Nine Months In, Nine Months Out

Julia, I can't believe it, but you have been out here in the world now for as long as you were in your Mommy's tummy.

In nine months you've gone from this:

To this:

To this:

With every day you grow into a funnier, happier, more complex, more amazing young lady.

You have some issues with sleeping, as in you don't really like to do so more than 4 hours at a time (which is a bit troubling at night) but when you're awake, you're mostly all smiles.

 You love to chase your brother and wake him up. But, you don't like it when he messes with you. That said, the foundation of a great friendship is there, and you guys love each other so much. Aidan asks you everyday "Julia, you want play with me? Okay!"

You figured out how to use your eyebrows and do so liberally.

You love to wave hello, and scoot around everywhere in your walker.

But, you're fast enough of a crawler now that the walker just slows you down. You are fast and determined to get where you're going.

You still love to clap and make silly noises. We even think you're trying to say the "J" in your name...it comes out like blowing raspberries...but that's still pretty dang good!

And, on top of all this, you can stand on your own...without assistance!

You do know your name, and respond to it readily, and with a smile.

You're quick with a smile, but also don't mind just contemplating your surroundings.

You also really like to see the world from different perspectives.

You LOVE the dogs' bowls and we constantly have to race you to their water bowl, which you so desperately want to splish splash in.

You're a sweetheart, and you're funny (and you know it), and you love to make people laugh.

And when you get happy, there's no stopping you. Check out this "avocado inspired happiness" from a few days ago, and see the many faces of a 9-month old you:

You have three teeth (all on the bottom), and your top two teeth have just about come through. They'll be here any day.

You officially weigh 18 pounds and are  27 and 3/4 inches tall.  That means you are the 50th percentile on weight and height. But, you are at the 100th percentile on awesomeness.

You are a super kid, Julia. And your Mommy and I (and your brother too) are so in love.

The 9-month period that you were growing in your Mommy's belly seems so long ago, and seems like it went by so quickly. But the 9 months that you've been here seem like an eternity; you are amazing and I don't remember life before you joined our growing family.

We love you for all that you are- no sleep and all- and you lighten our days with your beaming smile, your curiosity and your spirit.

The journey continues, and I'm so happy that we're all on it with you, you sweet girl.

8 months old and standing...and crawling...and chewing...and lovely

Julia, you are 8 months old and just the apple of our eyes.

You are such a happy little girl, and are already such your own person.

What's life like for you as an 8-month-old?

Well, you chew on just about everything, as your teeth are all trying to pop through all at once:

You've quickly gone from no teeth,

to two teeth...

to now three teeth!

You clap! (and LOVE to clap!)

You stand up wherever, and however, you can. Sometimes you get very creative in how you try to get to standing, too!

And sometimes you try standing during night or nap time. One night you were crying and crying away in your crib and we finally went in and found that you were "stuck" standing up!

And one nap time, your Mom came in and found you sleeping like this:

Was that a "fell asleep standing up and slid down?" Who knows?

You also LOVE your big brother. You play with him, you goof around with him, you LAUGH at his jokes. This is the best.

Oh, and, new as of last Thursday: you're officially crawling...when you want to! No need to roll where you want to go any more.

Oh, and now, since I took too long to write this post, you're trying to walk too! You can do it pretty well with some hand-holding, and you're even starting to use the walker!

You LOVE pulling on hair (whether it's mine or Pops' or our friend Oliver's or your brother's). Nothing will make you squeal quite like pulling someone else's hair!

You are now into FEEDING YOURSELF some finger foods! And you do it pretty well. But the dogs are ever hopeful that you'll toss them some. You're also very vocal too! A trait that really comes out when we sit down to eat.

Your sleep is really day to day...sometimes you sleep well. But now that you're cutting tooth #4, sleep is back to being pretty hard to come by.

You WAVE to your Mommy and Daddy, and light up when we enter a room.

You LOVE the baby in the mirror, and are even more fascinated by other real babies!

You are a cuddler. You are a giggler. You're a busy little girl, with busy little feet and legs. You are fearless (crawling straight for the sprinkler!)

You are a rock star.

You are love. 

You are 8 months old!