I can’t believe that we only have a few months left until Noelle is one. I would do anything to freeze time and keep her this age forever! I love her sweet gummy grin, her laugh, and her general happy, content nature.
Noelle had a good 9 month (though several weeks late) appointment. She weighs 16lbs 8oz (17%) and is 27.5 inches (31%). Though she is still tiny she is holding steady around the 15% so we are happy! She is just now fitting into 6-12 months clothes. Other than discussing her recent eye surgery and need for another hearing test, it was pretty uneventful. She took her shots like a champ and didn’t seem to have any side effects afterwards.
Noelle is still a great eater. She is a very MESSY eater! The amount of food I sweep off the floor under the table at the end of the day is ridiculous. Some of her favorite food is quesadilla, risotto/rice, eggs and yogurt. She still likes baby food pouches but I think she prefers food with texture. The poor thing still doesn’t have any teeth so she is limited by that. I don’t think it holds her back too much though. It is so fun to feed her new things and watch her enjoy it. She eats so much too – which is funny since she is so small. She ate almost a whole quesadilla for dinner tonight.
Noelle is still sleeping well. She does have her times where she gets off and has a rough night, but for the most part she sleeps all night. She takes 2 good naps a day and most of the time goes right to sleep on her own without much fuss. The times when she does wake up at night don’t bother me nearly as much as they did with Ethan. I know before too long it won’t happen at all.
Noelle has started taking steps over the past few days, but still prefers crawling. I’m sure once she gains a bit of confidence she will take off. She mostly loves falling into my arms and giggling after taking steps! She seems to have become a bit more cautious lately, though I think she is going to be much more of a climber than Ethan was. It is funny to me how much attention she pays to details, like studying and touching a screw on her toy. At night when she is getting ready for bed, she always crawls over to her door and very diligently tries to put her finger between the door and the jam to open it (even when it is latched). I love to see her little brain working as she tries to figure things out. Her “vocabulary” has really started to take off over the past few weeks and she is saying “dada” and “baba” frequently along with some other sounds.
Noelle has had a bit of separation anxiety lately. She has started to cry when we drop her off at church (but quickly stops when we leave). She will also try to come after me when I leave her with Jason (she almost knocked the baby gate down after I left). She is a bit of a mama’s girl, which makes sense since she is never really away from me. Ethan was always use to going to daycare a few days a week, but Noelle is with me all the time. She does seem to do well with a baby sitter as long as she is home and her brother is with her. Noelle is happy 90% of the time. The only things she really doesn’t like is the carseat (or being restrained at all). I try to keep our car trips to a minimum but some days she is just mad!
Noelle is such a sweet, happy girl. She is always smiling.  She is always happy to be in the middle of whatever is going on, whether that is playing with her brothers Legos or “helping” unload the dishwasher. She loves her big brother and endures his torture. We love the way her nose crinkles when she is smiling really hard and the way she giggles. I love that her hair is finally starting to grow and that she still has dark eyebrows and eye lashes. I don’t think she’s going to end up being the blonde little girl I imagined, but I love that she looks more like her Daddy since Ethan looks so much like me. She is such a little blessing!
