Jen Russum

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Nine Months

Growing // 23 pounds, 7 ounces. I thought she was slowing down… but it turns out she’s not really. She’s also 30.5 inches and her head has outgrown every hat she owns, including the 12-24 month sun hat I just bought her a month ago. She’s off the charts in every category and most people think she’s about 15 months and a late walker when they first meet her. #toddlerbaby

Eating + sleeping // This past month has been life changing! Zianne is down to four milk feedings a day, takes two consistent naps for 1-2 hours each, and goes to bed between 8-8:30. This is the first time since she was born that I can say we are on a fairly consistent schedule instead of just a cycle or routine. Zianne nurses at roughly 8, 12, 4, and 8 each day and it’s glorious! It was getting so hard to cram her fifth feeding and her catnap into the early evening hours, so I’m happy we are past that stage. Z also eats solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and can chew and swallow so much better now. She loves sweet potato fries, puffs, applesauce, yogurt, and any meat we’ve given her {she’s clearly a carnivore like her parents}.

Wearing // I am now learning what other parents feel like when a child’s clothes start to get worn out and shabby and you debate if you should buy a few new ones before they move onto the next size. Z has been holding steady in mostly 18  month clothes for quite awhile now and her onesies have seen better days. In all her other sizes I only needed one of those coordinating six packs of onesies because she flew through every size so quickly, but her 18 month onesies are looking rough. We lost one to a prune-induced blowout, another one is starting to break around the snaps, and all the others are gathering stains and looking old. I might bust out some of her 24 month onesies this week to see if we can start transitioning out of her raggedy ones without buying any more 18 month clothes.
Doing // Zianne is still not a crawler and shows no real interest in learning. Now that she’s hit 9 months, we are trying to train her a bit by putting her down on her hands and knees, moving toys just out of her reach, and even teaching her to rock her weight back and forth. However, she’s not really into it, and would much rather sit and play or roll around. In all other areas though, she is developing rapidly. I can tell her brain is processing so much more and she’s making so many connections. She’ll watch our hands, mouths, and our actions so intently and start to imitate us. She now claps, high fives, points, says “so big” by reaching her hands over her head, and I think she’s starting to sign “all done.”  She has also learned to turn the pages of her books as I read to her.
Loving // People, dogs, animal sounds, swimming, drinking out of a straw, watching other babies and toddlers in Instagram videos {so keep ’em coming moms!}
Loathing // Same old things…. hot car seats and getting her face wiped. Z is also fine with us leaving her with other caretakers {gym childcare, church nursery, etc.} but now when we come back to pick her up, she starts crying as soon as she sees us as if her past hour was horrible, even if she was playing happily before she made eye contact with us. It’s like reverse separation anxiety.
Daddy’s girl // Zianne and Dad have been spending more and more time together. He’s taken her to almost all her swim lessons for the past month, as I’ve been busy with baby showers and school work. Micah has also started putting her up on his shoulders when they walk around together, which she obviously loves!
Mishaps and milestones // This whole month has felt like one beautiful milestone with the whole dropping-a-feeding-and-the-third-nap! I welcome a more consistent schedule!
See Zianne’s other monthly updates here: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

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