9 Months

Time really seems to be flying now. Our baby girl turns 9 months old today. She goes in for her 9 month Well Baby Visit on Monday, but I know that about a week ago she weighed 20 lbs 11 oz and was 27 inches long.

It seems like there have been some big changes this month. After months and months of only sleeping while being held or laying next to me, Samantha is finally turning into a pretty good little napper! Her separation anxiety seems to be getting better, and with it her sleep is improving. She is now routinely sleeping for 1.5 - 2 hours in the morning and the afternoon. Sometimes I have to nurse her back to sleep after about 45 minutes, but she goes back down easily. It's so nice to have some time to be able to do things around the house that are tricky with a mobile baby (like update the blog or paint my toe nails!). I snuck in and snapped this picture of her zonked out just a couple of minutes ago. I know that I was risking the fury of the sleep gods by using the flash, but Samantha didn't even flinch.

We've also moved Samantha into a new car seat. Her infant one was only rated up to 22 lbs, so now she's in a big convertible car seat. We'll be able to keep her rear-facing all the way to 35 lbs, and then she'll finally get to face forward. I was hoping that the car seat change would make her a little less fussy in the car, but no such luck. At least I'm able to sit in the back with her most of the time and keep her entertained.

We took Samantha to see the fireworks on the 4th, but they didn't hold her attention well. We watched them from pretty far away so that it wouldn't be too noisy for her. We were all bundled up in jackets and blankets because it was in the 50s. Brrrrrr! Luckily, Samantha seems to have inherited Pat's tolerance for the cold instead of mine. (Actually Pat says the credit goes to Pops!)