9 Month Update

Happy Easter!!!! Not only is it Charlotte's first Easter, but she just so happens to be turning 9 months old today. She has really changed this past month. She's more playful and we are starting to catch glimpses of her infectious personality. We've accomplished several new milestones that we wanted to share with you.



As you can see, she has perfected her balance and sits up like a pro. The moment she started doing that playtime became a whole new experience. It changed once again this week when she figured out how to crawl!!! She started out crawling sideways like a crab, but has finally straightened out. Now she shuffles along the floor moving from room to room. We are having fun watching her explore new things. She still loves to read books and can now turn the pages for you. She enjoys pulling a pile of books out and looking at them herself. Her new favorite toy is a ball. We have several of them in the house and she squeals with delight rolling them back and forth with us. She also sits up, grabs a ball and places it at her feet to kick across the room. Ross is extra proud of this feat since he played soccer all his life.



This month brought along 2 more teeth giving her a total of 4 teeth now. We love her little toothy grins. I'm still making all of her food and we enjoy trying out new flavors and combos. This month she has added the following foods to her diet: blueberries, zucchini, chicken, turkey, mango, squash, cauliflower and corn. The only one she didn't care for were the mangos. Her favorite is still peas followed by carrots or corn. She has mastered the art of drinking water out of a sippy cup and is working on eating solid foods. She has become a Puff addict and we recently started giving her bites of steamed zucchini or pears. She loves when I add cinnamon to her fruits or oatmeal.



I'm often stopped when we are out shopping by people commenting on how much she babbles to me. I'm constantly talking or pointing things out to her and when I'm not, I just copy her sounds. She now says mama (maaw-maa), hi (ha), Nala, uh-oh ( uhoo) and ball. I can ask her to turn the lights out when we leave a room and she will immediately turn and mess with the switch. When I ask her where her tongue is she will stick hers out and curl it over her top lip. She recently started doing the sign for more when she wants another bite of food. I can ask for a kiss and she will either purse her lips up like a little fish or attack me with a huge wet lick. She still loves clapping her hands and playing peek-a-boo under the blankets.



Charlotte is still an outside girl. We continue to blow lots of bubbles off the back porch, stroll around the neighborhood, play with the neighbor kids and point out every bird that comes nearby. She loves animals and listening to us make animal sounds. Just yesterday we took her to the duck pond. She thought the ducks were hysterical. Especially when Ross got surrounded by them while passing out bread. We then let her test out the swings for the very first time. She could have swung all day. She loved it and would rock back and forth when it started to slow down. Do you notice anything funny in that last photo? Check out the butterfly!! It landed on her swing and went along for the ride. All in all we are having fun in this new active stage. Thanks again for checking in on us. We wish all of you a wonderful Easter celebration!!!!