Happy 9 Months, Nellie!

9 Month Stats

Weight: 18.12lbs

Length: 27 1/2 in

Eating: you are a little garbage disposal lately!  you will eat anything and everything and just can't get enough.  I stopped making all of your baby food, just not enough time (sorry, my love!), BUT, to be honest, you were over those silly purees anyways.  Lately you have been eating pretty much the same thing as Mila (and sometimes even us!), just cut up into little pieces.  Your favorite seems to be spaghetti sauce and strawberries (not together!) but you've also had (organic) spaghetti o's, taco salad, noodles, cantaloupe and quesadillas (also a favorite).You're also still taking four bottles a day with 28 ounces of milk to make sure you get all those vitamins.

Bedtime: we have found that if we put your down at 6pm or 7pm you still wake up at 6am so we've been trying to get you down earlier, but it doesn't always happen.

Naps: you have your good days and your bad days but overall you are a pretty good nappper. 

Diapers: i just bought you size 3 diapers as the 2's are finally too snug. 

Clothes: it's probably time to pack away your 3-6 month clothes, but your 9 month outfits are still too big.  You're very long but have a skinny little waist so everything fits you much differently than it did Mila.  The one thing that you are always a size up (or really just your regular size) in is sleepers.

Favorites: you love to squeal and crawl around the house.  you think it's so funny to jump in your bed and Mila encourages/joins you, and you love the attention from her.  you are satisfied being anywhere near Mila and love to steal all of her toys but also don't mind when she grabs them back from you.  

Development: you started waving recently and I am pretty sure you said "ma ma" tonight even though you wouldn't say it again when I asked.  At times you will stand on your own for up to 10 seconds but you always end up falling on your bottom.  You are still working on picking up food and putting it in your mouth (and smearing it in your hair) and you still have six teeth but I think you are working on cutting two more top teeth right now.  You love clapping, shrieking and just being loud in general.

Nellie Bell,

Whew! You are such a little bundle of energy.  It was quite a feat trying to get a good picture of your for this month's picture. I don't know what I was thinking starting out in a chair; it worked great until you started moving around!

I think it's safe to say we are finally in the swing of things and you are such a little baby now. You are predictable, happy all of the time and have set your own schedule.  

You are adventurous and love to explore around the house.  It's not unusual for us to ask, "Where's Nell Bell???"  Usually we find you getting into something you're not supposed to, most recently when I found you playing in Roscoe's food bowl and noticed you had three pieces of dog food in your mouth!

I didn't get a picture of it but you have started sleeping folded in half in your crib. I have no idea how it can possibly be comfortable and I wonder if you just fell asleep while sitting and toppled over. 

You have such a fun little personality and are quite the entertainer.  You laugh at anything and everything and love to grunt and growl as your crawl around.

You have started hugging more and when I put your pacifier in your mouth at night you immediately drop your head onto my shoulder, which is so wonderful.  You and Andi are starting to play together and follow each other around the house.  Tori said the two of you "talk" to each other but she has no clue what you're saying.

Love you so much, little goose.

Love,
Mama

9 Month Dr. Appt - Nellie

At her 9mo doctor appointment today Nellie weighed in at 18lbs, 12 ounces and is 27.5 inches long.  Her growth chart is growing as it should and the doctor said she will likely start thinning out now that she's on the move....although she said that about Mila too!

The only question I had for the doctor (again) was to confirm she doesn't have an ear infection.  Nellie is ALWAYS batting at her ears; literally everyone I have left her with from 16 year old babysitters to her grandparents always question if she could have an ear infection.  Dr. Brouwer spent some time today doing a thorough ear inspection (which Nellie HATED; I've never heard her scream like that before) and confirmed that some kids just like playing with their ears; she doesn't have an ear infection and there doesn't seem to be a sign that one is developing.

Nellie had two shots (Hep B and the flu) and a finger prick for a hemoglobin test to check her iron levels.  She has to go back on October 16th for her second flu shot since she was too young for it last year.  Dr. Brouwer said that since this is her first real flu season she's bound to get sick and to try to keep her away from a large exposure of kids (which was quite comical since Mila has been at preschool for three days now and has already come home with a runny snotty nose); bring it on flu season!

The "bad" news from the appointment was the results of the hemoglobin test; apparently Nellie is borderline low in her iron levels.  They told me I need to get an iron fortified vitamin for her and increase her iron rich foods (meats, beans, green, leafy vegetables); maybe I SHOULD start making her liver *wink*.

Santa Barbara Family Vacation

Earlier this year Robert and I bought a travel trailer and have been anxiously counting down the days until it was time to take our first trip.  We spent the first week of September at Ocean Mesa at El Capitan Beach in Santa Barbara.  The resort was fairly empty while we were there and we had our choice of spots so, of course, we chose a spot with an ocean view!

We got a late start to leaving so we arrived later than expected. We set up the trailer, which took longer than anticipated since someone had to keep an eye on the girls while the other one was unloading.  The girls did great on the drive up there and were very patient while we got everything set up.  We decided to go out to dinner the first night since that was the easiest and quickest option.

Nellie fell asleep on the way to dinner but it wasn't long until Mila had her awake and was entertaining her.

After dinner we came back to camp, put the girls to bed and enjoyed some quiet time.  I am not used to just sitting around on vacation (unless I am at a beach!) but it was really nice to relax under the stars, listening to music, reading and having some cocktails.

The next morning we woke up and Robert made us breakfast outside while the girls relaxed.  It was a little hard with Nellie because she wants to crawl everywhere and everything was basically just dirt at our campsite. She's also in the stage of putting everything in her mouth so we couldn't really let her wander around.  She spent most of the time in our arms or inside the trailer, where she was free to crawl wherever she wanted.

Mila had a BLAST!  She loved playing in the dirt, being outside and running around with no rules.  She got to stay up late, go swimming and yell as loud as she wanted.

In the afternoon we went down to the beach, but, unfortunately, the entire time we were in Santa Barbara the tide was really high so there was no beach area to set up chairs.  Thankfully the campground had a pool so we went there everyday.  This was Nellie's first time in the pool and, at first, she wasn't sure but she came around and loved being in the water. Mila was our little fish, as usual, and even swam around the pool (in her floaties) all by herself. By the end of the trip she was jumping in all by herself!

Back to the camp for nap time...which was in my arms because it's hard to keep Mila in her bed from waking up Nellie in her pack-n-play, they are just too excited around each other!

All Mila could talk about the whole trip was marshmallows so we roasted them every night.  She was SO excited for the fire and for the oooey gooey marshmallows she could barely stand it.

Wednesday morning we woke up and drove to Solvang, which was about a half hour north of Santa Barbara.  I wasn't expecting much, but the drive up and the town were beautiful!  It was very country-esque and we saw so many animals (horses, cows, ostriches, emus); I loved the scenery.

Solvang was originally founded by a group of Danes and it is still very true to its Danish roots.  It's a quiet little town with lots of bed and breakfasts', cute little shops and 17 wineries.  I definitely want to come back on an adults only trip!

After Solvang we headed back to camp for naps (and for a picture that makes my heart explode with happiness)...

And then headed to downtown Santa Barbara with the cutest love bug in town.

We headed back to camp to finish off the night with marshmallows :)

We had a great week, didn't kill each other and are definitely looking forward to our next trip, to the beach, in October.

Thanks for a great vacation, El Capital Beach!