Ruthie is Nine Months Old

How is it that our little Roo is nine months old? Have nine months really flown by so quickly?  I am delighted daily by this little Mouse as she grows and explores -- and oh, how she is exploring these days!  She’s up to so much!  

At nine months old, Ruthie is...

• tipping the scales at 16 pounds, 14 ounces (15%ile) and is 27.5 inches long (50%ile)
• sleeping 12 hours at night, waking some nights (okay, most) at least once.  Most of those nights she is soothed easily; she seems to be hunting for her nay-nay in the dark!  Occasionally, though, she will take a small bottle; Mommy is easily persuaded to give in to her desires.
• napping two good naps a day, usually for about an hour and a half in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.  If her afternoon nap is shortened, she will often take a third short nap in the early evening.
• working on getting some teeth, but none have emerged yet.  She is still generally a happy camper, although she has her moments... for those, I’m thankful that we have Tylenol and Orajel on deck!
• crawling!  She spent last month perfecting her army crawl and backward scoot, but by the time we returned home from our Thanksgiving trip, she was crawling everywhere...and fast!  
• pulling up!  And proud of herself, too!  I’m just thankful that she’s not walking...
• making scrunchy face, which is one of the cutest things that all three of my babies have done.  I’ll have to capture this on camera; it’s accompanied by short, fast breaths.  
• giving kisses, although selectively.  She does not do this trick on command.
• flying away when in our arms; she literally flaps her arms and legs at a rapid clip while being held.  
• into everything.  I’m having to re-learn baby containment strategies these days!  Fortunately, she responds to her name and a soft “no”... at least for now!  She particularly loves to check out Jake’s bowl and to dump the bookshelves.
• on baby food strike, preferring whatever it is we’re eating to mush.  I can’t say I blame her!  I do try to sneak some pureed fruit into her a couple of times a day, but I’ve for the most part raised the white flag and started making her a plate.  She particularly loves her Cheerio’s, frozen peas (still mostly frozen), chicken, cheese, banana bits, noodles, broccoli, and green beans.  The other night, she couldn’t get enough Mexican ground beef... amazing!
• jabbering and making lots of sounds:  mama, dada, nana, blah-blah... oh, how we love to hear her talk!  (She has an adoring audience, too!)
• in love with her big sisters, and the feeling is mutual among the group.  She loves to wake Nora up from naps (and Nora asks to be tickled by Ruthie) and Phoebe will often play with Ruthie on her own.  Ruthie is happiest when she’s with all of us.  She also loves to take baths with her big sisters now!
• wearing 9 month sleepers (although they still seem a little big), a size 3 diaper, and mostly 9 month clothes.