9 months!

So, I’ve tried as best I can to follow doctor’s orders and ‘chunk’ Elise up a bit in time for her most recent 9 month appointment… turns out its all been in vain. My wee little one weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds 8 oz. Meaning she’s gained an entire 2 pounds in the last 3 months. She’s still in the 5th percentile, meaning 95% of children her age are bigger than her, but I think that the doctor as finally realized that Elise is just a small girl. And trust me, it’s not like that kid doesn’t eat!! She’s got quite the appetite, that kid! In fact she’s moving further and further away from eating the homemade pureed food I’ve been making for her and eating more and more table food. I think she’s having as much fun with food as we are - it is so funny to watch her try to get her little hands around a piece of canteloupe or pasta and then her eyes just light up when she finally gets it to her mouth. She’s definitely growing up though - by leaps and bounds! We’ve had a few more graduations in the Hampton household. Recently, we lowered Elise’s crib and just this weekend we had to do away with her Bumpo chair. Just recently she has figured out how to lock her legs and lift herself out of the chair, and then she realized that if she pushed back on those locked legs she could move her chair… needless to say I had visions of her pushing herself right off the table so off to IKEA I went! She’s now in a seated highchair and has her very own place at the table.

She’s definitely getting more mobile too. While not totally crawling she’s definitely figured out her own way of getting around. Elise has adopted a version of the army crawl where she throws her elbows out in front of her and then just drags the rest of her body forward. It looks like a lot more work than simply crawling to me, but hey, whatever works. She definitely gets where she wants to go and you can see the little lightbulb over her head now that she’s staring to become independent and test boundaries. The coolest thing in the world is the shelves underneath the TV; she noticed the air freshner plugged into the wall outlet this morning too. She’s certainly starting to test her boundaries too… I’ll call her name, tell her “No ma’am. Those aren’t toys”… you can almost see her nod her head “Yeah, I know Mom” … and then turn around and head straight for them again. Very headstrong this one! I fear babyproofing days are straight ahead for us!

It’s starting to get H-O-T here in Texas. Disgustingly hot. And the pool is open! I’ve started taking Elise to the pool and it’s been kinda hit or miss so far. I think she’s still trying to acclimate to the fact that it’s considerably colder water than what she’s used to having in the bathtub. But she’s starting to come around… took her down to the pool with a friend of mine the other day and she had a great time in her new floaties. Not to mention her new hair-do!