9 month updates...

I am doing this more for myself as a reference so this may bore most....

In a couple of days Lyla will be 10 months old. This past month marks several milestones:

1. Waves hello when you say "Hi, Lyla"

2. Claps when you say "Yeah, Lyla"

3. Drinks out of a straw - skipped right past the sippy cup

4. Crawling

5. Pulls herself up to a standing position (last 2 weeks)

6. Signing "more" - when you say "Lyla More" she will clamp 1 of 2 hands and sign "more" without us signing to her first.

* She doesn't get the meaning of "more" but she recognizes the word "more" by responding with the sign.

7. Pointing to things with her pointer finger.

8. When you say "Up" she lifts her arms or when you reach out to her she reaches up her arms.

9. Playing with intent: removing objects, can discover hidden objects, looks for a reaction from mommy/daddy when she does something, initiates peek-a-boo herself, getting into everything (cabinets, bookcase, electronics, etc...)

10. Repeating sounds and tones

11. Really understands cause and effect. Example: If she wants something she knows what to do to get it (cry, laugh, etc...)

12. 5 teeth (3 on top - 2 on bottom)

13. Down to 2 very consistent naps: 1 long morning nap and 1 shorter afternoon nap

14. Starting to eat more solid foods (eggs, pasta, cheese, mashed potatoes, chopped fruit) - but still much prefers her jars of Earth's Best, mum-mum and organic puffs.

Next week we have Lyla's 9-month check-up (a month late) so I will report back with her weight and height since that is the most common question I get:)

Lastly, I realized I failed to report that Lyla had an x-ray on her hips about a month ago. The x-ray confirmed that her hips are GREAT. We also found out that hips continue to "lock" in place until 4 years of age. The good news being that the degree of her hips will only continue to get more secure with age - as with all children! If you were to take an x-ray of another child Lyla's age you would more than likely see a similar angle which is still not what the doctors consider to be "perfect." Lyla's hips just took a little longer to initially get going so she is right where she should be for her age. We will continue to take her in for annual check-ups because we want to - not because we have to! We were told she may be delayed in crawling, standing and walking - absolutely NO sign of that. It's strange to think back to the point of Lyla being in a harness - at the time I recall it being so "traumatic" now looking back - no sweat ;) There is definitely a lesson learned in all of this!!!!!

Florida post coming VERY SOON...stay tuned!!