8 Months and 9 Months!

9 months -- she's crawling, cruising and standing for a few seconds!

8 months -- she's crawling and pulling up!

Three-quarters of a year old! It's going by so quickly! Sigh.

She's adorable as ever and changes every day. She's waving bye-bye (sometimes, not all the time) and is cruising along the furniture. This girl is going to be walking in a month -- I got money on it. Adam took her to her 9-month appointment, and Dr. Horton says everything looks on schedule. She weighs 18 pounds, 12 ounces (50th percentile) and had her first ear infection this last month.  

Curious and a bunch of trouble! She loves getting in these side tables and beelines it for cords and plugs.

We officially gave up baby food this month. She is so uninterested in jar food, it's not even funny. For almost four months, I feel like we've beaten our heads against a wall. I had some luck with it for a couple of weeks after Grandmother suggested warming it up (duh!). She seemed to love it, but then, that affair ended, and she was back to pursing her lips, spitting it out or turning her head. So, now she eats finger foods, and you'd think she's starving! She just eats and eats. Just tonight, she had peas, carrots, mangoes, chicken, and two teething biscuits. And, she had a full breakfast, lunch and snack. I'm proud to still be breastfeeding at this point and love our moments together, but I can tell she's getting ready to wean as she's drinking less and is easily distracted or feeds intermittently. She's busy and surely missing out on something! And, I tell you what, I won't be sorry to see that pump go. I started supplementing with one bottle of formula a day during the week, and she's taking it just fine.

She and Luke are so cute, I just love it. When they're in the car, Luke will say, "I want to touch her." When we stop, he gives her a quick hug, just enough to keep him going. It's adorable. But, some of his hugs are more like headlocks and they really piss Madeline off. And, wowee, is she dramatic! If she falls and bumps anything, she'll wail and wail. Then, I'll pick her up, all better!