One of the greatest blessings I've been given is the chance to be a mom to this precious baby we call, "baby E". I wouldn't be who I am today without this silly girl I get to spend all day with. Since our family is not so near, I thought I'd give an update below on how things are moving along with nine-month-old E.
ALL THE NEW THINGS
As a first time mom, I am experiencing everything with fresh eyes as I watch my daughter try, fail, achieve, and learn with so many new things. She's been on the move since eight months and has transitioned from crawling to cruising around our living room with a speedy side-step while standing. I am so in awe at how she is retaining her knowledge as each day comes and goes. She recently found the courage to learn how to sit herself back down once she got up which took a good week to get comfortable with.
She loves food and we have been moving away from purees towards whole foods even more. She still makes a huge mess while eating but I know those sticky hands and floors won't last forever. We started using these baby utensils by numnum to help with feeding and she loves them! They're an easy-to-hold size, keep the food on the spoon, and she's getting pretty good at feeding herself with them when I hand them off to her with something loaded on it like mashed sweet potatoes. Supposedly they are great for teaching a baby to chew instead of slurping back their food.
If you've followed along on instagram, then you know she is a vocal one. If there is a conversation happening, she has to be part of it by raising her voice to the same level if not louder. She started to say the word, "Ba", and it is the cutest sound ever. Right now it is her favorite word and we have tried to show her things to extend that 'b' sound (like a ball, baby, book, ...so on). Other than 'ba' and a slew of other fun baby words, she has tried to pronounce 'da-da' and has said 'mama' while crying a few times (ha!).
She now has four teeth with the fourth making its debut just days ago. With all four teeth, we have not seen any significant amount of sleep changes. She still sleeps 10-11 hours straight per night and I'm super thankful we used the Taking Cara Babies sleep program for her back when she was five months. During the day she has been a little more fussy which comes with teething, but I've relied on various teethers to help. I also found putting a piece of cold fruit (like watermelon) in this mesh pacifier thing have helped keep her occupied and content when she's teething.
E is so aware! I've been taking her on nature walks to point out things like flowers, leaves, birds, and animals and she LOVES it. Her attention to detail is also intriguing. I wrote about how fun it is to watch her see things in nature for the first time in this blog and it has me so excited to see how she continues to learn about all the fascinating things around her.
ON THE MOM FRONT
I recently shared about how I finally am starting to feel myself again. It took almost nine months! I had a few health issues pop up in my postpartum phase along with iron-deficiency anemia which exacerbated my new-mom tiredness and weakness. My levels are increasing ever so slightly and it may take another six months to get even halfway to where I need to be, so I am just taking it one day at a time. I am so thankful God answered my prayers for healing along the way and while the road has not been super easy, it's come with great lessons, love, and compassion for others.
NINE MONTHS SUMMARY
As I'm typing this right now, I cannot even count on my hands how many things have changed in my little one's life throughout the past month. Every single day my husband and I talk about how we, 'just love her so much!', and while the routine of our days may feel the same, so much is changing when you look at who we are becoming as a family. As we look to the future I am anxiously awaiting the days she takes her first step (maybe by the next update?!), and starts calling us mama and dada. I'm so excited to see how she takes on the world around her in this next chapter!
Let's connect! Find me on instagram for more daily updates: @allaroundgoodness_