9 Months with Ellie

9 Months?  Is my baby really 9 months old?  I really can't wrap my head around that.  The idea that she will be 1 in 3 short months is completely mind boggling. 

Changes/Developments
No crawling yet, but Ellie likes to sit and spin around.  She can push herself backwards while on her tummy, so she can move places, but can't move herself forward so she ends up backing herself into corners a lot!

She has 2 teeth coming in!  The bottom two in front.  I was surprised one day when I felt them in her mouth because she hadn't been acting fussier than usual - I figured when her first teeth started to cut through that she would be a teething mess, but she has been quite good!  Fingers crossed she stays that way while the rest come in!

She has been babbling a ton recently and she has made some sounds that sound like "dada" although she doesn't refer to Brian when she says "dada" so it is up for some debate whether this is just babbling or her first word. 

She is very curious, loves to look around at people and when she is in the mood she gives people big smiles.  No sign of stranger danger yet - it takes her about 30 seconds to warm to people and give out a smile.  


Sleep
We realized that at 8 months Ellie should be able to sleep through the night (she had been waking up once per night for the last few months) so we let her cry it out one night (which was not fun or easy) but from that point forward she has slept through almost every night.  It is amazing.  People tell you how their baby sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am and you don't quite believe it when your baby is say, 3 months old, but then your baby gets the hang of this sleep thing and it is the best thing ever.  Most nights she sleeps from 7 pm until 6:30 am or 7 am.  

Naps are decent depending on the day.  Today she took a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon, which is much better than she normally does - i think she is still tired from our vacation this past week where she napped terribly!  Most days she will do a 45-60 min morning nap and a 1-2 hour afternoon nap.  

Feeding
We are still breastfeeding as her predominant method of food, but she gets 2-3 solids in a day.  She is eating more solids now, including some finger foods like cut up peaches, puffs and baby mum moms.  She has a 50% average on getting finger foods into her mouth and Winnie knows just where to stand when Ellie is in her high chair. 

Mama Stuff

The runs with Ellie in the jogging stroller are going well, although I average about 1 minute per mile slower when jogging with the stroller.  I consider running with the stroller my "strength training" to make me faster when I run without it!  I have loved being able to run 4 times a week and I hope to sign up for some road races in the fall.  

I had been stressing pretty badly with work for the past month or so, luckily having last week off has allowed me to completely disconnect from work and not think about it.  I often stress myself out and end up not being able to sleep at night.  I wish I could find a good way to clear my mind of work stuff while I sleep, but so far nothing seems to work.  

With Labor Day approaching I am starting to get sad about the New England weather starting to change.  I have loved being able to take Ellie and Winnie for walks most days and I am nervous what indoor life will be like come winter time.  I need to start writing down different activities that we can do over the winter!