Yesterday our sweet little bug turned 9 months old! I'm still pretty amazed at how fast she's growing, changing and learning. Her growth, in terms of weight and length seems to have leveled off a little bit, probably due to her extremely active nature, but we see evidence of her brain growth every day. She continues to be a happy, healthy girl who eats well, sleeps well, has a high level of curiosity and a flair for problem solving. She giggles often, responds to all people with smiles and coos, has begun to wave bye-bye and accompanies most of her play with a running commentary of babbles and shouts.
We're working on some nursery games like "So Big" and "Peekaboo" and she giggles and giggles and giggles through them. She still doesn't initiate them herself, however.
Eleanor continues to love her food and happily eats most things, but her favorites remain avocados, bananas and sweet potatoes. Broccoli is her favorite green vegetable and we always have Rice Krispies on the floor. Watch out if you're eating bananas or grapes around her because she's a huge mooch! She'll crawl up into your lap and beg for bites. She's gotten very good at taking bites of banana (although you have to watch the size of her bites carefully because she likes to take more than she should at once) and waits (fairly) patiently while you peel and piece out grapes for her. She also loves grated, peeled apples and tofu as finger food. Interestingly, she's not really into fruit juices, but she loves her water and is always interested in taking drinks from grown-up glasses. She is also still nursing 4 to 5 times a day.
She weighed in at the doctor's at 18 lbs 7 oz last week and is now 28 inches tall. Her head has grown a significant amount since it was last measured, but I always forget that stat for some reason! She's kind of evened out in terms of her percentages and all her measurements now land her between 45 and 65 %. So, I guess she's pretty proportionate right now. :0) We still get a lot of comments about her being such a cute little thing and got a good sense of perspective last week at the Super Bowl party we attended because she's definitely sporting the long and lean look in comparision with many other little ones.
Eleanor has also started her own version of "dancing" whenever music starts (or dad drums). We have yet to capture it on tape, but it's pretty funny. She sits up and moves her head and torso back and forth to the music over and over again. Ahh to have such strong ab muscles!
She is now cruising all over the place, and of course crashing all the time, too. She pulls up on anything and everything and has even stood for very short periods of time on her own. Although she will "walk" the length of the couch or coffee table over and over again and will take single steps between objects to move, she doesn't seem very interested in taking steps in open spaces. She will pull up on your fingers and stand in position to walk along with you, but would rather just stand and talk with you or bounce than actually move.
Perhaps the most fun (and occassionally frustrating) of her developments is her ability to open drawers and cupboards, empty them and rearrange their contents. Our house feels like a whirlwind most of the time and although I'm really trying to enjoy her new discoveries, I also have a hard time resisting the urge to put away all the books, cds, dishes and toys she leaves scattered around the house. Lately I've been finding tupperware in the baking drawer, pots, pans and colanders in the tupperware drawer and silverware in the pots and pans cupboard. It is pretty fun that she's trying to put things away. :0)
Late last week Ellie was "helping" me empty the dishwasher and she got to the silverware before I had taken out the forks and table knives. I laughed a lot as I watched her pull out the spoons and deposit them in the baking drawer. Each time she pulled out a knife or fork, however, she gave it a puzzled look and threw it back in the dishwasher! I guess my safety measure of only letting her play with spoons has turned into an interesting sorting game.
Well, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting that would amuse you all, but this post has already taken me all morning and I should really be getting ready for Ellie's lunch. Hopefully I'll get back in the habit of taking pics, Ellie will get well soon from her cold and Seth and I will remain immune to the bug. Maybe we'll even get our furnace fixed this afternoon! Here's to hoping!
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