Maddie Grace - 9 Months - Casual Claire

Oh nine months, where to begin. Maddie Grace has turned into a little crazy person. I am constantly getting told that she is the happiest, loudest, and most active baby people have ever met. And she definitely is all of these things. I love that she has this great happy, outgoing, energetic personality – but she doesn’t have an off switch, she’s either running wild or sleeping, and I’m tired. And by loud I mean her happy noises are similar to noises I would make if I saw an ax murderer standing behind me, so I’m sure you can imagine what her upset noises are like. Sometimes I try to get her to chill out and read a book with me or watch a baby TV show, but she would much rather me chase her as she crawls around the house laughing hysterically. Her laugh is the best thing in the world though so I can’t be upset. I keep wondering where my cuddly baby who earned the nickname Snugs went since cuddling has become so rare. She does still like to be worn, as long as I am moving the whole time (don’t even think about standing still to clean or sitting down), and every now and then she will climb up on me to give me a hug and a kiss, which never lasts long but is so sweet and the closest to cuddling we are going to get.

As hard and long as some days are I am still loving every minute of being MG’s mom and having so much fun with her. I love getting out of the house and going to the botanical garden, aquarium, park, mall etc. with her, and she seems to love it too. She is very outgoing and really enjoys going anywhere with other kids/babies that she can play with.

Maddie Grace is now pulling up on anything possible. She spends a lot of time in the downward dog pose and even bear crawls a little bit. I did catch her standing by herself for a couple seconds earlier today before plopping onto her behind. I’m worried that she will be walking sooner than later and I will have my hands even more full than I do now. I’m encouraging her to take her time on that one.

Maddie Grace is now consistently taking 2 naps a day although sometimes they last longer than others. One day she will take a 20 minute nap and the next she will nap for 2 hours. She isn’t sleeping great at night but definitely improving. She goes to bed around 8 and gives us one long stretch, wakes up to eat, and then goes back to sleep and wakes up for good at 7.

We started swim classes for MG this last month and they have been amazing. I know you can’t really teach babies how to swim, but she loves splashing around in the water and has definitely learned things from the class. She now knows how to blow bubbles in the water and loves doing so (she blows bubbles for all of bathtime now) and she will grab toys and put them in a bucket when told to do so. We also still go to the baby class at our local library and are looking for a music or baby gymnastics class to try out.

Another big milestone Maddie Grace just started doing is clapping her hands! I’ve been trying to teach her this for a couple months now so to see her start doing it made me really happy. She’s also very slowly starting to get better about playing on her own. Usually she will scream for the first few minutes of being in her playpen but then will start and I’ll start hearing happy noises. That usually lasts only a few minutes then the screaming starts again but hey – baby steps. She’s definitely gotten better at being left with other people – the gym and church are both possibilities now which is awesome.

Maddie Grace really is so much fun. She loves being around people and other babies and playing interactive games. I can’t wait to see what the next month holds for us! And of course, a short letter that I typed up to print and put in her scrapbook:

My sweet 9 month old,

I wish there was a way to explain how much I love you. I’ve loved you unconditionally since before you were even born. I can’t imagine life without you now. I don’t want to. You are a handful. Yes. I’m so completely sleep deprived. I want to be sleeping right now but instead I am thinking about you and writing all these thoughts down so that I don’t forget them.

I can’t believe how fast you are growing up. I’ve already started planning your first birthday party (which will be amazing) but it seems like you were just a newborn and now you’re on the brink of toddler-hood. Scary. Just over the last week you started clapping your hands and blowing bubbles in the bath and in the pool. These may not seem like big accomplishments to anyone else but for someone who has worked on teaching you these things it is huge and makes me indescribably proud. Over the last month you’ve also figured out how to give hugs and kisses and it’s kind of adorable. You crawl everywhere, pant like a dog when you’re happy, and your dad and I agree that your laugh is the best thing in the world. You love to explore and try new things, and being outside is your favorite.

I hope you are always this happy.

-Mama