Charlotte: 9 months old

My beautiful girl is 9 months old today!  She gets more delicious and wonderful by the day, even if she is no longer interested in sleeping- day or night.  What happened to that amazing sleeper I brought home from the hospital?

What you can't see in these pictures is the color of her eyes- they are a grayish-blue, more gray on the inside with a dark blue rim to the iris.  The color is beautiful! I guess the recessive blue-eye gene both Eric and I received from our fathers has come out in her.

Height and Weight: We had an early 9 month visit with the doctor, and Charlotte is 22 lbs, 8 oz (96th percentile) and 28 inches tall (60-something percentile, but I think she might actually be taller).

climbing the scale at the doctor's office

Clothing size: I pulled out the box of 12 month and 12-18 month clothes- which fit her nicely.  She is adorable in everything!  She's still in Size 4 diapers.

Milestones: Charlotte is standing independently for a few seconds at a time.  Yesterday she took a small step on her own before falling down.  I can see that she really, really wants to walk.

Charlotte also climbs up the stairs by herself!  We haven't put the gate up at my parents' house (we need to do it ASAP), and yesterday Asher came into the kitchen and said, "Mommy! Come look! Baby Charlotte went up the stairs all by herself!"  She is so proud of herself.

It also seems like she has her first word: kitty.  She doesn't say it clearly so that anyone else would understand it, but she says "kheee" whenever she sees one of the (many) cats in the house.

She still has zero teeth, and not even a hint of one coming in.  The doctor confirmed this.  Oh well, it isn't stopping her from eating everything that comes her way.

Outings and Adventures: We had a lot of travel in the last month.  We took our Cape Cod vacation, and went via Maine.  We spent 3 nights at Memere and Pepere's and the kids got to see their cousins.  We went to the Children's Museum of New Hampshire, which we really liked.  Then on to Cape Cod, then home with a stop for dinner at our friends' in New Jersey.

Charlotte at the Yellow Submarine in the children's museum

Routine/Schedule: Oh my goodness.  Sleepless.  With all of our traveling from place to place and sticking her in one random room after another, she isn't sleeping much, or well.  And neither am I!  She hasn't been napping too well either- today she didn't nap AT ALL.  Come on baby, mommy needs a break!

She's eating 3 meals a day and some snacks in addition to breastfeeding.  She loves her food!  I know the philosophy of food is "food before one is just for fun," but she gets hungry and fussy if we don't feed her solid food, and she will eat a fair amount at meals.

Her breastfeeding isn't on a schedule.  Some days she loves to nurse and will nurse a lot; some nights she will nurse frequently; some days she only nurses 2 or 3 times.

Looking at what I wrote, I would say- we have no schedule and very little routine.  Most of what we do is based around what her brothers are doing, poor girl.  I wonder sometimes if I am doing her a disservice by not having a schedule, but she seems to be thriving, and so happy.  The perfect third child!

beautiful girl, watching her brothers play

Favorite food: This is impossible to answer.  Charlotte loves all food.  She has eaten turkey burger, brisket, and kohlrabi.  Like any child, she loves breakfast foods like scrambled eggs and pancakes.  I wouldn't say breast milk is her favorite food anymore, because she is disinterested in breastfeeding if something is going on, but she will always accept a cracker.  She's generally easy to please when it comes to feeding time!

Favorite person: She still loves everyone.  This morning we brought her into our bed, and the boys were already in there.  When she saw them, she let out a squeal of delight, and gave them a huge grin.  So maybe she loves her brothers best of all!  She is becoming a love bug, and gives hugs and snuggles.

Charlotte gets more beautiful by the day.  Sometimes I can't believe she's still a baby, because in some ways she wants to be just like her brothers.  At other times, I remember she's still just a little thing.  I can't believe her first year is passing us by so quickly; it seems like just yesterday she wasn't here.  I took her into the dressing room with me at Banana Republic today, and thought about how happy I am to have a daughter- hoping that one day we'll shop together just the way I shop with my mom.  I still can't believe my good luck!