Rosie's 9-Month Update
Nine months in and nine months out!! I honestly feel like a broken record with Rosie because I always just say she's the happiest baby ever. She just laughs and smiles so much so it's hard not to say it all the time. She has made the transition to two kids super easy. Mind you this month she did make my hands a little more full from being sick and teething. She had a really high fever (around 102) for 3 days and it only went away when I gave her baby Tylenol. We spent a lot of time in a cool bath and in her diaper to help her cool down. It also didn't help that it was the hottest days of summer when she had her fever. Once her fever broke she then got a rash for a few days all over her tummy and back. It didn't seem to bother her during the day, but she woke up a few times in the night from it. Luckily it went away after a few days. My mom and mom-in-law thought it might have been Roseola. I didn't take her to the doctor but based on trusty old google the symptoms seemed to line up. There's nothing you can do for it anyways except ride it out, so having gone to the doctor probably wouldn't have mattered anyways. She got extra clingy those days, but I didn't mind because she's just so sweet. If she's ever sad I either put her in the bath or kiddy pool or hold her hands so she can walk around. Guaranteed she stops crying right away.These are her favorite things to do right now.
Everly is still all up in her business, but Rosie thankfully thinks it's hilarious. Ev will seriously sit on her and Rosie will laugh. I love watching them together and seeing how much Ev loves her already. She even loves helping me feed her, and she does a pretty good job of it too. It's really not hard because Rosie loves eating everything. If you can't tell by her numerous rolls, this girl ain't picky. It's so fun giving her new foods because she gets SO excited about them.
She also got her two top middle teeth this month, which hasn't been fun for nursing or sleeping. I forgot how much it hurts nursing a baby with teeth! Yikes. Hopefully she eases off once they've totally come through. She's also not big into sitting anymore, but still refuses to crawl. She reaches really far all around her and then eventually falls onto her tummy and then cries after a few minutes being on her tummy and I have to help her back up.
Toys/Activities
Her favorite toys right now are anything she can chew on thanks to her teething. She also loves her Fisher Price puppy piano, Fisher Price jumperoo, baby dolls, stuffed animals, rattles, anything that lights up and anything shiny. She'll play with measuring cups, bowls, spoons or really anything she can get her hands on. She's at the stage where she's so grabby, and anything that's within arms reach is getting snatched up. She also loves standing and walking around everywhere if you hold her hands. Her all time favorite activity right now though is being in any kind of water. Either in the bath or the kiddy pool, she's having a blast splashing herself with water. She also loves digging around in the sandbox with Ev at the park, I've just got to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't eat handfuls of sand.
Sleep
She still goes down around 7-7:30pm and wakes up around 7-7:30am.She had a rough few weeks this month when she was sick, plus teething and started waking up again in the middle of the night. I always tried to get her back down by rocking her but the only thing that worked was feeding her, so I would nurse her and then put her back down. I'm happy to say this past week she is back to her normal routine of sleeping through the night, thank goodness. A few days she even slept until 8-8:30am! I think she knows Jason is gone so she's giving me a break. Her naps have been really sporadic this month. I think she's down to two naps, as long as they're long enough. She'll usually have one in the morning around 10, and then a longer one in the afternoon around 1 or 2. I have a feeling she's not going to love her naps as much as Ev does, fingers crossed that changes. I still am using the relax melodies app on the ipad as her sound machine and I think it's helped bring consistency whenever she has to sleep somewhere new. I've also started giving her a bunny to sleep with because she loves snuggling with it.
Eating
We are at the 9-month mark, so I am going to slowly start switching her to more food now. A few times a day I will feed her food first, and then top her up with breastmilk. The girl loves food so this shouldn't be an issue. I'll still nurse her first thing in the morning, two or three times in the afternoon, and then once before bed. The foods she's been eating lately: cottage cheese, cheese, tomatoes, chicken, applesauce, blueberries, yogurt, sweet potatoes, ground beef, oatmeal, chia pudding, peanut butter (obsessed), kefir, spinach, peas, steamed broccoli and eggs. So far she likes everything, and hoping it stays that way! I also give her a bottle with water in it if it's a really hot day and she sucks on it for a bit but isn't too interested yet. I'll spoon feed her if I'm giving her a puree or yogurt, but otherwise she likes having little chunks of food that she can grab and feed herself. I remember Everly liked doing this same thing at this age.
Daily Life
We still get our mornings together before Ev wakes up, so I'll usually read her a book, put her in her jumper, play on the carpet with her or hold her hands so she can walk. Her new favorite thing is walking around holding someone's hands. She still refuses to crawl, but she's all about standing. She even started pulling herself up onto bigger toys and the couch. Whenever we wake Ev up and go get her Rosie literally laughs with excitement. We'll spend a bit of time in the mornings on Ev's bed so they can play together, it's so sweet. Then we'll head out to the park, where Rosie loves sitting in the swing or playing in the sandbox. She still loves her stroller, and usually bites on the bar in front of her now that she's teething. In the evenings before bed we either hot tub, play in the kiddy pool, go for a walk or sit in the backyard. She always goes down really easy, just like Ev did at that age which is so nice. She's also been loving the hammock at the lake. She lays in there alone and laughs and kicks, it's the cutest thing ever.
Giggles
If you follow along on my Insta stories you'll know that this girl is always smiling or laughing. It's seriously the best thing ever. She is honestly the happiest baby I know. Her smile is a mile wide and it's impossible not to smile when you're with her. She's ticklish, giggles whenever Ev is in her face (even when she sits on her), laughs when she's splashing herself in the water and always smiles so big for mama (which melts my heart).
Grumpy
With this whole teething business she can get a bit whiny. She's usually fine but has definitely needed extra cuddles this month to keep her happy. She's also started noticing when I leave the room/house and cries. It's so sad, but I'm hoping she gets over it soon. She'll also get really upset if you take something from her that she's chewing on or playing with (usually Ev is the culprit for that).
Milestones/Firsts/Events
She had her first hot tub, went to her first wedding, went on her first ferris wheel, had her first popsicle (blueberry, kefir and spinach) and did her first downward dog. Still no real crawling, but hoping for next month!
Tips
Teething tips: I use orajel on her gums when her teething seems really bad, and otherwise I just let her chew on silicone teething necklaces or other teething toys. Also I have found she falls asleep easier now if I give her something to kind of play with. I still give her a soother, and then I usually also give her a stuffed animal now to cuddle with and that helps her fall asleep easy. It's also really cold in our basement so she always sleeps in her sleep sack which keeps her nice and warm.
Best,
Stacey