9 months old

Freyja turned 9 months old on May 15.

1. Crawling

Just shy of 9 months--on May 11--Freyja crawled for the first time. I was coming home from picking up some food, the garage door startled her and she cried & crawled a few feet to Nick. I didn't witness it firsthand, but Nick captured it on video. While I may not have experienced her first crawl, I was there the first time she crawled without crying.

I'm being slightly facitious. I know I won't be present to witness all her "firsts," and I am ok with that. She is learning and growing, and I'm glad she feels comfortable at times when I'm not around. Good work, Freyja!

Now that she can crawl, she can really explore! It's fun to see what she is interested in. It also necessitated baby proofing. I may not always have motivation to clean, but when it involves Freyja's safety, keeping things picked up is a must--especially choking hazards. I'm not paranoid, but I also know that things can happen quickly. We don't leave her alone in a room. If we forgot to "baby proof" something, Freyja lets us know. For example, she found an old toothbrush used a while ago to clean the shower, and just about put it in her mouth. Yuck!

2. Eating

Freyja continues to try new foods. I think it was in early April that she developed the "pincer grasp." With this she can pick up little pieces of food...or little items on the floor (hence the safety aspect mentioned above). She gets about half of the attempted food in her mouth-- cheerios, puffs, or small, soft pieces of food. Last month she LOVED eating. While she still very much enjoys it, she is into moving around even more. She doesn't want to sit still as long and eat. We often give her some pureed food as well still, but are transitioning to the finger foods. The foods she enjoyed recently include potatoes (sweet potato & Russet), avocado (although it's slippery to pick up!), bread, and pork & beef roast. We had a beef roast at Nick's mom's house for his birthday and she had the roast, potatoes, and small bites of cooked carrots. Yum! Who doesn't like grandma's cooking, am I right? That night she also had her first bite of vanilla ice cream. It was a hit, especially since she was teething. At Freyja's 9-month appointment, she was in the 50th percentile for weight, 33rd percentile for length, and 42nd percentile for head circumference. Her pediatrician was impressed with her growth.

3. Teething

Freyja's front two bottom teeth started coming in on May 23, two days after her 9-month check-up. Things that helped us get through the worst of the teething: infant ibuprofen, teething toys & cool foods, and her pacifier. Also some cuddling/swaddling/rocking her to sleep for longer than a normal evening.

4. Sleeping

Before Freyja, sleep was pretty consistent for me. I liked my 8-9 hours of sleep, and except for when I was pregnant, I didn't often get up in the middle of the night. That all changed when I had Freyja. A good night's sleep is now a luxury, not an expectation.

Freyja's sleep schedule and patterns change all the time, but I have noticed some consistencies. For example, I can't remember the last time she fell asleep before 8 pm. Her bedtime in the past two weeks continues to be between 8:30 and 9:30 pm and she wakes up between 6:30 and 7:15am. She continues to take 2-3 naps per day, sometimes a good 1-2 hour nap, but often some shorter cat naps as well. I let her sleep with a blanket and her pacifier. She has always been a back or side sleeper up until this past month--now she sometimes sleeps on her belly with her butt up in the air. It's pretty darn cute! We still put her on her back to sleep, but if she puts herself on her stomach we don't wake her up or move her back.

5. Playing

Freyja is very social and seems to enjoy being around people. She does get overstimulated after about 30-60 minutes at a store/mall, and then enjoys being carried (in my arms or in the Boba carrier). In the highchair, sometimes she tolerates being in it for up to a half hour (like at recent birthday parties with lots of people).

She likes mimicking and learning new things, including:
-waving hi and bye (she does this with her whole arm, just her hand, and sometimes just a few fingers moving against her palm...hard to explain, but pretty cute).
-clicking her tongue
-saying new sounds, but her favorite is still "da da". We recently heard her say "ba"
-signing "all done," "more," "milk."
-Lifting her arms up "How big is Freyja?"
-Laughing with peakaboo, rasberries
-She enjoys kisses and hugs but doesn't cuddle much unless she is tired & being held/rocked in my arms
-She still loves playing on the toy piano, splashing in the bath, hitting toys against each other & on the floor.
-In the past month, she moved beyond the game of dropping things to actually throwing them (not out of anger--just being playful and testing out her arm. It's impressive!)

Well, while it looks like a long update, I'm sure I am missing something. Time goes by so fast and I want to remember it all :) It's good that I take pictures and video too.

I look forward to many more "firsts" to come and continuing to watch Freyja grow. I love her so much & feel blessed to be her mama!

Emily

P.s: Pictures to come...