9 Months Old!

My Baby girl is 9 months old.  9 MONTHS OLD!!!!  How time flies...  we went into this month wide eyed and ready for adventure.

This month Mallie has really started moving.  She can roll from one side of a room to the other in no time flat.  She tries, and it really close to, crawling but she can't quite figure it out yet.  She gets up on all fours, then starts to move and then her arms give out and she ends up flat on her belly again.  Which she doesn't seem to mind because it means she can roll to her next destination.  She has figured out how to rotate her body to get shift directions but is not a fan of corners... she gets stuck on them and gets pretty frustrated and usually hollers so we will move her.

 

 

Speaking of hollering, this little girl is becoming quite... loud and used to getting her way.  I foresee this being a problem and want to address the behavior but am a little unsure how to discipline a 9 month old.  I get the most frustrated with this while feeding her.  I will give her a spoonful of food, and go into the kitchen while she is "chewing" to grab something.  The second Mallie sees me walk away, she yells out to get me to come back.  I go back to her with more food... only to find her mouth is still full of food.  She also has started swatting the spoon while a feed her, making a big mess of things. 

In terms of eating, Mallie is doing great.  She eats meat, veggies, fruit, and her gerber cereal mixes and has started on dairy.  Plain yogurt is not her favorite but she loves vanilla flavored yogurt.  

 

We have been out blackberry picking on our daily walks and she is a Texas girl for sure, if by nothing else, her love for wild, fresh blackberries.  Yummy.  We have had lots of mid afternoon snacks along our walking route the past week or two. 

 

 

Sadly Mallie's Aunt Jamie's grandmother passed away in April.   On their trip to Texas, she (Jamie) and my brother Kyle stopped by the house to say hi to Mallie.  They also helped out in a huge way and babysat her for a few hours (THANK YOU!!!).

 

She LOVES Mackie, our dog.  Thankfully, Mackie is a very sweet and gentle dog because Mallie pulls, pokes and prods that dog all day long.  

 

She is able to get into the sitting position but we have not actually seen her make the transition.  I find her sitting in her crib in the morning, in the middle of the kitchen floor when I come inside from a quick trip to the mailbox, etc.  She is obviously very proud of this skill because she is all smiles when we catch her sitting.

Aprilfest time!  

And fun playing with family.

Her second tooth came in. That sweet gummy smile is growing whiter with teeth every day.

Separation anxiety is setting in and there are tears shed when someone new holds holds her.  They usually clear up the second I walk away and she gets distracted... but I am still hoping this is a short lived stage.

Mallie is all giggles and smiles at home (except for the times she is not) but when we go out in public she still stares down new people.  She is not amused by strangers (or un-regular non-strangers) and their grand gestures.  To win her affection, or at the least to get her to crack a smile, a  sides ways glance and slight smile or simple silly face express goes a long way.  Loud, in her face, giant movements seem to either annoy or confuse her.  I am certain that the being annoyed part she gets from her Daddy.  It would make things easier when we are out in public if she would give smiles away freely but I am sure in some way we will be thankful for this trait in the future.

At 9 months old this little girl is keeping me busy.  It seems like I have more to do now then when I was working full time.  The business is a blessing and we are very thankful for all that God has provided for our family.

Something's In the Water!

UPDATE:: This post had two errors.  First, my sister is due in March, not April.  Sorry Meggo!  Also, a sweet friend of mine (and Mr. Whimsy) is also due. Stephanie and her hubby just found out they will be having a little boy.  Woohoo!  Stephanie is due in February and we can't wait to meet him.  Sorry Stephanie!  

A couple post ago I linked to my sisters new blog announcing she is pregnant and due in April.  

Since her big news, my cousin Kristin (of the re-booted Blue Jeans and Boots) announced she was pregnant.  Actually, her son (my Godson) Colt did - and not just in the picture on her blog.  Right before my Mallie was dedicated and we were waiting in a quiet room Colt sweetly piped up with a "Lindsey, my mommy has a baby in her belly".  Everyone but Kristin and her husband Jared heard and immediately turned to them awaiting confirmation.  It was a priceless moment that I believe Kristin had hoped would happen a little later.  Nonetheless, congrats Kreneks!!!

I also just found out super cute Heidi of Reese's Pieces is pregnant with her second baby.  Heidi's daughter Reese is adorable (frankly the entire family is good looking!) and I know the new addition will be just as sweet.

Me, Heidi and Reese at my wedding 

Mallie's 2 Months Old!

My sweet baby girl is two months old!  I can't believe how time has passed so quickly!  

The picture is a bit blurry but she was smiling a bit in this one and I think that better reflects her current accomplishments... she is smiling more and more everyday.  

I have said it before but Mallie is a GREAT baby!  She rarely cries just for crying sake - usually she only cries because she is hungry and her Momma isn't feeding her fast enough.  In fact, this past weekend my Dad asked if she was always "this good" or if there was something in the Brenham air that was getting her to behave.  I was very thankful to tell him that it was normal for her to be such a good, happy baby.

She is routinely sleeping for 5-6 hours at night which is fantastic and I am really thankful for.  Of course she still has her nights where she wakes up every 3 hours but those are becoming more and more rare.  The past week or we we have been trying to gett on a bedtime routine but so far that has not been a huge success, mostly because our schedule has been so inconsistent lately.  

She is getting better and better at holding her head up but sometimes its just too heavy for her neck... she does have a pretty large head  is pretty young so I guess that is to be expected.

Mallie loves to cuddle and ball up when being held - she scrunches her legs up and becomes a ball.

Mr./Daddy Whimsy has been staying with Mallie while I go to work and has brought her with him to a couple meetings and luncheons he has to go to for work.  So far she has done great in these meetings.  Speaking of doing great, she still has not fussed enough while in the church nursery for us to be called out of the grown up church service.  Mr. Whimsy says its only a matter of time but we shall see!

This time last month I was still pretty unsure about who little Mallie would stay with when Daddy Whimsy couldn't bring her to work with him.  The sweet girl we met in the church nursery the first day Mallie went said her mom, a former preschool teacher, was looking for something to do part time to keep her busy.  We introduced her and Mallie to each other and it has been a really great match.  Mallie has stayed with Mrs. Dorothy a handful of times and seems to be doing really well with it.  I am happy there because Mallie gets lots of attention and love from Mrs. Dorthy.  We are praising Jesus for that match and introduction!  Its really helped me go back to work without a ton of stress.

I will do a blog post about our super adorable, fun and jam packed weekend... I just need to find a few minutes...

Megans Merry Go Round

My baby sister Megan just started a blog... Megans Merry Go Round... 

and she started it with some big news that my Mallie is pretty excited about!  Check it out - I promise you don't want to miss it!