Karsten: Nine Months

Almost exactly a year ago I posted this to Instagram:

And now we’re celebrating this:

How fitting is that verse? In July 2014, we had no idea what was coming up for our family, or when, but God did. He knew that Karsten had already been created and in three short months would be a part of our family. To us it seemed slow, but God knew she would surely come. He is so good!

And now this sweet girl is NINE months old. Nine!

So here's what she's up to these days...

Last month she said her first word, “Dada”. This month she has added two more words to her vocabulary. My favorite, of course, is “Mama”, which she says constantly. She has also added “hey” to the mix.

She started “crawling” at 8 month old, which was more of a scooting on her belly. She sure was working on those arm muscles though. As of just a couple of days ago, she is now crawling the “right” way. Climbing onto things (fireplace). She is pulling up on anything she can reach, and I’ll often go into her bedroom in the morning to find her standing up and looking over her crib at me. She is even starting to cruise around furniture. She will occasionally let go and attempt to stand on her own, but quickly falls back down. She does like to hold our hands and walk all over the place, though she really isn’t all that steady yet. 

She went to the doctor on her actual 9 month birthday (Monday, July 6th) and these are her stats:

18 lbs 11 oz (60%)

28.5 inches long (83%)

Sleep – Awesome.  Except for this last week.  We won't count that though.  When we went to the doctor on Monday, I asked them to check her ears (though I'm sure they would have anyway).  She had been fussy over the weekend, but I honestly thought that since she currently has ZERO teeth, she may be teething.  I figure they are all going to pop through at once and be super painful.  Anyway, she was cranky, but really only cranky in the evening and at night, and she had been pulling on her ears a little.  The doctor checked her ears and yep, they are infected. So baby girl has her very first official ear infection and is on her first antibiotic.  Let me tell you, we are ALL ready for her to be off of it. Whew.  She is a trooper though.

She is starting to eat lots of solids and would rather have real food than a bottle.  We started her with puffs and yogurt melts and she LOVES them.  She does not, however, like stage 3 (chunky) baby foods.  I guess it is the texture or something but she gags on that stuff.  Gotta say I wouldn't be thrilled by it either

Other fun things to note:
She will wave at people and say “Hey!”
She gives wet sloppy kisses, mostly to Mama.
She is a total Mama's girl and is getting pretty spoiled. The ear infection made her clingy but she likes to be held anyway.

Nine months sure have flown by!  This is craziness, I tell you!