9 Month Update

Ellie had her 9 month appointment the other day, and here are the stats:

• 18 lbs., 12 oz. (50 percentile)
• 30.5 in. long (still off, OFF the charts!)
• head circumference 18 in. (93 percentile -- gotta love those big, Korean heads...)

Standard Milestones:

Okay, we have been really bad about posting her recent milestones. However it seems like in the last month, she has hit so many of them at rapid rate that it has been hard to keep up. Here are some of the ones that we can think of right now.

• Ellie is crawling around now...well, she is more like "horizontal rock climbing "around. But, hey, it gets her from Point A to Point B quite effectively.

• As of a few days ago, Ellie has mastered getting into the sitting position from her belly. Amazingly, she couldn't do this last week at all, and wasn't showing any signs of even trying to do so. Her PT was a little concerned about this, but randomly 5 days from her appointment, she can do it flawlessly.
• Ellie is just beginning to pull up in her crib and onto furniture. Yikes! We need to do some quick safety proofing of our apartment....
• About two weeks ago, she went on a baby food strike, and refused to open her mouth for pureed food. She was intent on living off bananas and puffs. That is, until Mom and Dad put the smack down....er, I mean...got smarter and began feeding her finger foods. She now enjoys a wide array of food from diced chicken to pasta to various fruits and veggies. However blueberries and bananas are her favorites. Also, Elinore is becoming quite proficient at drinking from her sippy cup -- I suspect soon we will be able to put more costly elixirs in her cup, such as her milk and juice, without it going to waste.
• And of course, she is still a Chatty Cathy. From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she is babbling almost non-stop. She also is saying "Dada" and "Mama," but we are not sure what her level of discrimination is at this point.

Fun Milestones:

• She now claps her hands, particularly to music. Ellie will often crawl over to her Fisher Price Music Player and push to play button, and sit and clap her hands with a huge grin on her face. It is so cute!
• Rolling a ball back and forth with someone is on her Top-10-fun-things-to-do.
• Elinore has begun to give me things, such as a ball or small toy. For instance, she was shaking a rattle today, and then looked at me, smiled and handed it to me.
• Daddy is the recipient of many kisses and snuggles -- Mommy, much to her annoyance, is not (What the heck?!).
• Last, but not least, Elinore has discovered the fun game of peek-a-boo. She will take a blanket or toy and put it over her face, then quickly jerk it down and laugh.
  

"Peek-a-boo!!"