Settled

 Hey Everybody! Phoebe is 9 months old now.

She is just the sweetest, happiest baby. And she's so, in the words of her daycare lady, settled now. What do we mean by that? Phoebe just doesn't fuss much between meals anymore. She's happy crawling around, checking things out, and getting in trouble. We continue to have to barricade her from going after electrical outlets and plugs, as her little hands want to grab everything and stick them in her mouth.

Developmentally, Phoebe is really different from Charlotte. By eight months, Charlotte had begun to pull up and as soon as she figured it out, it's all she wanted to do. Phoebe has not pulled up on her own yet. She will if she's sitting in your lap and there's something to grab onto, but she hasn't figured out how to do it on her own yet. She's still army crawling, so I think that's part of the issue. She doesn't know how to go from crawling to sitting either.

But what she's behind on in gross motor skills, Phoebe makes up for in fine motor skills. She's started waving, and it's the cutest little wave ever. She also understands me when I say to her "Where's Tandy?" Phoebe will look around until she zeroes in on Tandy. She even picks up pieces of food and tries to feed her - no joke. However, Phoebe does not care to look around when we ask her where Mommy or Daddy are - clearly, she only reserves this cognitive capability for her BFF.

Phoebe also does not eat any baby food anymore - it is all table food, all the time. And boy does she love food. She eats more than Charlotte does, although, yes, that is a pretty low bar. She's a baby, so she's messy, but she manages to put about 90% of the food she picks up in her mouth.  I give her a few pieces of food at a time, so when she's eaten what I've given her, she'll make louder and louder noises until we give her more food. She's really good at drinking from my water glass, but hasn't quite figured out the whole sippy cup thing yet.

Phoebe is also sleeping like a champ. For the past month, after her crazy post-Chicago insomnia, Phoebe has been sleeping through the night (like 12 hours - I know, I can't believe I just admitted that - the sleep gods will smite me, I'm sure). Even when she slept in the same room while Charlotte hacked nonstop she didn't wake up. It has made such a difference!

Here is an adorable little video of Phoebe sitting at their little pink piano. We just love this girl so much!




Ending Note: It's been a sad time for our country. I continue to feel deeply saddened and horrified by what transpired in Newtown, Connecticut. Every time I hear about the 20 first graders and their courageous teachers, I just can't help but start to cry. I am not ashamed to say that assault weapons, the sole purpose of which is to assault, kill and maim, have zero business in our society. I personally hate, nay, abhor, guns, and I am sickened by all the talk that more guns would have prevented this tragedy. I do not want guns anywhere near my girls - not at their daycare and not in the hands of their teachers - because I know that gun-related accidents are much more likely than mass shootings. Thanks for the quick rant. It's all I can think about right now. Over and out.