Nine Months Old!

9 Month Stats:
18 lbs.9 oz.
27 inches long

Marin was nine months old on Sunday. She's changing every day. We had a doctor's appointment today and are proud to report that Marin is growing perfectly. Best news a mom can ever receive. Here are a few of this months developments:

- Marin's favorite toys of late are her wooden blocks. They were Uncle Jake's, actually, and Grandma saved them for her someday grandchildren. We're so glad that she did; Marin loves them. They are brightly colored and are all different shapes. Marin especially loves the short round pieces, because they fit perfectly in her hands and the tops of them fit into her mouth. She likes to play with the blocks for a while, and then she carries the round ones with her around the room.

- Marin still does not have a single tooth. She gums on just about everything for relief.

- She is beginning to eat a few bigger pieces of food. Even though she is all gums, she can still chew food with her gums if it is soft enough. We all eat dinner together, and when Marin sees our food, she makes a chewing motion with her mouth like she wants a bite. We have given her pieces and she does a pretty good job. I'm totally petrified that she's going to choke though.

- Marin is "cruising" all over the place. She walks very well while holding onto the furniture, nearby hands or legs, Norah's back- anything she thinks will steady her enough to get her where she wants to go. She looks a little like a monkey sometimes. One hand on the chair while she walks along looking for the next spot where she can grab. I predict that she'll be walking on her own by next month.

- Marin stands on her own for short periods of time. The longest I have seen her stand is about 30 seconds.

- Marin continues to LOVE music. As soon as it plays she starts moving and dancing. She loves to dance.

- She loves jewelry. 'Atta girl, Marin. She loves anything that sparkles and she pulls on earrings and necklaces. We are constantly saying, "Marin, gentle." She loves playing with the heart charm at the end of my bracelet, and tries to put it in her mouth.

- Marin does not want to stop moving. Ever. Gee, I can't imagine where she gets that from. :)

- She's in a bit of a carseat boycott stage. Once she is in she doesn't make a peep, but she pitches a bloody fit going in. I usually try to distract her by singing a song or making some crazy noises accompanied by ridiculous facial expressions. That usually does the trick.

- Marin is a good little sleeper. Jason jokes that she gets this from her Aunt Lindsay. She goes right to sleep at night when we lay her down, and I usually have to wake her up the next morning to go to daycare. The two times we have let her sleep in, she has slept until almost 9am! She did go through a little phase where she would wake up at night and want her pacifier again, but the whole ordeal took about 30 seconds. Sometimes her eyes weren't even open. She does sometimes fight her naps a little bit. This she definitely gets from me. I hate naps. Always have; always will.

- Marin says "dada" a lot. I think she has even said it with recognition a few times. She definitely knows who "dada" is when we say it to her. She gets very excited. Of course I'm the one who bathes her, feeds her, clothes her, birthed her, and keeps a journal of it all... and she says "dada" like its going out of style. :) She has also said what sounded like "hi" twice, and she did actually say mama once a long time ago, but she was just mostly making noises.

- She also waves goodbye. She does this to me most mornings when I drop her off at daycare. It breaks my heart.

- Marin has little interest in the sippy cup. She wants to drink out of a "real" cup. It is a bit messy, but we still let her on occasion. I think mostly the cold water pooling on her gums feels good when she drinks out of a cup. We'll keep trying.

- Marin's easy going, happy personality is in tact. She really lets anyone hold her at any time. She does sometimes reach for me when someone else is holding her and I am close by, but she really doesn't fuss about it. In fact, we can go whole days without hearing any tears or fussing.

We have a big month ahead; including Marin's First Thanksgiving, moving into our new house and Marin's new room, and picking out her first Christmas Tree!