Out = In

That's right, Sami just passed the 9 month mark. So she's kind of been "out" as long as she was "in." Which means she's had an impact on my life for 18 months now. Wow.

Stuff about Sami at 9 months:

• She had her 9 month check-up at her doctor's yesterday. She has really plateaued (according to my home scale) in her weight gain now that she's eating "real" food, and so I was certain she would have dropped out of the 90-something percentile she has been in since she was just a few weeks old, as far as weight and height. But all babies must plateau out at this point, because with her weight at 21.25 pounds, and her height at 29 inches -- she remains right at that 90 percentile. Meaning--for those of you not living in baby- percentile-world with the rest of us new moms and dads--that only 10 percent of the babies out there are bigger/taller than her. Average, would of course, be at 50. The good news is her height and weight remain amazingly locked together, so proportion-wise, she's perfect. And I don't think she's going to be Giant Baby or anything, she just seems so healthy and robust, and grows and grows.
• She can babble pretty good now. She thinks she's really giving you a good talking to, anyway. And every once in a while she'll stumble across random syllables that form a word appropriate as an answer to a question we might have just asked her, and it gives us such a good laugh. You know, something like, "Oh my... Mommy is having an exquisite hair day, don't you think, Sami?" And she'll go, "Uh, uh." Right on queue. Love that.
• She remains completely smitten with her dad. She lights up when he comes home or into the room. Mom who?
• Chew and chew and chew. I can't help myself from saying this every time I give her a bite of "grown up" food. But I swear she understands. And she does chew and chew and chew. Only still the 2 front teeth, but her others are all right under the surface and she's gotten quite proficient at chewing up small bites of everything we can think up to give her. She especially is partial to any kind of meat. She loves chicken, turkey breast, barbecue beef ribs, steak, burgers, sausage -- anything. And she likes bread, peas, cooked green bell pepper, cheese, tomato. The things she's not yet so sure of mostly have to do with texture -- cottage cheese makes her shiver, rice is questionable. Funky new textures have much more bearing with her than the actual taste of things, apparently.
• She'll now goof around with mostly, but also actually drink part of, a cup of water from her sippy cup. I made the mistake of giving her orange Gatorade the other day, and she loved it. I immediately remanded myself. I should have started with water, not something sweet. Oops.
• Going out in the stroller for a long walk, especially if it is breezy at all and maybe blowing hard enough to move her hair, makes her literally squeal with delight. She loves being outside, and if it is breezy, the experience is complete for her.
• Her personality is beginning its debut. For the most part she is a sunny, happy, smiley little person. But I see the dark shadows of her mother's presence too. Say you dilly-dally a little while making her lunch? No patience whatsoever. And she doesn't cry like a baby when she's impatient. She lets loose with this kind of--I don't know how to describe it--but it is the same noise I make when something is really frustrating me. Some inanimate object you know -- like trying to put back together something you've had to take apart, and no matter what you do, you can't get a nut screwed back onto the bolt?
• When we go in in the morning now to get her from her crib -- just starting this past week -- she's standing up all the time now. She can pull herself up and will stand and stand there.
• Still no crawling proper, but she can scooch across the room with ease and speed now. And she's getting up on her hands and knees for longer and longer periods of time. It seems as though it will just be days now before she figures it out.
• Her hair is almost in her eyes. It grows so fast now. I can have film developed from photos I just took 2 weeks ago, and when I look from them to her, and see how fast her hair is growing, it is surprising. Since I am the official family haircutter -- I do her dad's, and I do my own, of course I will be taking on this new task. Her father is very nervous.
• I personally cannot stand to step outside without my sunglasses on. And when the sun gets in Sami's eyes, it really seems to bother her. So I ordered her a pair of BabyBanz sunglasses. They have an adjustable band to go around her head instead of the traditional style -- the better for keeping on a baby. And they arrived this week -- pink, of course. She looks way too adorable in them. And if you distract her with a toy or something right as you put them on her, she immediately forgets about them and is very comfortable wearing them. So, so cute.
• She's also pretty tolerant of hats. Which, of course is good... what's cuter than a baby in a hat? Nothing.

We can't even fathom for ourselves how much we love her, and enjoy her and delight in her every day. We honestly marvel to each other all the time what a gift it is to have this incredible, sweet, beautiful child in our lives. She fills our hearts so. She could not be more loved.