Georgia Is Nine Months Old!

Georgia-you are NINE months old!

{First off-Happy Birthday (yesterday) daddy!!! I will post on his special day at another time. I'm sure he is chomping at the bit waiting for it HA! We love you!}

Here's what's going on in Georgia Grace's world:

• I am a day late on your monthly update post because I wanted to wait for your 9 month check-up that we had today (more on that later). You are 16 pounds 11 ounces (15th-25th percentile) and 27 3/4 inches in stature (50th percentile). You grew 2 3/4 inches in 3 months-wow!! You continue to be a petite mini but you are following your growth curve beautifully.
• You are wearing 6 month clothes mostly, an occasional 9 month dress or 6-12 month outfit. You are wearing size 2 diapers and size 1 shoes. Tiny footsies!
• You have two bottom teeth that are very sharp and very cute.

• Your sleeping schedule is 8:30-9pm to 7am. You usually take a morning nap and a long afternoon nap. You LOVE to go to sleep by being sung to and with a soft blanket wrapped around you. You like comfort!
• Your favorite "toy" right now is the door stop behind the front door. You gravitate to it like a magnet and thump it over and over again. So funny!
• You love exploring our side tables, fireplace, Owen's treat basket, and all lower cabinets in the kitchen. Operation childproofing is well underway.

• Since you started riding in your big girl carseat you are a much better traveler. You love a good car nap. Mommy and daddy on the other hand do not! Nothing messes up a good routine like a car nap.
• You have started recognizing strangers and can identify people you are familiar with. The word mommyitis has been used a time or two this month. It's not full-blown mommyitis but you know who your momma is and sometimes you just want her. And momma is totally ok with that!
• Another word(s) that has been used to describe you this month-drama queen. I hate to paint you with that brush baby girl but... For example, the other day you were feeding yourself cereal puffs and one got stuck to your finger and you couldn't get it off and you got so mad and threw your head back and just wailed with flowing alligator tears. Life as a 9 month old is just so unfair sometimes.
• You strongly dislike having your nose picked or wiped. Since we had our first sickness this month we have been doing this quite a bit. Bless it.

• When you're mad, you're mad. When you want something, you want it NOW. I must confess this is probably your mommy coming out in you. 
• You LOVE driving granddad's electric riding chair, riding in your carrier on mommy or daddy, grabbing O-dog's tail, and feeding yourself finger foods.
• You talk and squeal so much. We get the biggest kick out of listening to you and watching your facial expressions when you're telling a story. 

This month I started jotting down significant daily events in my planner which has made it much easier to keep up with when things happened. I am a numbers girl so I know this will be handy to look back on.

July 13th-first time riding in a convertible carseat

July 14th- put up pink Jeep (sad day but she's too on-the-go for it now. It's safely tucked away in storage for future use!)

July 18th-first time skinny dipping

July 19th-first WORD. Which was "crackle". What can I say we like to be original!

July 21st-first sickness ;(

July 26th-first time trying a pickle-LOVED

July 28th-first time in church nursery

July 31st-first time trying scrambled eggs-LOVED (no allergy-yay!)

Today was our 9 month checkup as I mentioned and it was just not a good time. At all. Here we are pre-meltdown city. We had to wait a while in our room before her pediatrician could see her so we were trying to keep her entertained. 

She eventually started scaling the walls. The picture is pixilated because it's nearly impossible to get a clear one when your child is climbing a wall!

So the bad news is she has a left ear infection. We couldn't believe it! No fever, acting perfectly normal, no tugging at her ear. He said it was pink and bulging so he prescribed a 10-day dose of amoxicillin. I am "anti-antibiotic" but I knew she had to have it to clear up the infection. She has had two doses and no side effects so far. Believe me I will be pumping her full of yogurt over the next week and a half!

Her pediatrician also wants us to switch her to table food (lightly seasoned). I told him about the struggles we have had with her acceptance of baby food. He reminded me that breastfed babies typically do not do as well on baby food due to being satisfied with mommy's milk. Makes sense.

So tonight I have developed a feeding schedule. We will see how it goes and make adjustments as needed. It is dietitian approved :).

I must confess feeding my baby has been hard. I thought the transition to solids would be so easy and effortless. But it hasn't been. I'm hoping changing her food choices (per pediatrician recommendation) will create better acceptance of solids. I think she is probably going to be petite and never going to be a big eater but I want to make sure I am providing the best nutrition possible. I haven't breastfed 9 months to give up now!

See, it's not always peaches and cream. But the good FAR outweighs the bad. I can handle little bumps in the road like this. I'm thankful for my support system who offered words of encouragement to me today (as I was emotionally proclaiming I was the worst mother of the year and possibly shedding a tear or two. Hey it happens!)

Happy 9 months baby girl! You are one tough cookie. We are so proud of you and love you soooooooooooo much!