Baby: 9 Months

Zoey has been out longer than in by a couple weeks!  Her personality is really blossoming and shining more and more.  And she is funny!  We makes all sorts of faces to be expressive or just to be funny.  She takes to mimicking our faces we make at her too which leaves us all giggling.  She is definitely a lot more interactive and really so much fun.

Nine months has also brought about the stranger aversion and clingy phase.  This has been the most challenging for me.  I can't leave her sight without her screaming bloody murder.  She has also decided she doesn't like sleeping at night either and wants me to hold her all. the. time.  This means a lot of times I fall asleep holding her because I'm so exhausted and it's developing a really bad habit that I'm not happy about.

With me not working any more, it's been a transition for both of us.  I love that she likes me around all the time and clamors up my leg for me to hold her, but also makes me really unproductive.  I try to remember that this is just a phase and there will be a time I will wish she still cuddled and will cry when she sees me rather than not, so I'm doing my best to grin and bear it.  I have to remember her world was turned upside down with me home now too and I have failed at establishing a good routine as of yet.  Most of her naps are spent in the car seat and my goal is to get us in a better routine.  It probably doesn't help that she just cut tooth #5 (another one on the bottom) which may explain some of the sleepless nights.

Another few facts about Miss Zo Zo:

She likes to touch everything

She HATES peas but has done well with everything else

She won't eat the little puffs, she just spits them out - a weird new texture I guess

She won't hold a bottle or sippy cup - she wants us to feed her

She is still struggling with acid.  Her new formula cleared up her ezcema but we're still dealing with tummy issues so I'm going to try Nutramigen.  She HATES the taste of it so we're going to mix the two for a while to see if we can get her used to it.

She loves to dance and wave her arms

Uses her voice like crazy - it's so fun to hear her babble

Scoots backward on her tummy and can scoot on her bum -  no crawling yet

She is a genuine cheeseball

Likes to pull off her socks

Got her first bonk by falling over and smashing her forehead into the table leg - so sad!

Has started to pat my back when I snuggle her

Loves little people her same size

Holds her hands out for people to hold her or pick her up

Loves doggies and monkeys

Wears some 9 mo clothes but mostly 12 mo clothes

Wears size 3 diapers




 

Boo at the Zoo

I was so excited for Halloween this year.  Something about having a child, no matter how small, and seeing new things through their eyes made it so fun.  After much deliberation we went with the mouse costume.  We decided to make it a family theme and I was a cat and Dallin was cheese.  My little mouse was seriously the cutest.

We did lots of Halloween activities this year.  We went to Frightmares, carved pumpkins, went to Boo at the Zoo, did a Trunk or Treat at my mom's ward and then on Halloween went trick or treating to a few house on our street.

Suzanne, Seth and Phin were so nice to invite us to Frightmares.  Zoey's costume was still in the laundry so she didn't wear it.  It was a beautiful day and despite the sunscreen, my poor baby got sunburned on her cheeks!  It was so fun to take the babies on the train and the carousal, even if the carousal did make us adults a bit sick!  We also did the little trick or treat places there.

Boo at the Zoo was literally a zoo.  SO many people.  It was fun to see the animals and Zoey took to pointing to them all.  She loves monkeys.  Curious George probably has a lot to do with it.  We only stood in a couple relatively short lines for a few candies - it wasn't worth the wait for the others.  We had a good time.

The Trunk or Treat was fun.  Lots of candy in a little time.  People would look at us skeptically and ask us which kind of candy she could have and either hand her a Tootsie Roll or licorice (they really thought she could eat those soft candies) or I would kindly tell them that she likes Snickers. :)  I'm sure we looked like idiots and they knew we were going to eat all her candy but it was more for the experience and to get some traction out of her costume.

Trick or treating around the neighborhood was quick and easy.  Lots of people just left buckets out on the porch or knew us and gave us handfuls of candy because there weren't a lot of trick or treaters.  I'd say her first Halloween was a success!