Kira the Busy Baby

Hi Everyone.  Kira has been a very busy baby lately.  She is working hard on her crawling.  She has no problem getting from point A to point B as demonstrated previously, and now, she can go a few inches with her belly off the ground!  She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth as if willing herself to move forward.  Sometimes she actually does move forward, albeit just a short distance!

Last week Trevor, Kira, and I went to a dinner party.  We had such a great time, especially because most of the guests had young babies just like Kira.  Trevor and I took turns eating dinner, watching Kira, and chatting, just like the other guests!  It was great to have a social evening with babies integrated.  Nobody  minded that some sentences were not finished because attention was diverted to a fussy baby.  Ever since that night, Kira has been talking so much more than before!  She projects her voice, enunciates her "words" clearly, and varies the type of words.  For example, she used to repeat the same word over and over (e.g., wa-wa-wa, guh-guh-guh).  Now she strings together a bunch of different sounds (e.g., wah-ma-da-da-da, ssshhha-jia-jia-da).  It's fun listening to her.

Also last week, Kira went apple picking for the first time!  I hope family members don't feel gypped, but we ended up going with a bunch of Trevor's co-workers.  We've been meaning to make a trip with family, but the day before the outing, Trevor's friends called and asked if we were free.  We happened to be free, and so we tagged along, and so Kira had her first experience apple picking.  I picked a smallish apple, ate around the edges to remove the skin, and held it in front of Kira so she could suck on the apple flesh, (she was happy in her sling).  She *loved* the fresh apple.

Last night, we lowered the mattress in Kira's crib.  She can't quite sit up from a lying position yet, but she likes to grab onto the bars and pull herself up.  I don't think she can really pull herself out of the crib, but the thought of such a possibility scares me!  So, Trevor took apart the crib and lowered the mattress.  It was not an easy task; it took about an hour to complete the job!  This morning I put Kira in a sitting position in the crib while I put some of her clean laundry away.  From the sitting position, she was able to reach the bars and pull herself up into a standing position!!!  Her armpits went over the edge of the crib, and her arms dangled.  I'm not sure what I should do at this point; should we lower the mattress again???  I'll just keep an eye on her progress over the next few days.

Later this month, Kira will have her 9-month doctor's appointment!  I can't believe she's already 9 months old!  I'm anxious to have the doctor weigh and measure her.  I know she has gotten taller because I've had to adjust her bouncer and walker.  I hope she's gaining substantial weight because she eats well.  I was so worried before she got to this point.  But, I've heard from other moms that even after happily eating baby food, sometimes the baby decides he/she is tired of it and will go on strike again.  In the mean time, I'm enjoying the worry-free feeding.

I'll try and keep you updated more often with Kira's progress.  We've been so busy, I rarely get a chance to sit down and type on my computer.  Despite the time constraints, I'm going to try very hard to jot more things down; before we know it, it will be gone!  Trevor will get some pictures up from apple picking soon.

xoxo,

Vickie