9 Months Old

Now that Shelby is 9 months old we decided to lower her crib mattress before we had an incident. I was wondering if she would notice the difference, but she didn't seem to care. I noticed when I had to bend over to pick her up. The whole operation went smoothly until I was putting a clean sheet on the mattress and this happened:

Those sheets are such a tight fit that I accidently skinned my finger with my own fingernail while trying to stretch it over the corner. That's what I get for not cutting my fingernails! Oh well, now I have something to remember this day by.

Shelby did well at her appointment and her doctor commented on how strong she is. She is definitely making some major progress in the height department. It was her only percentile that went up this time, though I do not think that the nurse did a very good job of measuring her head. I don't know if the measurement was high or low, but the tape was not uniformly on her head. Oh well, she still has a smaller head. Shelby and I both got our flu shots at her appointment which I thought was fantastic because it was super convenient. Here are Shelby's new stats:

6 months length 25 1/4 inches 32nd percentile

9 months length 27 1/2 inches 50th percentile

6 months weight 16 lbs 51st percentile

9 months weight 18 lbs 1 oz 25th percentile

6 months head circ 41.1 cm 14th percentile

9 months head circ 42.75 cm 10th percentile

Shelby has turned into quite the little mimic. There are a lot of things I can get her to do like bang her hands on her tray or the floor, clap, or play peekaboo. There are also a lot of things I wish I could get her to do, but we are still working on. I think we are really close to her being able to do some baby signs back to me. I am always so surprised by all the new things that she can do. She is growing and learning so much these days. She is such a cutie and she makes my days so much more fun Ü

The Fall Foliage Tour

This weekend Shelby and I were able to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa. We were thinking of ideas of things to do and a drive to look at the leaves sounded like a great idea. We waited until Shelby's nap time and then loaded into the car. We made my Dad decide on the route and he put it off until the last minute to decide, but we ended up driving over Trapper's Loop and then up to Snowbasin. I was quite surprised at how many of the leaves had changed and how vibrant some of the colors were.
I had planned on taking some scenic photos, but I got a bit carsick and didn't end up taking photos. It has been a long time since I got carsick and I relearned that you should be looking out the windows, not looking at a crying baby trying to help her. I already felt a little out of place sitting in the back next to Shelby, so I got distracted. It all reminded me of the countless trips to Bear Lake in Grandma's car and the countless times I threw up in said car. It seemed to always be on the driver's side, backseat floormat. Good times.
Tonight when I got Shelby ready for bed, she was out of pajamas and her laundry was still drying in the dryer. I decided to see how big her 12 month pj's were. Well, now that I know they are already a fit, hopefully we can get some wear out of them before they are too small. I have raised the height setting on her jumper twice in the last couple weeks. It will be interesting to see just how tall she is at her appointment this week.
Shelby loves to play with books. Grandma gave her 4 of these cute little books and she plays with them all the time. We read stories usually twice a day, but sometimes more. I am hoping that she will love books her whole life. Kelly will be disappointed if I turn her into a bookworm, but what can he do about it? I'll tell you what he can do, he can join us at our readathons Ü

Sleeping Beauty Shelby

Shelby has been sleeping a ton lately. She generally goes to bed at 8:00pm and last week she was sleeping until 10:30am. Now, I don't usually wake up until I hear her. The first day when this happened at 10:25 I was a bit nervous about how long the poor little girl had been awake. I hurried and fed her breakfast, feeling like a terrible mother the whole time. The following day when I woke up at 9:30 and she didn't wake up until 10:15, I realized that she really had just woken up the day before. I think that what we have had is the perfect storm - a combination of growing, teething, and probably some sheer boredom mixed in there - which has resulted in lots of sleep. I really did appreciate the extra sleep, but we are back on schedule this week with the earlier wake up calls. I am really hoping that this teething business can yield some teeth, or a tooth, or something so we can have a break. I know her mouth is hurting and I feel bad for her. Why do you think we have been eating Creamies?

As Easy As 1-2-3

Shelby loves food! She has taken such an interest in anything and everything that I eat and this has helped her to be able to move towards eating more and more normal food. Just the other day she had Mac 'n Cheese for the first time. She gobbled it right up. She has also started feeding herself.
Step 1: Find something you can put in your mouth - preferrably something edible.

Step 2: Check it out and make sure it looks like something you want to eat.

Step 3: Hurry and stuff it into your mouth before Mom can take it away.

I am working on training Shelby to like all the things that I like to eat so that we can enjoy our meals together. We already have a common interest in yogurt and Banana Creamies. I tell you, that girl has good taste Ü

Shelby Behind Bars

Shelby is such a smart little girl. She can really push herself up quite high and look out over the edge of the crib, but that takes a lot of effort and can be tiring. Instead, she has figured out that all you have to do is push down the bumper and you can just lay there and look out. Much easier. She also has figured out that I discourage such behavior, so the second I put her in the crib she does the tuck and roll and pulls down the bumper.
The other day when I was putting her down for her nap, I got to see something very sweet. I have been keeping her extra binky in the crib with her so that she has a better chance of finding a binky when needed. Well, I put her in the crib and put her blanket over her, then I turned on her glow worm and turned around to pick up the bottle. As I turned back around to leave, I looked at Shelby and she was putting the extra binky in the glow worm's mouth. I guess she loves her binky and she wanted the glow worm to have one too. I thought it was very cute.