9 months in. 9 months out.

 Dear Liza,

You are 9 months old today.  I've been anticipating today since the day you were born; this day that marks your little life in my uterus equaling your life spent with our little family.

At 9 months old, you are a very very busy little girl.  In the past week, you have perfected crawling and crawl like a proper baby.  You still prefer to stand and crawling simply gets you to the next place to pull up to standing.  You are braver everyday and like to lift your hands up and stand unsupported until you fall on your bottom.  This cracks you up and you always stand up for more.

In the kitchen, you frantically crawl towards the opened refrigerator and would be perfectly content if I would let you stand and grab at the food in the fridge all day long.  You get very upset when I shut the door and move you to a new location so I now try to only open the fridge when you aren't paying attention.  A difficult feat.  Second to the fridge, you also love the dishwasher.  The dishwasher was also Henry's hobby for a time and therefore is not in good enough shape to have a baby holding onto the bottom shelf.  Your little life is in shambles when I move you away from the dishwasher and I am back to having a sink full of dishes because it is impossible to load or empty the washer when you are awake.

Sleep is still not your best friend.  Naptime is okay but not great.  If we are home all morning, you usually take an hour long nap around 9:30.  Your afternoon nap is usually around 12:30 and at it's best is 1.5 hours long.  Not enough sleep for a growing girl.  Your bedtime is between 6:30 and 7 and you are very easy to put to bed in your crib.  When you wake up after I've already gone to sleep, I bring you in the bed with us. You are an excellent bed partner although your gas and tummy aches often wake you up at night.  Pretty much all food except for fruit and bread gives you gas and a sore tummy at night.  You love to eat and want to eat and I hate limiting your diet but I'm not sure what else to do.  We are hoping Ms. Ellen will have some insight into your tummy troubles at next week's 9 month check-up.

You love your brother and he keeps you entertained during the day.  You think your daddy is great and funny and you always cling to him when he holds you and won't let me take you out of his arms.

If you cant tell....we love you so much.  Thank you, Liza, for being a member of our family and helping each one of us grow and become better people.  You are loved!