9 Months Old

Today Curran is 9 months old! It's hard to believe that it has already been almost a year and half since I found out about this precious gift...the time has passed by in the blink of an eye! I read this quote on a blog recently : "In the human experience, I declare passage of time as the greatest surprise. You wait for it to pass and then wonder where it went." I know y'all think I'm an idiot because I always jabber on about how quickly time is passing, but I think all mamas out there probably understand my obsession with this. :)

I don't feel like I have too much to add since my 8 month update, though I don't know why since it seems like Curran is changing every day! At least once I day, I look down at her while she is climbing all over me and am amazed at how much she's grown. It seems like one minute she was just a little bundle and the next she is long and lean and changing more and more into a big girl every day!

She is crawling and pulling up well, and she is trying to stand on her own, although she doesn't quite have the balance to last more than a few seconds.

As I mentioned in a previous post, she is in the process of cutting 5 teeth, and once they come in she will have a total of 8.

She has moved on from her favorite sound being "ma-ma" to it now being "da-da." The only time she seems to say ma-ma is when she wants me, which I guess is a good thing. But most often it comes out as "mmmmmmma." She is starting to make several other consonant sounds as well.

She has spent 3 nights away from her mama, and will for the 4th time tonight (another post on that later).

She is starting to get a little bit of stranger anxiety and does not go to other people as well as she used to. She is most comfortable with my sister, my mom, and her teachers, but she'll usually warm up to other people fairly quickly.

She is doing really well eating all of the "traditional" baby foods, but I really need to start branching out some. I mixed avocadoes with apples a few weeks ago, and she seemed to really like them. I also put some hummus on her spoon and let her feed herself, and she liked that ok. She has a great pincer grasp but sometimes has trouble letting go of the food once it gets to her mouth, especially if it's something like puffs or yogurt melts that get sticky when wet. So she sometimes will just hold them in her hand and lick them. :) I gave her some rice from Zoe's today and she loved it! Not sure if that is an age-appropriate food, but oh well. She is still breastfeeding exclusively although that may be changing in the next few weeks {sigh}, but we'll see.

My favorite times with Curran are at night after I've fed her and need to be putting her to bed, but she gets tickled about something, so we just laugh at each other until she realizes that she doesn't know why she's laughing. It is so cute, and I love seeing her huge, snaggle-toothed smile! I love it when she grabs my cheeks and comes toward me with her mouth wide open, drool going everywhere, like she is trying to bite me {I have a feeling that biting is going to become an issue}. Sometimes when I peek into her crib at night, the overwhelming sense of love I feel causes me to get butterflies in my stomach! It's a very strange {and slightly cheesy} reaction, but it's the best feeling in the world. She is just so much fun, and I am so thankful for every single minute I get to spend with her!