Recommitting to Blogging. Happy 9 months Noelle!

I've decided I really need to make blogging more of a priority and decided what better day than today, Noelle's 9 month birthday!

So, what is Noelle up to these days?  Well, she is a whirlwind.  She crawls.  A lot.  Just shy of 6 months, she was up on all fours rocking.  She practiced that for a good month, and then just before she turned 7 months she started full on crawling.  She had kind of a funny scoot before that.  Not exactly army crawling, more like doing the worm.  She would get in all fours, then go on her belly, and repeat.  That was how she propelled herself forward.  We are also in a Movers and Shakers class at the Cincinnati Family Enrichment Center.  Each class starts out with a circle of parents and babies, singing songs and bouncing, then it's off to explore "stations."  Noelle loves the center and I feel so blessed to have this resource in Cincinnati.  It's truly an empowering place for parents, with a vibe that screams attachment parenting.  Suits us very well.

We are in our second session of signing class at the enrichment center as well.  At signing class there's lots of reading stories and singing songs that incorporate signs.  Each class has a different theme.  Last Saturday, we learned the signs for different foods.  Noelle seems to recognize a lot of signs, but has not started signing back yet.  Sometimes, it looks like she is signing "all done", but other times, I think she might just be playing with her hands and waving.  Speaking of waving, she does do that, and it's the cutest thing ever.

We had a couple really exciting one time outbursts of words also.  One day, Phil was playing with Noelle, lifting her up in the air and she said Daddy plain as day.  I really think it was the real deal.  She hasn't done it that clear since, but she does sometimes say "dada."  The other exciting word was her saying "doggy" perfectly clear, while petting the dog.  Again, we've only heard it once that clearly, but she says "doe, doe" a lot when the dog is around.  It's so fun to witness her learning and growing each and every day.

Breastfeeding continues to go well.  She nurses like a champ.  My pump output is not great, but I usually am able to pump just enough to meet her needs.  Except for those random times when I don't, which result in a comical display of me driving all over the city to drop off more pumped milk for her.  Luckily that's only happened twice.

At 9 months, Noelle is 18 pounds, 7 ounces and 26 inches long.  She is in the 43rd percentile for weight, and only the 7th percentile for height!  She dropped off her height curve a little bit, but the doctor thinks that was due to the subjectivity of how they measure.  She is usually in the 25th percentile for height.