nine months.

Eliza is 9 months old. That's 3/4 of a year! Nothing new or huge happened this month, except that I feel that Eliza is suddenly way too grown up. I mean, she was already standing and crawling and babbling last month- but, this month she is suddenly faster and stronger and smarter. It's too much! Everything just looks and sounds so much more "kid-like" and I can't keep up.

Stop growing, girl!

Now that she's older, our days are much more structured. I'm just starting to feel the "not enough hours in the day" mama stress. Between meals, naps, play, park, walks, appointments, and errands- I feel like our day just disappears. Also, I took a position teaching a few classes at Montclair Dance Academy, and I am absolutely loving it. It has been the perfect amount of time, with some really great students. And, it is giving Eliza a chance to be away from me for one afternoon a week. Every mother is different, but for me this was a hard decision to make. We are together all day every day. To some people that sounds crazy. And trust me, on some days it is crazy. But, I'm glad that we are doing this. It gives me a creative outlet, and Eliza gets to hang out at our friend's house all afternoon.

She is doing surprisingly great, by the way. Amanda can always make Eliza happy. Once, when Eliza was like a month old, Amanda came over one afternoon- she made my bed (at least the sheets were washed!) and rocked Eliza for like an hour. She didn't cry once for her the whole time, and this was back in the day when E literally never. stopped. crying. (Literally, not figuratively.) I'm grateful to have such magical friends who can keep my babe happy. And, who have cute baby friends and loads of great toys!

At the end of the day, I pick up my little one and take her home to put her to bed. I don't know what our future holds for us, but I just can't imagine being away from this girl for longer than a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon. It just goes too fast. Eliza, I love you, but if you don't slow down I just might have to lock you away. So, please stop growing up, and don't you DARE take your first steps when I'm not there! My mama-heart couldn't handle that.

Eliza at nine months:
-sitting, standing, crawling- and she's FAST.
-walks along the couch and when you hold her hands
-babbling sounds conversational
-two bottom teeth, and two fangs
-loves her baths in the big tub
-teeny, tiny girl- weighing in at 14 lb 5 oz.
-just got put on a high-fat diet- lucky girl!
-waves "hello" at her own face
-makes funny sniffy faces
-still our outdoors adventure girl
-had one random week where she was heart-warmingly cuddly
-has "stations" in the house where she returns to play
-loves banging things, and pulling things out
-only wants to feed herself
-loves bread, bread, and more bread
-pretty adventurous in trying new foods
-but, I have to be really creative to get her to actually stop and eat
-such a happy and giggly girl
-really good in public- loves people watching
-loves older babies and kids
-her first ventures into day-time babysitting have been a success!
-always bonking her head (poor girl)
-little lounger
-she's really good at communicating her needs
-loves chasing and being chased
-big toothy, crooked grin
-so easy to get this girl to laugh these days- we are loving it!