Nine Months Old

Penelope is nine months old.  It’s hard to believe – but then it’s not.  The truest statement I’ve ever heard of raising children is that the days are long and the years are short.  I can’t agree more.

Penelope’s fever broke around 2:00 this morning.  Other than not eating all that well today, she seems to be doing fine.  All of the other kids seem to be doing better as well.  Hopefully, we are almost done with this last round of sickness. 

Penelope had her 9-month well baby check-up this morning.  Here are her stats:

18 pounds 4.5 ounces (50th percentile)
28 inches long (75th percentile)
17 inch head circumference (40th percentile)

Penelope is wearing some size 9 month clothes and a lot of size 12 month clothes.  The other day she wore a shirt that Rosemary wore last summer, which I think is just funny.

I still pump 4 times a day on weekdays, and once a day on weekends.  Penelope nurses 3 times a day and takes 3 bottles a day on weekdays, and only nurses on weekends.  So far we haven’t had to get into the freezer stash of breastmilk, but we’re getting closer.  I’m only pumping 2-3 more ounces a day than we’re using at this point, so I’m sure that at some point soon we’ll break even then have to hit the freezer stash.

Penelope is a great eater.  She is eating solids 3 times a day now.  She eats all kinds of fruits and veggies, and now meats.  She self-feeds for most of her meals.  She is a huge fan of sausage!  One of her favorites remains pears (and to a lesser extent apples).  We will be adding a few more things in as the month goes on, and I hope she continues to enjoy her food as much as she has so far.  Hopefully over the next month or so Penelope will transition to full table foods.  For now, she has recently mastered the straw sippy cup, so hopefully Penelope will be ready in a few months when she starts drinking milk and using the sippy cup full-time.

Penelope has 5 teeth now (if you count that little top right tooth that is just barely poking through).  She doesn’t seem to be teething right now, which I’m thankful for right now, though I’m sure that more teething is right around the corner. 

Penelope has been using her voice quite a bit.  She mimics me a bit, and was telling me “bye bye” when I was leaving for work the other day.  I’ve heard “mamamama” and “dadadada” too.

Penelope is pulling up and cruising.  I bet that she’ll be walking before she turns one.  I believe that she thinks that she is a 2-year-old.  She loves nothing more than to be sitting right in the middle of all of the kids’ chaos, and is so happy whenever she is around them. 

As far as sleeping, Penelope still gets up once a night to nurse, on average.  Sometimes it’s twice a night.  I can’t remember the last time she didn’t wake up, but I’m sure it probably happened in the last couple of months.  It’s really not that bad because I barely wake up, but I know that I’ll have some sleep to catch up on when she starts fully sleeping through the night.  I’m thinking that won’t happen until she’s not nursing any more, but we’ll see. 

Right now, Penelope really likes me, likes Miss Sally, and tolerates Gary.  Penelope did get to spend yesterday with just her daddy and they had a great day. 

In general, Penelope is just a really sweet and happy baby.  I can’t wait to see her personality develop more and more over the next few months and to see how she changes.