Nine Months

Madison,

You are nine months old. Each day, you are more and more our "big girl" and less and less our little baby. You are so full of personality and have stolen so many hearts. You are beautiful, funny, strong, sweet, persistent, and easygoing. You mean everything to your mommy and daddy. You make us so happy!

You are still trying to get the hang of crawling. You push yourself completely up on all fours sometimes, but you prefer to army crawl. And, sometimes, you still use rolling as your major mode of transportation. ;-)

You are into anything you can get your hands on now. And you want it all! We've been playing with little squirt toys during bath time, and you try so hard to hold all of them at one time. Sometimes you try scoop them all up into your arms and sometimes you hold one in your mouth while holding one in each hand.

You've been blowing raspberries lately. You think it's soooo funny! We can't help but to giggle at you. You've also been attempting to wave. You're stubborn though - you never do it when we try to get you to!

Your new favorite toys are your Elmo, your musical table, and your Violet puppy. You interact so well. You are always babbling, and screaming, and squealing. Your babbling has changed so much lately, though. Now, it sounds like you are really trying to talk. We keep joking that, once you start, you'll never stop. We keep wondering if you'll talk as much as you babble. If so, we're all in trouble!

Happy 9 months, lil' monkey! We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Madison <3s Santa

Madison met Santa for the very first time today. First, he made a visit to daycare. He gave her her very first Christmas present - a steering wheel that makes lots of sounds and has lights on it. Then, when I got home from work, we took Madison to visit Santa at the mall.

Madison and Santa - 12/22/09
Madison at daycare before her Christmas Party (also the first time she's ever worn jeans - she looks like such a big girl!)

Madi is learning to crawl! Yikes!

Ducky

Monday, we let Madison sit up in the tub like a "big girl" for the very first time. For about a month now, bath time has been quite a task...trying to hold on to a slippery, crazy girl and keep her bath seat from flipping over in hopes of coming out of the whole experience with a fresh, clean baby. haha! We've ended each attempt the same way - Madison squealing and beaming while Mommy, Daddy, the floor, and the walls are covered in water! Fun for Madi, but not so fun for Mommy and Daddy. (I have to admit, though, that I do laugh at her while she is being a wild woman in the tub, which probably only encourages her. But you watch her and not laugh!) Well, last weekend, I remembered that I have another little bathtub that I received as a shower gift. I realized it was the perfect solution to our problem. Madison has been sitting up well for awhile now, but I don't trust her in the big tub. Introducing...the duck tub!

Daycare Fun

Madison's Thanksgiving Turkey

Pretty Butterfly

Christmas Pictures

8 months

Dear Madison,

Has it been another month already? You are 8 months old! I am so proud of your every accomplishment, but sometimes it is just a little overwhelming that you are so close to turning one! It seems like it is just around the corner.

This month you have completely mastered sitting up. You can sit for such a long period of time now. Heather said to me just a few days ago, "It's still so strange to me that she's sitting up all by herself because she still seems so tiny." You are also standing all by yourself for short periods of time while holding onto something. I don't know why it seems so crazy to me that you can do that now, but it does! You aren't crawling yet, but you've gotten really good at rolling to get to things. We often place objects in front of you to encourage you to scoot or crawl toward them, but you always just wiggle and roll instead until you get to them. Maybe you'll just skip crawling all together.

You've been imitating sounds, and it's so cute. I love to say "bay-be" (baby) or "a bay-be" (a baby), and you always try to repeat the sounds back to me. Sometimes you do it really well! It seems as if you're almost always babbling/squealing/singing. You love to play pat-a-cake and sing the itsy bitsy spider. I think your new favorite thing, though, is sitting on Daddy's shoulders. You smile and laugh and bounce the whole time!

You had 2 teeth come in this month (the bottom front teeth). Teething hasn't been a problem for you so far. I really hope it stays that way! You look so cute with your little teeth!

This month, we celebrated your first Thanksgiving. You loved to watch your cousins play - you were so amazed by them. It's so fun to watch you around other children. You're always smiling at them, and it often looks like you're just studying them - trying to figure out how to do the things they can do. You also attended your very first parade this month - the Christmas parade in Marietta.

There is no way that I can even put into words what a joy you are. You truly are such a happy baby. You are always smiling and being silly. You get so excited over every little thing. You are very funny, and you are starting to realize it. When you make us laugh, you will do whatever it was that we were laughing at over and over and over. You're turning into quite the little ham!

We love you so very much! Happy 8 months!

8 months old (the date stamp on my camera was wrong - it was really 12/9/09)

You can kind of see her teeth in this one!

At the Christmas parade