Rachel is 9 months!

 Our sweet little one had her 9 month check-up this morning and is doing smashingly! She weighs in at 18lbs 5 oz which puts her in the 50th percentile! Up from 25%! We knew her thighs were looking awfully cute and chubby recently. Height is 28.9" which is 87% and means that she might be taking after Matt Byrne. She cried briefly for her final HepB shot but then went back to life as usual. We are so grateful to have a happy and healthy little girl!

Our little girl is on the move! No longer content to just sit there and smile, this month (really in the span of 1 week after she turned 8 months) she learned how to pivot around on her booty, crawl backwards, crawl forwards, pull to kneel, pull to stand and cruise. It was a busy, exciting and somewhat scary week. 

 Since then, she is much less fussy during the afternoon hours when she used to sit wherever we plopped her and whine that she couldn't reach things on the other side of the room, or even 3 feet in front of her. Her favorite places to visit are the entertainment center and all doors in the house. She loves to close herself inside the study and look at us through the glass.  The trouble with Rachel crawling is that Jackson never ate things when he was her age. So, we didn't have to baby-proof the house that much. With Rachel, everything is fair game when it comes to putting it in her mouth. Plants, dog hair, shoes, dirt. 

Rachel has 2 bottom teeth and really looks like she is working on some molars on both sides. She has a full head of blonde hair that is getting lighter by the week. Her eyes remain bright blue and they still make little half moons when she smiles. She smiles a lot but it takes a lot to make her laugh! Jonathan can make her grin, whether he simply walks into a room or she hears him singing. She continues to track Jackson's every move and desperately wants to be able to keep up.  Rachel is thoughtful about what she wants and very perceptive. Her favorite toys are books and anything that Jackson is playing with (it's already coming back to get him). 

We are working on pushing back the 5am nursing session till 6ish, but right now it works for us. I feed her and then get up and attempt to do my Bible study or attend to emails/clean-up around the house. She'll typically sleep until 6:30 or 7am. The only issue we run into is that Jackson is really struggling to obey his green light, which allows him to get out of his room at 6:30am. I generally hear him creeping downstairs around 5:45, interrupting my precious mommy morning time. We continue to work on it. Again and again and again. 

We typically head out for a morning run with the trusty double BOB and both kids are pretty happy. We eat breakfast (or second breakfast) when we get back and have a dance party in the kitchen. After some play time, Rachel naps from 9 until about 10:30 on average. We then play outside, hit the park or wanter around the house until it's time for lunch and another nap for both kids at 1. The afternoons are for the library, park, playing 

Rachel is the happiest baby and is such a joy to have in our family. She gives great hugs and at the end of every night will just lay on me, head on my shoulder like a sweet rag doll. She is fascinated with noses, often finding ways to shove her little fingers up mine when i'm not ready for it! She appears to be musical, attending well to any music she can hear at the moment. She talks with much enthusiasm throughout the day, with lots of consonants. She really gets excited about food...the possibility of food, the actual eating of food or the happy memories of another meal gone by. 

In the past week we think that she is saying "Jackson" and "Lincoln". She also recognizes words, mostly the names of her family members, herself and anything related to eating. She can also understand "No" which were are starting to say more often to give her some direction and guidance in life. She's super curious but looks so innocent whenever she's off exploring. She will usually look back once or twice to see what we are doing and then full speed ahead with her exploration of new spaces and objects.  

the reality of a 9 month photo shoot