Ellie Grace {9 Months}

Just like that Ellie girl is 9 months old and we've had her (out of the womb) for as long as I was pregnant with her! Time is literally FLYING and as much as I love watching her grow it also makes me sad that she isn't going to be my baby for much longer! I feel like she has grown up so much this month. At 9 months, Ellie:

• Is cutting her first two teeth--ouch! Poor girl has had a rough time with teething and we've had some pretty long nights over here. 
• Is on the verge of crawling! She tries so hard and gets so frustrated. It's so sad but equally adorable. She gets up in position, rocks back and forth, and can go backwards, but hasn't quite figured out forwards yet. She has discovered, though, that rolling will also get her places. She's pretty ingenuitive when it comes to rolling and then repositioning herself to roll in another direction until she can reach her desired location haha. She also loves to roll away whenever I'm trying to change her diaper or get her dressed!
• Is not a fan of table food! We've tried introducing different things to her but nothing has interested her too much yet. We bough the third stage baby food with little chunks in it to help her start getting used to chewing and she refused to eat it. If she could see a chunk coming in a bite she would only open her mouth enough to get the pureed stuff! Silly girl! She still loves her baby food and eats more and more of it every day. We can't keep our pantry stocked with enough of it! 
• Has suddenly developed stranger danger. She is attached at my hip and will go to very few other people. I may or may not secretly love it. 
• Is also very weary of new activities. We went to the swimming pool when her cousins were in town and she wouldn't even let me touch her foot to the water--even while I was holding her. Shortly after that, she decided she was scared of the bath (which used to be her favorite thing!). I don't know if the tub is making her have flash backs to the pool or what but I'm trying to make bath time extra fun and hoping this fear doesn't last long!
• LOVES kids and other babies. If we see a kid in the store she'll instantly perk up, start waving, smiling, and cooing at them until she gets their attention. So sweet!
• Loves to dance! Surprisingly, we didn't teach her this haha. We just noticed that whenever music was playing she would get excited and start bobbing her head and kicking her legs so now we encourage her and dance with her and she goes crazy! :)
• Is perfecting her wave and starting to clap. Watching her try to clap is possibly my favorite thing she does! We'll cheer, clap, and say YAYYY and she'll get SO excited and try so hard to clap her hands together too! They'll usually touch a few times while mostly wildly waving around :)
• Likes to hold her hand up with her elbow on her hip like she's saying "I don't know" 
• Likes to sing along to the radio! She can hit all the high notes :) 
• Likes to hold things right up to her face. I have no idea why but it's kind of hilarious. She'll pick something up, look at it, and then just bring it right to her forehead and lean in against it haha
• Loves to kick her legs--still! If there's toys around her she likes to kick her legs against them more than actually playing with them.
• Reaches her arms out when she wants you to hold her. I've been waiting for her to learn this and it makes me so happy!
• Loves handles, door knobs, and anything she can pull! She's very curious and loves to get into things.
• Likes to play with her hair while she's eating.
• Says Mama when she's sad and Dada when she's excited 
• Is becoming more independent. She's content to just sit and play with her toys while I get something done. Or you know just sit and watch her because I'm completely obsessed with her and I can't believe how grown up she is!
• Loves to grab faces and her new trick is grabbing eyelashes--ouch! When her cousins were here, Asher liked to put his face right up next to her so that she could grab at it :) She loves her cousins!
• Loves books with noises and touch and feel books. She likes to turn the pages when we read!
• LOVES mirrors or any reflection of herself! She gets so excited when she catches a glimpse of herself! She loves to put her face right against the mirror and just look at herself :) 
• Is a crazy sleeper!! We never know how we're going to find her when we go into her room-- laying sideways across the mattress, laying the complete opposite direction of where she started (feet where her head was), laying at the very end of her mattress.. She's also learned that she can stick her arms and legs through the bars of the crib and will reach her little hand through and grab my leg after I lay her down which makes it incredibly difficult to leave her!!

We love this happy girl SO incredibly much! Nothing brings me greater joy than to just be with her and watch her learn and grow and play. She is the light of our lives! ♡♡♡

If you look REALLLLY closely you can see her little tooth :)

9 months in, 9 months out!