and "uh-oh" to her repertoire, by copying me. At first, she seemed to say them whenever she wanted, but now the contexts are accurate and they are probably her two favorite words. She still says, "mama", "dada" and "Ee-ii", but she no longer says duck or cat. Instead, she calls all animals "bow" or "bow-wow". It started over at Dendi's house with their dog Bunny. She started calling Bunny "bow", I think it came from one of her favorite books, "Moo, Baa, La La La". There's a page that reads, "Some other dogs say bow wow wow. " She always grins a huge toothy grin and says, "bow wow wow" with me. I think it stuck.

She's very fascinated by all animals, and as most babies do she tends to grab tails and fur rather than petting gently. Unfortunately for Keira, once the animals figure that out, they try to maintain their distance. One day at Dendi's house, after Keira had tried leaping out of our hands and lunging at the kitties repeatedly, to no avail, Scott had a brilliant idea. He gave Keira the treat bag to play with. When the cats heard the sound of rattling treats they came running. Of course, Scott tried to mediate the petting as much as possible.


Keira got her sixth tooth on Saturday, and now that she's over her cold she's happy to play again. Her favorite place to play is on the floor, although she does do short stints in her play place and high chair while I'm busy in the kitchen.

Here's a picture of her where she spends most of her time while she's at home, on the letter mat, with her toys.


Here are some pictures of Keira at Dendi's house playing with her favorite toy. It was a hit with baby Eli, too. The last picture shows her looking up at me from her toy -- I just love her sweet expression.




She went through a fierce stranger, danger period, as Eli did. Although, she generally wants people talking, waving and looking at her. She just had no interest in being held by anyone one but Scott and I. I think it broke the grandmas' hearts a little. Fortunately, I think she has recovered a bit, and within the last week went to Dendi, Grammie and Aunt Seana. Sometimes, it still takes a little time for her to warm up, but she's improved a lot. While she has warmed up to others, she still seems to be most comfortable, and have the biggest smiles when she's in my arms.




Keira's still not crawling or eating food. In terms of crawling, she seems as close to walking as she does crawling. In the last few days, she's gotten on all fours, and taken a few "steps" forward with her hands. On the other hand, she loves to be on her feet, where she's quite stable. She even tries to take some wobbly steps while someone is firmly holding on to her. She seems most excited about her walking progress and grins wildly as if to say, "Look what a big girl I am!"

On the food front, we've had a few promising moments, but generally the same old story. Over the weekend, while we were over at Dendi's house we all enjoyed cookies that Eli had helped bake for dessert. To keep her occupied while I eat, I often give her some food to play with. She never puts it in her mouth, but I figure she's having a tactile experience, if nothing else. But, with the cookies it was a different story. Suddenly, I looked down, and she was happily licking and gnawing on the cookie. I was impressed, but when I tried to transfer the success to other food, no luck. I gave her teether biscuits which she promptly threw on the floor, and she still acts like I'm trying to poison her when I give her food on a spoon.