9 Months Old

Thursday was a big day - not only was it Justin's birthday but Kate turned 9 months old.  This milestone has come with big changes.  It still surprises me to walk into Kate's room in the morning and see this:

Within a week or two, Kate quickly went from pushing herself into the sitting position, to rocking, them crawling, and now pulling herself up to a standing position.  One of the bigger changes is in her personality.  She has started to pitch (short) fits if we make her do something she does not want to.  Most often, it's when we change her diaper or get her dressed/undressed.  

I now find myself saying "no" constantly.  I can't take my eyes off of her for one minute.  I used to be able to put her in the middle of our bed with a couple toys while I got ready for work in the morning.  Now anymore. Now Kate crawls to either side of the bed and I run to catch her before she dives off the side.  Even stacking pillows around her does not block her in - she has learned to push them out of her way. 

I took her 9 month pictures beside her koala, but I as soon as I placed it beside her, Kate took off in another direction.

Here are some better pictures I managed to take in between outfit changes (she messed up three outfits before we made it to Mrs. Betsy's that morning).  One outfit never made it in a picture - it got dirty that quickly - I guess some days are like that. 

Showing off those teeth - still just the bottom two.

I also took her bumper out of her crib - my little monkey was quickly learning she could use it to climb up on the crib.  Another "fun" thing she has learned it throwing down her toys.  Pacifiers and her stuffed bear are usually on the floor outside her crib in the mornings and she finds it entertaining to drop toys when she's in a highchair.  Yes, 9 months has brought lots of changes but it's just a reminder how fast she is growing.  One of our games is for Kate to start at one end of the hall and for me to hide at the other end and jump out and say "boo".  She'll crawl until she sees me and then stop and laugh, then continue to crawl towards me once I hide again. I love every minute of being Kate's mom!