Nine Months

It is hard to believe that my baby is already 9 months old. I remember when Rebecca was only a few weeks old and seeing babies that were around 9 months. They seemed so big. It seemed like a lifetime away for Rebecca to reach that age. Now she is here. She is utterly amazing. I am sure that I am biased, but I think that she is the funniest and cutest baby EVER! She makes me laugh every day with her facial expressions and her sounds. I love that she has never met a stranger. She will go to anyone and talks to everyone she sees. She is simply the best.

We had her 9 month appointment yesterday. Dr. Knox said she looked great and is a healthy girl. Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 5oz. 50%

Height: 27 1/2 in. 50%

Head: 46 cm. 90%

Dr. Knox also said that we can start feeding her real food. So we came home and I fed her cooked carrots, chicken sticks (yuck), and some whole wheat pasta noodles. She loved it. We are working on her feeding herself. It is going very slowly.

Here is a picture of Rebecca and her Daddy at the air show at PDK Airport last Saturday. We strolled over there from the house and stayed only a little while. It was so hot!

Dancing Queen

I love it whenever I catch Rebecca doing something for the first time. It's amazing to watch how much she is learning and changing. I was especially proud when I caught her yesterday dancing for the first time. Luckily I had my camera close by. She definitely gets her dancing skills from her mother.

Rebecca trying out her new car seat

playing with her music table

Nothing to say and too busy to say it

Some weeks I find it really hard to blog. It is either that I have nothing to say or no time to say it. This past week, it has been a little bit of both. Last week we were busy unwinding from our trip to Cleveland, going to the zoo, and packing for the weekend in Chattanooga. This week we are getting ready for playgroup at our house. As for Rebecca, she is just as cute as ever, but has no new tricks. However, be on the lookout for the post about her walking. It is going to happen soon!

I have posted some pictures from this past week.

Animals we saw at the zoo:

baby warthog

turtle

meerkat

three little birds in a big nest (Rebecca, Joshua, and Ari)

swimming with Julie

hanging out with one of my cousins named John

being cute

Down in the Delta

Rebecca and I just got back from a trip to Mississippi. We had so much fun! Rebecca loved seeing her Nannie and Pop Pop, all her aunts and her cousins, Mae, John and Carrie.

Nannie had Rebecca laughing uncontrollably. It was hilarious. When this girl gets the giggles, anything and everything is funny.

Driving a tractor like Pop Pop.

Look! Can you believe I can finally wear a bow?

Rebecca loved Kato! Kato had mixed feelings about Rebecca. Anytime Kato would come into the house, Rebecca would start laughing and talking and crawling to Kato. Lucky for Kato, he was faster than Rebecca.

My two angels looking cute!

I wake up with bed head, even in Mississippi.

Watching bubbles with Aunt Amy.

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Swimming with Carrie. Rebecca loved the swimming pool!

Dressing up like a kitten! (It's hard to tell, but she has cat ears on her head.)

Swinging at the park.

One of the many attempts to get Carrie, Mae, and Rebecca all looking at the camera. We gave Rebecca a rattle, we put the statues in the picture, and Denise was behind me doing a dance. I probably took 20 pictures of this and there is not one picture of them all looking in the bunch. Oh well.

We took a field trip to Shelby to see Pop Pop on the farm. He took us to see an 8 foot alligator that had come over the levee during the recent floods. The alligator is now living in a bayou between two fields outside of Shelby.

We had a wonderful trip, but were glad to get back home. Rebecca's daddy was more excited for us to come home. He said Rebecca grew an inch in the week we were gone.

All Growed Up

Mother's Day at the river


My favorite part of being Rebecca's mommy right now is watching all the new stuff she is learning to do. I love seeing her try to do something for the first time. She does not give up easy. I admire the determination she has to do what she wants. It seems that she has mastered so many new tricks over the past month. She is crawling, able to sit on her own, pulling up, saying mama and dada, and yesterday, she started feeding herself.

I put a few Puffs on her highchair tray. She grabbed one with her right hand and one with her left. She tried to grab the third with her mouth. She looked like a little kitten trying to eat. If was quite cute. After some work, she finally figured out how to pick the Puff up correctly and put it in her mouth. She also finally figured out how to properly drink out of a sippy cup. We have been working on that for 4 months.

Here are some of my favorite pics of her from the past few weeks.

sleeping with her bum in the air

waking up with bed head

helping mommy cook

playing with her boyfriend Jack

showing off Daddy's blue cup

Jumping Joan, Jr.

In my kindergarten class play, I played the part of Jumping Joan. I still remember my lines:

Here I am little Jumping Joan

Since Jesus is with me,

I'm not all alone.

My family has referred to me as Jumping Joan throughout the years. I am not sure why; I guess it had to do with the fact that I was always moving and dancing around. Still now, I find myself dancing around when most normal people would not.

It has taken me almost 8 months to realize that I have given birth to Jumping Joan, Jr. Rebecca is such a wiggle worm. She is always moving. When she was really little, she refused to let you sit down with her. She wanted whoever was holding her to be moving. John and I probably walked miles and miles around the house with Rebecca.

Now that Rebecca is moving on her own, she is constantly on the move. Changing her diaper has become quite a chore, and getting her dressed is now a 2 person job. One has to take the top half, while the other takes the legs. Rebecca has gotten really good (and fast) at going from lying on her back to pulling up to a stand. She now tries to do this in the bathtub. Do you know how hard it is to bathe a slippery baby that is standing in a slippery bathtub? Good thing she does not mind a little water in her face, and good thing I do not mind getting wet.

I guess I getting my pay back. I know I drove my family bonkers. I heard many, many times, "Mira, be still!" I am already saying to Rebecca, "Be still!" Like I said before, good thing she is

cute!

Missing You Already

One of Rebecca's best friends, Ella, moved away this week. She moved all the way to Louisville. She has only been gone two days, and she misses her already. The following are pictures of Ella and Rebecca through the months.

September

October

February (Ella, Julie, and Rebecca)

March

April

P.S. I miss Ella's mom, too!