MATTIE - 9 MONTHS OLD

Our baby girl is 9 months old already and learning and growing like crazy! For example:

Weight: 20 lbs 10 oz (80th percentile)

Height: 29 in (91st percentile)

Head: 18 1/2 in (99th percentile)

- She's been crawling for a couple of months now, so her new thing is that she likes to pull herself up to standing. But her balance is still a little off, so if you see bruises on her little head, it's due to slips and falls...growing pains :)

- She finally has some teeth coming in (which makes for not-so-fun days, sometimes). Her bottom right tooth broke through last week and her bottom left tooth just broke through two days ago!

- She takes after her brother, and likes to watch Sesame Street, Barney, and any preschool show with music

- She loves to eat! In fact, we've started feeding her table foods, and we have yet to find a food she doesn't like. She especially loves to help us eat our cereal in the morning, and when she hears a crinkly sound, she comes a'runnin' :)

- She's a pro in her little walker! She can go any direction and can go with some speed. She'll be walking before we know it!

- She still takes two naps a day, which is great, and sleeps all through the night. But she's also an early riser, waking up every morning around 6 or 6:30! We don't know where she got that from..

- She has just started to walk along the edge of our furniture. Slowly, and unsteadily, but nonetheless, she's moving

- She coos and babbles all the time, making every sound you can think of (except "ma ma ma ma") and has even started making a clicking sound with her tongue

- She LOVES books! She likes to pat the pictures with her little hands

- And she LOVES music. If she's listening to music that's playing, she likes to dance by rocking back and forth. If we're singing songs, she likes to wave her arm while we sing

- She really likes to be held...that's when she's the happiest. And she likes to be a part of everything going on

- She LOVES little kids, especially her brother. They can be doing nothing, and still make her laugh. Lately, CJ will play with Mattie by crawling away from her. He thinks she chasing him, and he loves it. She's just trying to catch up :)

- She likes to play with her hair, especially while she's having a bottle

- She loves to bounce and jump...especially while we hold her. If we put her in her jumper, most of the time she gets upset because she would rather be down crawling around (and have the freedom to explore and get into things she's not supposed to :)

- Speaking of being upset, she's already throwing tantrums at 9 months old. It used to be just if we took something away from her, but recently she has started to get upset if you move something that she was maybe planning on playing with, even if she hasn't actually started playing with it yet :). And she gets upset when you try to wipe her chin while she's eating. And she gets upset if you don't feed her fast enough when she's hungry. And she gets upset when you try to dress her or change her diaper. And the list goes on...

- But she has the sweetest smile that melts your heart, and so we tend to forget all about her little tantrums because most of the time, she is a generally well-natured, happy baby

Mattie makes everyone she comes in contact with smile and laugh, and we're no exception. She is SUCH a blessing in all our lives and our little family wouldn't be complete without her! We love you, Mattie Gayle!!