Andi Girl

My baby girl is growing.











Here are some signs:
Her hair is getting longer and fuller. She still has that dark-colored hair I had as a baby. I imagine it’ll lighten a bit as she ages.
She crawls! At this point, it’s not much more than an army crawl. It’s an adorable movement--She uses her left arm continuously to hoist her body ever forward, and she’s gotten pretty quick with it. As a result, our bookshelves are being constantly emptied, the toilet brush has become a hot commodity, and Harry isn’t the only one that wants his food and water.
We went to her 9-month check-up two weeks ago and she weighed 17 pounds. That’s only 18th percentile in weight (she’s keeping her petite stature she started with), and she’s about 50th in height (a little surprising it’s that high.)
She’s constantly babbling and “singing” throughout her days. When I take her on walks, I’m afraid she wakes up the entire neighborhood with the loud baby words and squeals she makes all the way up and down the streets. She says “da-da” a lot. I have yet to proclaim it as her first official word, since I don’t think she knows the meaning of it yet, but I imagine she will eventually.
She loves chewing on all the tags of her blankets. I’ve noticed her even rubbing them against her face—Kind of like my obsession with rubbing the corners of my “lankies” when I was little.
She’s putting everything in her mouth—the wet washcloth in the bathtub, my keys (her favorite toy), and yes, even Harry’s half-eaten chew. (Don’t worry, it just happened once.)
She feeds herself Cheerios, chicken pieces, mandarin oranges (a favorite, for sure!), and anything else she can get her little fingers around. She still likes me to feed her, too, but she loves stuffing her own face when she can. Today she stuffed about five bites of a tuna sandwich in her mouth. I kept telling her to stop, but she wouldn’t have it. Before she knew it, her mouth was so full she didn’t know what to do. Luckily I have a very skilled finger that really knows how to clean out an overstuffed little mouth.
She laughs a lot now. She especially laughs at Harry after he gets out of the tub, and when I do the “This Little Piggy” game with her toes. She also gets a kick out of belly kisses, tickling, clapping, dancing, and peek-a-boo. Just as a little girl should.
She loves her “Signing Time” DVD’s. Once she sees me start to put one in the tv, she starts smiling and clapping while making excited and eager grunts. But man, if I don’t get it on fast enough, I’m in trouble!
Separation anxiety is starting to show its ugly head. She puts her head on my shoulder in the face of strangers, and she cries sometimes when people try to hold her. But it’s not terrible, and I hope it never is. Her sweet Aunt Bethany came to watch her the other day, and once Andi realized who it was, she calmed right down and had a good afternoon with her aunt.
She’s finally starting to fit in 9-month old stuff, but nothing older. She’s still pretty little for her age. Mom recently got her some darling little summer jammies that have rainbows on them. Her little body is so adorable in them. And now that she’s gotten more cuddly, you can only imagine how fun it’s been to cuddle her in my bed…Just me, Harry, and Ands. The other night Harry and Andi fell asleep right next to each other on my bed. It was fun to see.
Another couple of months to go and Andi’s one year old. I really can’t believe it. Time flies when your life is completely dedicated to feeding mouths, changing diapers, and calming cries. So I guess whoever said you gotta’ enjoy it while you got it isn’t so dumb after all.