9 months

Quinn is 9 months old. Holy cow. It is hard to believe she's that old already, maybe because she still seems so much like a baby to me. It is funny how different siblings can be. Ella was ready to be a grown up the minute she left the womb, fitful from day one, frustrated by the lack of communication and immobility. Quinn, on the other hand, is content to sit and play with whatever happens to be nearest, babbling away. I sometimes worry she is not progressing fast enough. Thankfully my Mother-In-Law kept a detailed baby book for Greg (thanks, Maeve!). Apparently, Greg was in no hurry to grow up as well. At 9 months, Greg: Sat well. Rocked to-and-fro on hands and knees. Did not stand (at 1 year, he was "not too keen on standing" and didn't pull himself up until 1 year 1 month). Hooray for record keeping! Quinn is just like her Dad.

At her 9 month check-up, Quinn weighed 23 lb. 14 oz. (98th %) and was 29 inches long (87th %). Doctor says she's healthy as can be. We have some exercises to build up her core and get her on the move, and pulling up.

So, Quinn, at 9 months:
LOVES her sister, especially pulling her hair.
Gives (open mouthed) kisses, occasionally bites my lips
Tears up magazines
Throws balls, toys to see them bounce and hear them crash
Eats 3 meals a day, mostly baby food, some grated/smashed fruit, egg yolk, cheese, yogurt
Drinks 3-4 bottles of formula and 3 nurses a day
Wakes up closer to 5 for her nighttime feeding and sleeps until 6:30-7:00
Naps twice a day
Says, mama (sometimes appropriately!), dada, nana, baba, gaga, kaka, lala, bo, go, aaaah, etc. Combines two different sounds often.
Mimics my voice inflections
Scoots around on her belly to get to toys. Mostly spins in a circle, and pushes backwards. Gets onto all fours in her crib often, rocks back and forth occasionally.
Moves from sitting to belly.
Kicks her feet rapidly any chance she gets~ In the bath, sitting on the floor, diaper changes, in her crib, in the highchair, car seat, etc. It is so cute, I think I have to post a video to prove it:

Wacky Hat Day

It is Spirit Week at VCP and today is Wacky Hat Day. Look who got all "Fancy!"

Miracle of Miracles

Our girl finally had fun while getting her hands dirty. It only took 2 3/4 YEARS to convince her that sometimes, sacrificing cleanliness for fun is worth it!

What we ARE doing

People

Ella has been drawing pictures of our family for a few days now. Our favorite place to draw is on the big window in the living room. The one on the far left is my Ella-style rendition of myself. Then, she drew herself with "REALLY long legs, cause I'm a big girl," then Daddy down below (I nervously asked her what the line between his legs was, and she said, "It's just an extra line."), and Quinn up top. Her people always include the following: Head, eyes, nose, mouth, neck, arms and legs. Sometimes she will include a hat, like what she and I are wearing in the picture above.

What the?

I messed up our blog today. And I don't care enough right now to do anything about it. Sorry.

Goings On

The past week has been an eventful one in our household. Our Ella is growing up fast! We took the plunge and put her to bed without diapers. A few wet sheets, but now that we've put up a sticker chart, she's been dry for 4 sleeps in a row. I am prepared for set backs, but she's off to a really great start. Also of note, but less exciting, she is using real toothpaste. With fluoride, which means she spits in the sink and rinses her mouth out with water. It is so cute to see her imitating us at the bathroom sink on her little stool, tapping her brush on the edge of the sink and all. And Quinn, my little vampire, has been drinking a bottle or two of formula (gasp!) since Sunday. This was a really difficult, emotional decision for me, but easy going, second child that she is, Quinn took it all beautifully. She fussed a little about one bottle, but eventually drank it, and has eagerly sucked down every one I've offered her since. Her systems seem to be tolerating it great so far, and I'm finally getting some relief, which was the main goal. Whew!

Snow Day

Last week it snowed in Portland. The weather forcasters were predicting warm air to come in with the precipitation, but that didn't happen so all the rain fell as snow. It was beautiful, wet snow, perfect for snowballs and snowmen, but we were kind of done with snow after our trip to Colorado. So we just hiked around the yard and watched Hailey run around crazy for her 5 minutes of spunk.

'Sup. Just waiting for my sister to wake up so we can go have fun in the snow.

The down side of snow where we live is the hills! It took Greg two hours to get home from work. Atleast he got home, without a scratch on the car to boot!

Photo Journaling

In an effort to catch up my desperately lagging blog, I opted to slap up a bunch of photo from our vacation over Christmas and be done with it. That's all anyone really wants to see here anyways, right?

Enjoy the photos below:

Party Christmas Night

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get an overtired almost-3-year old to smile in a photo?

A little better, but red-eyed...No perfect pictures of the girls in their last minute Christmas skirts this year. I look forward to 4 1/2~ Anjali sat there and smiled beautifully for every single picture!

Christmas Morning

(Not Pictured: Ella's tears of joy upon opening her long-awaited microphone)

Waiting for Santa

(Too excited to stand still for a picture)

Christmas Eve Snow in Denver