Hello...

...and a wonderful upside-down day to you all! I love shuffling around the perimeter of my Pack 'n' Play, especially with a lovely blue anklet on (an accident, but what a lovely one!). Today is a great day, and most definitely a better one than yesterday when I spent several hours puking my guts out. Poor me. Mommy gave me some soy yogurt to see if my guts were mature enough to handle it...apparently not. That really bit. I was so tired in between all the throwing up episodes, I lay in Mommy's arms like a wet noodle and actually fell asleep in her lap like I haven't done since I was a little girl. But as you can see, I'm all better now! Life is awesome! (Oh, and Mommy? Maybe you need to wait a while before trying soy or dairy again, ok? Thanks!)  And by the way, it was Thanksgiving, too...my first one, and I didn't even get any turkey.  Mommy did give thanks that I was only having issues with one end of my GI tract...

9 months old!

Just turned 9 months old this week! And just went to my 9-month checkup. No vaccinations today, cool.  Check out my new sweatshirt....Daddy got me a whole array of NY Yankees stuff including a championship onesie....

Latest Thing: Making this noise from the back of her throat that sounds like roaring.
Newest nickname: Lyra the Lion (sometimes the Lynx)
Stats today: 30.5 inches (>95th percentile), 22.45 lbs.

Kisses and roars!

Life...

...seems to rush on so quickly...Lyra is almost 9 months now. There have been so many changes, so quickly. She's grown more hair, for one thing, though it's still pretty sparse (still too little to clip a bow to!). She's sitting up by herself now. Not quite crawling but able to push herself backwards. Two lower front teeth finally coming in, without any fuss on Lyra's part. Looking back through the posts I think I've covered a lot of the last few months so I guess there won't be a "My life, part 3" installment since we're fairly caught up now. What else has happened in the last few months?

Newest talents: clapping (initially without sound, now actual clapping noises), blowing raspberries for minutes on end (see video below) rather than just occasional ones, going on hands and knees as well as hands and feet (like a yoga bridge, as demonstrated in the picture in the upper right corner), standing up with hands on support when placed that way.

Newest foods: just this past week, spinach and mango, both of which seemed to go across smashingly well. Chunkier apple sauce (courtesy of the food mill) did not, however, go across well, based on the gagging that occurred. Food milled pear was ok, though.

Funniest food-related episodes: eating cake for the first time (Jello cake made with apple sauce by nanny Susan) - lots of funny faces at the texture and strange turtle-like chin-tucking, culminating in finally mashing with gums and doing the bird-mouth to get more. Also, eating those "yummy"-looking teething biscuits which dissolve into cookie cement which covers baby face, hands, bib, highchair, Exersaucer, etc.

Best evidence for awesome babyness: waking up in the morning and entertaining herself for 40-90 minutes before Mommy gets up. Enduring all vaccines with minimal fuss (startled cry for 2 seconds then done), then getting her first H1N1 vaccine yesterday without even noticing it. Not crying much, and when she does, usually very easily soothed. Falling asleep most nights with little fuss, and sleeping through the night. Able to entertain herself in general for long periods of time.

Funniest things she shouldn't be doing: blowing raspberries while eating (not as much now, since being disciplined - "NO, no raspberries while eating!" and a pause before the next spoonful comes). OK, spoke too soon, based on today's lunch - the dining table is spattered with peas with turkey and rice.

Other things we want to remember: lots of "talking"- dadadada, mamamama, gagaga, vavavava (voom, we like to finish for her), dididididi. Screams of joy, or sometimes just conversation, I think. Squealing belly laugh when the finger-eating monster comes to town (or toe-eating...except she then kicked me right in the mouth, so perhaps not the best idea!) or she gets her belly tickled.

Current nicknames: sunshine girl, goo girl, chubbitha, missy messy pants.

By the way, her middle name means "relaxed sunshine" - definitely a case where the name appears to have made the person!

She has her 9 month checkup coming up soon...but I expect her height to still be >99th percentile (as she's currently wearing 12-month clothes which fit great, and 18-month clothes which are just a bit long. The other week while getting her flu shot she weighed over 22 lbs (but with clothes and diaper on).

New hat

All bundled up for a walk...it's a bit nippy out! But I'm happy to get some fresh air...

While you're waiting...

...for another "My life" installment, enjoy my command performance as the Raspberry Monster.

My life, Part Deux

Wow. It has been a long time! I am not happy! Mommy has been slacking. I know you were all waiting breathlessly to hear the rest of my life story...but in the interests of Mommy's short attention span (and I GUESS, her busy schedule) I will try to compress things a bit.

Month 3: I started smiling sometimes, for real (not gas). I took my first real road trip - to Daddy's hometown, Corning. There I was much cooed over and passed around. Also, I spit up all over Auntie Tina. AGAIN. Also, I moved into my very own bedroom and into the big girl crib! I had no trouble with this transition, although I did continue to wake up a few times a night...

Month 4: ...until about 4.5 months, when I started sleeping (inconsistently) through the night (well, from 6-7 pm to about 5-6 am). I was awesome! Also, Mommy weaned me. She cried the last time I breastfed...then the next day she went out and had milk! ice cream! pizza! since she didn't need to avoid dairy for me any more. You're welcome, Mommy! I also continued to grow very well and be quite tall. My drool production appeared to increase...everyone thought I was "teething"...but no teeth appeared. I started to really put lots of things into my mouth...Mr. Red Cardinal. Miss Sunshine. My fingers. Daddy's fingers. Daddy's nose. etc. What also started going into my mouth was "solid food." Rice cereal...very strange to me at first but I gradually got used to it. Eventually more things were offered to me....loved carrots and squash. Hated peas and green beans. Oh yeah - got my first (standing) bouncer, which I am still loving to this day.

OK. Mommy says she needs a break again. So we should post this so SOMETHING new goes on my blog!