All About Finley

Today is Finley's 9 month birthday!  I think I would be sad for her to be getting so big except that I'm enjoying all of it too much.  I can truly say that each phase is just as fun as the last.  I love watching my precious little girl grow up!

She weighs 16 pounds 10 ounces and is 27.5 inches long.  She is in the 10th percentile in weight and 50th in length.  She's staying pretty consistent.

She sweats more than any child I've ever seen.  It's hard to keep her cool in this summer heat.

Umm... she still doesn't understand "No."  Either that or she does understand and just ignores us. =)  

At this point, she still has never become afraid of strangers.  She happily goes to anyone who wants to hold her and smiles at anyone who pays attention to her when we are out shopping.

She likes playing with alphabet magnets on the refrigerator.... of course, she almost swallowed an "o" the other day so we have limited her to complete adult supervision while playing with them.

She enjoys throwing toys and binkies out of her crib.  I usually hear at least a couple of "plunks" right after I put her down or right before she is ready to get up.  It always makes me smile.

She is fearless.  Devin tested her the other day on the stairs and he caught her mid-way through her tumble down them.

She loves other children.  She is a little social butterfly so far.  She goes to nursery while I'm in my Wednesday morning Bible Study and the workers said she likes to "talk" to the other kids.  So cute!

She climbed yesterday... yes, climbed!!!!  She was playing with this box because it sounded like a drum when she would hit it and then she started scooting it around the floor and I turned around and she was on top of it!  I was shocked!

Her current favorite toy is Noah from her Little People's Noah Ark set.  I'm all for her picking a Godly guy... let's hope this is a pattern that continues! =)

She is almost officially de-swaddled.  If she wakes up in the middle of the night or if I just need to get her to bed quickly, I will still swaddle her, but she is doing great without it.  Swaddling still helps her settle down better, but I really wanted to break the habit.

She's still in Huggies 1-2 diapers, but only because we bought a big box of them at Sam's.  I am so ready to be done with them!  She is really in size 2 so the 1-2 size is a little small, but I also just feel like Pamper's fit her better.

She is hating bath time again.  =(  We think she may have gotten soap in her eyes while we were shampooing her hair, but she is very traumatized.  If I even start running the water, she starts screaming.  Here she is with a rubber duckie while swimming...  She definitely still loves her duckies!

She is a little houdini... She can wiggle out of almost any high chair safety belt.

She likes to use Devin and I as jungle gyms.  If we lay down on the floor, she climbs all over us and takes several head dives into the carpet.

She is starting to wear more 6-9 month clothing, but is still pretty much in 3-6.  She has been growing fairly consistently because she is almost always 3 months behind.  She is finally into 3-6 month size shoes.

She is still obsessed with power cords.  The other day she managed to figure out how to take the printer power cord apart so that she had two cords instead of one.  She was quite proud of herself.  She also took apart the night light.   (Don't you love this picture?  Totally caught in the act!)

She is still on a pretty good 4 hour routine though she isn't taking the best morning naps right now.  We usually get up around 7:30 a.m. and she will nap from 9:30-11:30 a.m., then nap again from 1:30-3:30 p.m., and go to be at about 7:30 p.m.  She has been on this schedule since about five months or so and it has worked well for us.  We've almost completely taken out her catnap at 5:00 p.m.

Last month, she was beginning to pull herself to her knees in her crib, but she has now figured out how to stand up and her crib.  It scares me to death so we're moving the mattress down to its lowest setting.  I have a feeling she will figure out how to get out of her crib much quicker than I would like!

She's an eater.  We haven't found anything she doesn't like.  She loves lemons and ate this piece of watermelon like crazy (we put the actual watermelon in her mesh feeder, but she just loved the rind!).  We've introduced oatmeal, turkey, peas, mixed vegetables, bread, nectarines, and Gerber puffs that dissolve in her mouth... she really likes those!

To say she loves music continues to be an understatement.  She really lights up when I put on a kid's CD or when someone sings to her.

She is going through quite a spitting stage right now.  I keep having to remove her from dinner because "We do not spit at the table."

Her eyes continue to change colors of blue!  (This was my favorite picture from the New Mexico photo shoot though it doesn't seem to be any one else's!)

She continues to be incredibly curious.  She is into all kinds of stuff and likes to figure out what is going on around her.  She is quite the explorer.

She has added "m" and "p" to her sounds.  The other day, she sounded like she was rapping with her "p" sound.  It cracked me up!

She is now taking four 4-ounce bottles a day and larger "meals" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She can give herself the bottle without any help!

She has one tooth and one that is about to break through.  Can you see it?

She still likes to stand and will now pull up on furniture and take a step or so.  She really wants to be a big girl.  She can also pull up with just one arm and is trying to stand up without any aid.

She is impossible to change these days.  She is such a wiggle worm and so much stronger than any sweet baby has the right to be.  She twists and turns and wiggles right out of the diaper we're trying to put on... not to mention dressing her in an entire outfit!  I keep trying to find ways to distract her while I'm changing her so I can trick her into being still long enough for me to get her ready in the morning.

She likes to smack her lips.

And...

She is truly the most wonderful, beautiful baby ever and I love her more than I can stand!