Ivy at Nine Months

We have been taking photos of Ivy on her month-birthdays, like most parents do, but I haven't posted any of them yet. However, this weekend when we snapped a few for Ivy's ninth month-birthday, I also grabbed my phone to take a few.

At my baby shower, our friends Mike and Danielle gave me a cute little onesie. It was big for a three-month size, and it was grey with little line-drawings of tents and trees on it. We decided to use it for her monthly photos, so that we could see her grow out of it, and I figured after four or five months she would be out of it.


Ivy at one month old, in her camping onesie

Well, here we are nine months later, and that onesie finally won't snap around her diaper anymore. So this month I went another route.

When we first started thinking about trying to conceive back in the mid-2000s, I spent hours and hours online, watching homebirth videos on YouTube, researching exactly what supplies I needed for a baby, and reading discussion posts about anything and everything baby-related. One of the big fads back then was Goodmama diapers. They were spendy to begin with, but everyone wanted them - they were like the Beanie Babies of the diaper world. So I gave into the pressure and bought just one - one little ($30) item to start off this new chapter in our lives. But life, of course, had other plans, and that diaper languished in the back of a drawer for years and years, being shoved further and further into the shadows every time I saw it, because it ended up being a very effective reminder of our infertility.

This weekend the diaper finally, finally went to its proper place - on my kid's bottom. :) It was a sweet moment. So we photographed it.

Nine months!

Technically, Ivy has been in the world longer than she was inside of me, since some of her very early time was in a Petri dish. It's strange to think that such a life-changing time in my life has been overshadowed, not only by her mere presence, but also by the length of time she has been with us.

Today Miss Ivy is nine months old. She had her checkup today: she is 16 pounds, 3 ounces, only 10th percentile. Her head is only in the 8th! But we don't pay too much attention to the comparatives. The doctor said she is a bit behind (though not alarmingly so) on her gross motor skills, but I don't care about that either. She will do it when she's ready, and I get a little extra time for snuggles and for not child proofing the house.

Ivy is starting to become much more interactive! She:

• Claps
• Turns pages of her books
• Tries to mimic sounds (she says "mmmm!" when I moo, and smacks her lips like I do when we read about puppies chewing)
• Loves knocking stacks of toys over
• Doesn't care about stuffed or soft toys, much prefers plastic ones
• Moves from sitting on her bottom to hands and knees (or one knee and one foot) and back
• Screeches in higher pitches than before
• Pulls herself up using our fingers, and today she pulled herself up on daddy's leg as he lied on his side on the floor
• Sorta kinda fed daddy peas tonight for the first time, when we asked
• Gets happy and  excited when we clap and cheer for her
• Stands up when holding onto something
• Talks back to us when we talk to her
• Loves being thrown around and swinging and being held upside down

In two weeks, we are flying across the country, and I think she is going to do great, even though I'm a little nervous about the trip. Cory and I work at the same place, so we both have to work our annual conference in Florida. My mom is coming too. I'm so happy that our company is open to us bringing Ivy; I definitely wouldn't be able to go without her!

Also: my poor laptop finally gave up the ghost awhile back, and I have been posting on my iPad as a result, which is not friendly when it comes to trying to post photos. So here are some links if you're interested in seeing our little bunny:

Ivy's playlist on YouTube
Instagram