9 months old

Elyn keeps growing older and not discussing it with me. I wish I could slow the clock down.

Today, for some reason, I was very reflective. I kept looking at the clock to see what time it was and trying to remember what I was doing at the exact moment 9 months ago. It truly does not feel like we have had Elyn for as long as we have. It can't be that we only have 3 more months until she turns one.

Onto 9 things about Elyn:

1. Wakes up every single morning about 4am. She gives a "shout out", figures out we are ignoring her, and goes back to sleep until 6am. It's just her little way of letting us know that she is still here.

2. At the doctor's office yesterday, she weighed 16 pounds 14 ounces and was 27.5 inches long. I have said before that we grow our babies on the smallish side. Although Elyn is only in the 18th percentile, to me she is a big baby. You see, Nora only weighed 17 pounds when she was one year old, so having a 16 pounder at 9 months is a big deal.
3. She is HAPPY! Matthew and I comment all the time about how happy she is. When my dad was here visiting, he would say constantly to her, "You're a happy baby aren't you!". It is delightful to be greeted by her each morning as she reaches her arms out to me and starts laughing.
4. She is a mama's girl! This afternoon, I was given the gift of a nap. When I woke up, Elyn was crying. I came into the living room and held her and she stopped immediately. It really does a lot for a person's ego when you can comfort another so quickly.

5. She loves her sister (even though her sister's "loving" sometimes includes torturing). I love to watch them play together. I know, from experience, that they will fight like cats one day and will swear they will never talk again and will probably throw things at one another, hoping to hit their target. But, right now, they are sweet and loving and little. I am so thankful that God blessed us with two girls so that they can experience a sister.

6. Loves food! There was a time in her life when she hated food. Seriously, she would shut her mouth so hard it would have taken an army tanker to drive through. Thankfully those days are over and she is a good eater. She does think it is pretty funny to blow bubbles at us when her mouth is full.

7. Crawls at lightening fast speed. If I wasn't so against pageants for babies, I would enter in one just to see her win the crawling division. She would win by a long shot. This kid is super fast.

8. And she is ACTIVE. Really, "active" is too much of an understatement to describe her. She is constantly moving. Constantly. We were at a birthday party Sunday afternoon and there were two other babies there. Both of them boys. Sweet, precious little boys. I was holding Elyn to keep her from getting crushed from the basketball players and my arms were so tired by the end of the game from holding the wiggly body. Every time I would put her on the floor, she would hightail it to the center of the court (with Nora running behind her shouting, "No Mommy! Get Elyn!!!!). I looked with envy at the little boys. They were not giving their holders a workout. I should have known that I was in for a wild kid when I went in for my doctor's appointment when I was 13 weeks pregnant with her and the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat with his doppler. He looked for a while. He completely freaked me out when he said he wanted to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. As soon as the technician started the ultrasound she said, "Whoo, you have an active baby! No wonder your doctor couldn't find the heartbeat, this kid is moving EVERYWHERE!".

9. Has a grip like you wouldn't believe. I have had many scratches and tiny bruises on my face from her crawdad pinchers, otherwise known as fingers.

Here she is, in her signature pose. She loves to smile with an open mouth, especially when she is excited.

We love her so much and have had such fun these past 9 months. She is the best surprise we have ever had!