9 Months In, 9 Months Out

Eleanor turned 9 months old today, so she's officially been an outside baby as long as she was in inside baby. She was a lot easier to take care of when she was an inside baby, but I think it's better this way. I mean, she's pretty big, so if she was still inside, well, that would be bad. Very bad.

We just hung around the house today to celebrate the milestone:

She noticed her shadow and thought it was pretty funny.

She watched her puppies wrestle.

She practiced standing on her own and celebrating a touchdown
happening somewhere else in the world.

She tested the durability of my Droid.

She did some light reading.

And she watched her puppies wrestle, again.

Her 9-month check-up is on Monday, so I'll let you know how she's officially faring after the doctor weighs in. In my opinion, she's doing marvelously. She's sleeping well (usually from 6:45-6:30, and 3 hours worth of napping a day), she's eating well (still 4 bottles, 3 jars of baby food, and now, SNACKS!), her motor skills are quickly improving (she can stand on her own, climb the stairs, has taken up to 3 steps at a time, waves hello, and has a wicked pincer grasp), and she doesn't sound more adorable than when she's saying "mama" and "dada" (except when she "says hi" - that's pretty cute). When I look at how well she's doing, it makes me proud. It also makes me feel as if I'm not a miserable failure at this whole mom-thing.