Nine Months of Ellia

Age: 9 months

Height: 29 inches

Weight: 18 lbs 2.5 oz

Clothing size: Primarily 6-12, although I will put her in anything that I can make work. I packed away almost all of her 3-6 month clothes this past weekend, with the exception of a few onesies she still wears like the coral one she wore on Sunday. The sweater she's wearing in these photos is actually 18-24 months. I bought it for next Fall but couldn't pass up the slouchy sweater look with those bloomers + knee socks! ;)

Diaper size: 3

Eating: You can read a lot about her eating habits here, but she'll eat breakfast between 5-6 am, lunch between 11:30-12:30, and dinner around 5 pm. She'll usually have a snack in the morning and one in the afternoon, plus three-ish 8 oz bottles a day (give or take? that's a complete estimate right there).

Sleeping: We've been doing bedtime at 7:30 if she's not already asleep by then. We found that no matter what time she stays up until, she will be up by 6:00 the VERY latest, so 7:30 has been the cutoff and it's working out pretty well. All of her toys "go to sleep" around 7:15, and she's usually down for the night by 7:45. Of course there are some days where she doesn't nap at all and is asleep by 6:30, like last night. She'll cry randomly throughout the night but typically goes back down after we put her paci back in her mouth. Naps are all over the place - I can almost guarantee a nap early in the morning and one in the afternoon, but times vary and can range from 15 minutes to two hours (usually on the shorter end of things).

Favorite toys: She got a ton of new toys + books for Christmas and she just kind of rotates them throughout the day so I'm not sure I can say she really has a favorite at this point. A few that she plays with a lot are her cube (still!), her tea set (she loves the cheesecake the most for whatever reason), and her ball pit. She loves throwing the balls around and has a pretty good arm on her when she doesn't accidentally throw the ball behind her. ;)

Loves: Her celeb boyfriend (Mickey) + the hot dog song, eating, her binkies, chasing kitties, crawling everywhere, standing any chance she can get, being outside, puffs, bath time, jumping in her crib, music/dancing, books, bare feet - taking her socks off is sure to get a giggle out of her!

Girlfriend continued to grow and learn so much more over the past month. She officially has two teeth all the way in, which we just started brushing and are working on getting into the twice a day habit. She crawls faster than I can keep up with her and I have worn my first holes in the knees of my leggings from following her cute butt around all day! She still only says "mumma" and will just giggle when you try to get her to say things like "dada" or "kitty". She's been known to give slobbery, open mouth kisses and still loves to be held. She is standing like a champ and while she rarely lets go of whatever she's holding onto, when she does she can stand for a few seconds without assistance. She is beyond curious and while she is getting better at playing with her toys solo, she now needs to be watched like a hawk because she's getting into everything. Her signature moves include throwing anything and everything over her shoulder that she's not interested in at that very second, dancing (bouncing up and down on her knees) to the hot dog song, and never sitting still for a diaper change or when we're trying to get her dressed. Also, her hands never stop moving when she's having a bottle and she will definitely not shy away from punching you in the face while drinking. She's got more nicknames than I can count, and even though I frequently refer to her as "Ellie" here, I do actually call her Ellia quite a bit in real life - usually "Ellia Summer" when she's doing something fresh. ;)

I am sure I'm forgetting some things but luckily I can always update you all more another day! ;) We can't believe we have a NINE month old baby girl. Time is flying and while I love watching her grow and seriously think she gets more and more fun every single day, of course I am a little sad that she's not a teeny tiny baby anymore. She's going to be ONE YEAR OLD in just three short months, guys! Let the party planning commence! :)