Nine Months

Ava turned nine months! She is getting to be such a big girl too. Here's a look at a few of the things she's doing -

• has perfected eating soft finger-foods by herself (we tried cheerios the other day and still not ready for those)
• likes to hold her bottle herself
• tries to walk from different pieces of furniture while holding on
• drinks from a sippy cup with no problems - she'll even take a little milk in a sippy cup :)
• loves to play peek-a-boo (as long as she is the one doing it - she doesn't find it funny when you do it).
• discovered how much fun she can have (and noise she can make) when banging things together
• loves to sit-and-spin. She sits on the floor, pivots herself in a circle and just keeps going round and round...very cute.
• has been trying to gesture to what she wants
• tries to imitate words like (dog-dog, baby, and duck)
• bounces to music
• understands voice commands like "come here Ava."
• signs hi, bye, milk, finished/all done
• has stood by herself for a second on occassion
• tries to stand up and push toys on the floor at the same time
• loves to clap
• fusses at the dog when she doesn't want Kaila near her
• giggles at something she finds funny
• gets upset when you take something away that she wants - she's been doing this for awhile but it's actually considered a milestone in a baby's communication skills.

Separation anxiety is also at it's peak right now so little Ava always seems to want mama. She used to be fine when we dropped her off at daycare or if I left the room for a second, but now she cries. She wouldn't even let Grandma and Grandpa Lingle hold her last week. Don't worry guys, it's not you, it's just a phase. I know it's something she'll grow out of, so I'm always sure to tell her when I'll be back. I'm told she only cries for maybe five minutes after I leave daycare, if that, so I know it's just watching me leave that's hard on her. She's been sucking her thumb a lot more lately because of this and even uses a pacifier once in awhile now to help herself deal with the stress.

I don't believe you can spoil a child at this age with too much love and attention and I know that once she's gotten her fill and feels emotionally confident enough she will ease up on always wanting mommy. I've done some research on it though and for some children this type of anxiety can last until they are two years old...