SLOANE AT 9 MONTHS

Ken and I both agree that this might be our favorite month with her yet.

There is so much to say about how she is growing right now; she learns something new everyday. I couldn't possibly document it all, as much as I try, but here is some semblance of such an attempt.

Everything is something to be discovered and when she is on the move, she has to observe everything in her path, no crumb is too small.  Right now her job is that of an explorer, and I love observing this adventurous spirit. She crawls, pulls up, climbs..she fits perfectly underneath the dining table. I am giddy with the privilege that I am a witness to something kind of miraculous - to watch this baby learn new things - things that I didn't realize until now were things that I once had to learn. I can see the dawn of realization come over her face as she opens and closes a cabinet door, pushes a chair around, takes a large cup in her hand and look it all over - top, bottom, side, inside, and maybe a lick and a bang to check out the feel and consistency of the thing. Her hands wrap around the roundness of a lime in her hands and she smiles with glee, seemingly overjoyed at being able to wrap her small hands around something so round and concrete. But her favorite thing to observe still seems to be people, and she will get especially still watching other children.

What helps in her explorations is being able to pull herself to standing position in order to reach things, and she does this with great expertise now. She has also taken one or two steps on her own, and she have never so much looked like a tiny person... or a baby t-rex! 

Her need to communicate is getting stronger. When she drops something, sees her puffs, is asked if she wants milk, spots papa, or wants to be picked up, her eyes get wide and she lets out a very insistent, "Doh!", "Mah!, "Bah!" or other such utterance, which is accompanied by an expression that says, I'm sure you must understand what I'm saying! 

She is also doing more imitation. When I make a sound she will sometimes try to imitate me or follow along. When I clap, she claps. When I raise my arms, she will too. Our favorite party trick right now is that when I say, “Hip Hip…”, she will triumphantly raise both her arms in a “Hurray!” 

She is as patient as ever, especially when shopping, but she is increasingly getting bored of sitting in the exersaucer or car seat too long, and is sure to let us know with cries and yelps. Luckily, this coincides with her fascination with just about anything, so handing her something new - anything new – whisk, Tupperware top, plastic card, sunglasses, a lime etc. will usually keep her occupied for a while. I’ve started to grab random things from the house before we leave the house, just in case I need to hand it to her to keep her busy. 

She is also starting to exhibit will by holding on tight to things when we try to take it away, and by insisting that she picks up her own food off of her plate in order to place it in her mouth herself. I still find myself watching with fascination how she is so adamant about doing this herself.  There's also more whining because she really wants to tell us something! but doesn't have the words yet. 

And I marvel at how she is such her very own person. My tiny baby, who once had the faculties of a potato, is becoming an entire person all of her own. It does not stop blowing my mind and I am trying my very best over here to not take any of it for granted. 

She is my bliss.