9 Months Old

I don't know if you can see what her shirt says in this picture, but it says "Wild Child"...and it is so fitting. She is a rambunctious little girl with tons of energy, but so precious and sweet at the same time. When I was taking these pictures, she was crawling away, because she's just always on the go. But I got a few decent ones.

Here are Maleah's stats from her 9-month checkup at the doctor:
Height: 28 1/4 inches--75th %
Weight: 18 lobs, 2 oz.--50th%
Head: 46 cm--90th%

When the doctor got her weight, she asked what in te world happened because Maleah had gotten so fat! As soon as I stopped nursing, I guess she finally put on weight because she wasn't starving anymore! She's also a social eater, so she likes to be eating whenever we are, even if she just ate! Bad habit, I tell you.

Some other fun things about Maleah:

• She now can go from crawling to a sitting position. When she first learned to crawl, she was just stuck on her hands and knees, but now she can sit, so that's been really nice for her...and us!
  
• Loves dogs. I mean Really LOVES Dogs! Whenever she sees one, she goes bonkers. She tenses up all her muscles and almost grunts, like she doesn't know what to do with herself she's so excited. I remember when Jaimason was this age, it was the same way. That's why his first birthday party was dog themed.
  
• Waves...occasionally.
• She has an instant reaction when she comes in contact with one of her blankets. As soon as she sees one or touches one, she grabs it, puts it in her mouth, and puts the thumb of the hand that's holding the blanket in her mouth, too. It's very funny, because it's so automatic. The other day we were at church and the blanket was on the floor. She could see it and was trying to crawl toward it but was also trying to put her thumb in her mouth at the same time, so she was scooting across the ground. Very funny!

• Feeds herself with her hands now. Uses her pincer grasp very very well. Doctor was impressed.
• Uses a straw with no problem.
  
• Loves baths. She gets very excited when she hears the water turn on and goes crawling into the bathroom to see what's up.
• Gives very sweet (and WET) kisses. She opens her mouth, puts it against your cheek, and licks you. The she says "muh!"
  
• She is Jaimason's human action figure. She is very patient as he drags her around the house and does as he pleases with her. But they have a great time, and they love each other so much. I am very touched by their relationship.
  

Here are some pictures of our 9-month-old: