11 months

Last month's sleep drama wasn't totally resolved like I had hoped. Elizabeth would wake up at 5 a.m. and I would nurse her before putting her back to bed for a couple more hours. Well, she started trying to squeeze a couple more late night feedings and in my groggy state I'd normally go for it, thinking it was probably a growth spurt. But pretty soon she was getting up every two hours again. For two nights Lee would go to her and stand by her crib and rub her back when she would cry but wouldn't pick her up. Now we're back to sleeping until 5 a.m.! Hope this sticks. Now if only she would go to sleep for me as quickly as she does for Lee.
And she's napping in her crib more! Have I also mentioned that the sun is brighter, foods taste better and the air is sweeter?

She is cruising all over the place and getting more comfortable standing on her own. She's so close to walking but we'll see how much longer she keeps holding out. 

She loves to wave and give high-fives. The way our bedroom is set up, the bed is right across from a mirror so you can see yourself when sitting on the bed. I usually feed her in our bed and once Elizabeth is done eating she likes to stand up and wave at herself. It cracks me up! 

I've had a difficult time coming to terms with this, but it appears that Elizabeth is no longer giving kisses. She's just biting my face (arm, shoulder, fingers...). Now to figure out how to get her to stop. 

Elizabeth has spent the past couple months often picking at her food, if eating anything at all. This is really frustrating because A. I spent time to prepare that and B. Zoey's tongue isn't as effective at cleaning the floor as I like to think it is. We've been taking the baby-led weaning approach and I don't know how many times I've read, "My 9/10/11/12/13-month old just wasn't interested in food and then one day it clicked," but I've still been paraoid that I would be the main source of nutrition for my two-year-old. (I'm totally fine with the idea of nursing a two-year-old, just not 6 times a day.) The past couple days though it seems that she's really clicking with the solids. Some favorite foods are watermelon, tomatoes, and edamame. You can also never gone wrong with Cheerios. And she loves water! Now if only the sign language wound kick in. It would probably help if I signed more often than 40% of the time. 

Elizabeth loves to dance which is the most precious thing ever. (Okay, everything she does that isn't whining, refusing sleep, pooping, peeing, spitting up, biting, hair pulling, collarbone pulling and resisting diaper changes is the most precious thing ever.) We used some rattles as tambourines and had a Call Me Maybe dance party. We like the Jimmy Fallon version best. 

10 months

There's been a lot of sleep stuff going on this month. To recap, Elizabeth slept as perfectly as one could expect for her age, and by around 4-5 months, would sleep 10-12 hours stretches. Oh the joy! Then she quit that. It was gradual, but the next thing I knew she was waking every 3 hours and I was super sad. Then this month we had a couple nights where she woke up every. 45. minutes. There was much distress. So I got a book called Good Night Sleep Tight (I think.) and it suggested we beef up her bedtime routine, separate nursing from bedtime, put her in her crib drowsy but awake, and then sit by her side and intermittently pet her if/when she cries. She cried for fifty minutes. Every 5 minutes or so I would rock her. Once she finally fell asleep I cried for fifty minutes. We weren't really letting her cry it out, but I still felt horrible. However, the next night I put her in her crib a bit drowsier and she went to sleep in under 5 minutes and the next thing I knew she was sleeping longer and longer stretches. Hallelujah!

She has four of the most adorable teeth. As long as they're not digging into your flesh. 

She will pull up and let go and stand for several seconds before sitting back down.

Her stubborn personality is starting to come out more and more. Diaper and costume changes are getting squirmier and squirmier so one night I gave her a cloth wipe to play with. She immediately put it back in the basket and pulled a handful of cloth wipes of her choosing. That's my girl! 

In my-baby-is-a-genius news, she can put smaller cups into bigger cups. 

The highlight of the month for me, and I'm sure for Elizabeth too, was running my first 5K. I had quite the cheering section. 

9 Months

Nine months! My darling girl has been in for as long as she has been out. I spent so much of her inside time thinking about how glorious it would be to finally have her on the outside. I did not enjoy being pregnant. At nine months outside, might be nice to have her back in for a couple days. ;)

On her 8-month birthday (It's that confusing thing where her nine-month post is a reflection on the time that she was 8 months old.), Elizabeth pulled up for the first time, and has been doing that repeatedly all month long. Now she's figured out cruising and zips along the furniture. Zoey is finding it increasingly difficult to hide.

In addition to putting all things in her mouth, she's learning to stick her tongue out. She often sticks her tongue to aid in concentration.

She enjoyed her first St. Patrick's Day and her first Easter. The Easter Bunny brought her some Indestructible books and froggy friend.

The big adventure of the month was surviving the UK vs. UofL Final Four game and the eventual victory by our beloved Wildcats as they became 8-time national champions. It was gr8!

Other big 9-month firsts: first bubbles, first trip to the park, and first teeth began to break through.