9 months

 This last month has been the fatest month so far. It has been a whirlwind of giggles, jabbering, dancing, pool time and visiting with friends. Every month I am amazed at how much Avery has changed and learned and this month isn't any different. She is changing everyday. She now pulls up on the furniture and takes some steps while holding on to it. She continues her hatred for tummy time though, so crawling is still a no go. She gets on her her hands and knees and will move one or the other but not together, so the result is scooting or going backwards. We may go straight to walking. Who knows! She is quite adept at getting toys that are out of reach. She loves to sit in the middle of the floor with toys all around her. She has to empty her toy bins and then decides what to play with. Her new favorites include a puzzle (she can't stand for the pieces to be in place), a riding toy and her activity table.
  Some new accomplishments this month are saying "dada" and stringing a ton of syllables together into what sounds like baby chinese. She is a constant chatter box. If she isn't talking, she is squeeling, grunting, fake coughing or making random noises that she thinks will get a reaction. She is a ham. She loves the camera and video camera and will cheese it up for them. She will do things over and over to get you to smile and laugh at her. She can play peek-a-boo, loves patty cake, loves rolling/throwing the ball back and forth, pulling hair, playing with my necklaces, and giving sweet sloppy baby kisses (my favorite!). She also had learned to give high fives, thanks to her grampy Webb. When she does something she thinks is great she will clap for herself! It's the cutest thing ever!
  We went for her check up on Tuesday and she is doing great! She is very healthy and her blood counts all were normal. She weighed in at 17 pounds 12 ounces and 27 inches long. She grew so fast the first 6 months of her life (jumping from the 6th percentile into the 60's) that she has plataued a little the last 3 months and is now in the 38% percentile for both height and weight. She is eating lots of different solids now. The last month we added mum mums, puffs, peaches, blueberries, watermelon (just a taste here and there), cottage cheese, and zucchini to the already long list of food she likes. After talking to her pediatrician we will be adding some yogurt and meat in the next few weeks. I have been hesitant to add dairy since she couldn't tolerate me having dairy in the beginning, but we're going to give it a shot. She eats about 3 "meals" of solid food a day. Oatmeal and fruit in the morning, veggies at lunch and veggies with rice for dinner with a few snacks thrown in and loves her sippy cup with water. She is still breastfeeding 3 times during the day and at bedtime.
  She is such a joy and I am so lucky to be able to call her daughter! I love her more everyday!