Josie is 9 Months

How is it even possible that 3/4 of Josie's first year has passed by? Some days when I'm playing with her I wonder what happened to that tiny little baby that I held in the hospital. When I watch her army crawl across the floor to get a toy I wonder how that is even possible since it seems like just yesterday she was learning how to roll over.

I took her to her nine month checkup today. She weighed 17 pounds and a half of an ounce. That puts her in the 30th percentile for weight. She is 27 inches long (2 feet and 3 inches) which puts her in the 26th percentile for height. The doctor said that she looks very healthy and seems like a very content and happy baby. We couldn't agree more!

This month Josie's bottom teeth have continued to grow. Her top right front tooth has burst through her gums on October 19th and is continuing to grow. I miss seeing her gummy smile, but seeing her show off her little teeth is also pretty darn cute. She likes to stick out her lower jaw to show off her bottom teeth and when she smiles really big you can see all three of them. She seems pretty darn proud of herself and I don't blame her. She's done pretty well the teething which really impresses me. Her other front tooth looks like it will come in pretty soon. Her gum is getting swollen and you can see some of the white behind it. I give it another week before that one breaks through. I can't believe how fast all of these teeth are coming in!

Josie continues to army crawl all over. She is getting so fast with it. She would make soldiers proud. Ha ha. She also enjoys getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back-and-forth. I'm waiting for her to take off crawling for real but it hasn't happened yet. She doesn't seem to know what to do with her arms to get moving. She will rock and lunge forward, falling on the ground. She doesn't seem bothered by it though and usually she will get right back up on her hands and knees and repeat the action. Sometimes she'll go halfway across the floor doing that. I'm surprise she doesn't have rug burn on her forehead yet! I am certain that she will master crawling in the coming months, but if she doesn't that is okay, too.

Josie is getting stronger and stronger each day. She has been sitting up a lot more. I have been concerned over her sitting up because she doesn't seem to do it for long. She can sit up right but after a couple minutes she will topple over or just plop down to crawl. She prefers to lay on the floor. I talked to the doctor about my concern since I think she should be sitting up a lot more. He didn't seem concerned at all and said that as long as she doesn't regressing and forgetting how to sit up then she is fine. He didn't think that her muscles lacked tone and she sat up well for him. I guess she just prefers to play around. That's fine too as long as there's no underlying issue for why she's doing that.

This month Josie had her first ear infection. She had been having an awful time staying asleep at night and was whiny. My prediction was that she had an ear infection, so Joe took her to the doctor's office. The poor thing's ears were both infected. She was not a fan of Amoxicillin, which made giving it to her twice a week difficult. She started feeling better after a few days of the medicine and when we went to the doctor today her ears were clear of infection. Thank goodness!


"What is this new treat?"

"YUCK!"

Josie absolutely loves her older sister. It is so nice to see them interacting with each other. I can't help but feel a surge of pride when I see them play together, Sophie hug Josie, watch Josie smile lovingly at Sophie, and how they gravitate towards each other. I am definitely a proud mama whenever I see them together.

Josie adores Cosmo, our cat. I know she's noticed the cat in the past but this month she really has shown interest in her. When Cosmo comes around Josie will start kicking her legs and army crawl towards the cat. Sometimes she even makes a 'ca-ca' sound as if she's trying to say cat. When she gets to touch Cosmo she always grabs her fur and pulls. Cosmo is so good with her though, just as she was with Sophie, and hasn't tried to bite her. Usually I am petting the cat as well and trying to keep Josie from attacking her face but she still is a good cat for letting Josie grab at her.

Josie loves playing with Sophie's blocks. They make great teethers and she is constantly gnawing on them. Whenever she sees the block bucket she will speed over to it and tap at the side. If we aren't paying attention she will cry until we dump them out for her. It is so funny!

I still can't believe that this sweet, wonderful little girl is mine! She brings our family so much joy!

Here are some more pictures from this month:

Josie isn't really interested in standing up on her own. She can do it for a few seconds, but the she will bend her legs so she can go back down to the floor.

Halloween Festivities



Boo Fest

There is a local farm who has Boo Fest. We go each year since it is so close to our home and because I've taught quite a few the family's grandchildren. We love going seeing all the animals and going on the hay ride to get a pumpkin.   

Sophie and Daddy found a great pumpkin!

Sophie fell in love with this little pumpkin, so of course we had to get it, too.

Traditional family photo at the farm

Treat and Eat Night

Each year my school has a fun night for the kids. Kids can go to each classroom and get candy from the teachers. There are also games and activities for them to do. It is always fun to see all of the students dressed up and having a good time. They decided that all trick or treating would be on the 1st floor this year. Since I teach on the 2nd floor that meant I wouldn't have to pass out candy like I normally do. I was fine with this because that meant I could relax and have fun with my family. We stayed in my classroom for awhile and visited with all of my old students who came back for the evening (I love catching up with my old kids!). Next we took the girls to get some treats from my colleagues. We ended in the library where we were able to color and have fun with some friends. 

Getting some candy from Auntie Ca-Ca.

Sophie was so excited to see her old buddy from the baby sitter's! She has missed him so much this year.

So excited by all the treats she was able to get!

Josie was a good sport about walking around the school with us.

HallZOOween

We are so lucky to live close to a zoo. We love the zoo on normal days, but we especially love it during holiday times. Around Halloween they have treat stations set up and give pumpkins to the animals to smash/eat/play with. The girls and I went with a friend and her daughter. It was such a nice day and the girls really enjoyed themselves. Sophie loved seeing the animals and getting treats. Josie loved watching all of the people and animals. We had such a great time.

 

Decorating Pumpkins

 

Halloween

After a day at the baby sitter's house and a quick check-up for Josie, we were ready for some Halloween fun. We passed out candy on the porch for awhile. Sophie loved giving candy to the treat-or-treaters. Every time a new person would come to the house she would say, "More friends!" It was pretty cold and rainy so Josie and Joe went in the house and waited for other trick-or-treaters while Sophie and I went to visit a few houses. She was so happy while she marched up each door. She was too shy to say "trick or treat" though. We got pretty wet after visiting ten or so houses in the rain. Sophie was shivering and after some convincing she agreed that we could go home. She was so happy and talked about it for the rest of the night. 

My sweet bumble bee and flower.

Sophie loved passing out candy to 'her friends.'

Josie tried to sneak some candy.

Halloween is over? Oh no!