Andi- 9 months

Weight:  20 pounds

Length:  27.75 inches

Wears: a couple 6-9/9-12 months, mostly 9 months clothes, size 3 shoes

Loves:  Waving bye-bye, books, kisses, tickles, eating snacks, tv shows with music, playing with mom, dad, & the cat, walking while holding on to things, & of course, pacifiers.


Eats: 3 meals & 2 snacks/day followed by a 4 ounce bottle. Andi just started eating solid foods this week, and now eats snacks like Puffs, yogurt melts, and baby crackers.

What's new: Our girl got 2 new teeth this month! Both of her top incisors came in at the same time. Not sure why she skipped the top front teeth, but she looks like an adorable little vampire. :) She started eating table foods this week and is doing amazing with the new textures and flavors. I've added pasta, some meats, & yogurt to her diet. She now gets cut up pieces of food, baby food, & then a bottle. She's loving the mess she gets to make. I was worried about introducing food, but she's been perfect.
Andi has mastered pulling up on anything and walks along the furniture with ease. She just started letting go and standing on her own for a few seconds before falling. She'll be walking before we know it!
Her stranger anxiety has turned from mean mugging to hiding. (Thank you, Jesus!) It has been so fun getting to know this little girl as her personality is really starting to shine. She is actually a lot like me! She's one of the most emotionally aware babies I've ever known. If she senses any frustration or upset in the adults around her she gets very upset and looks for me to reassure her. Even when someone (like Daddy) is talking loudly/excitedly Andi gets nervous. Crockett and I have to tag team a lot when putting her to sleep because if we are even the slightest bit frustrated, she will get beyond consolable. God is definitely using her to teach me to be calm and patient. She's also developing some sass and throws a fit when she doesn't get her way, but that's not nearly as often as she is making us laugh. She loves to hear herself talk and make noises. I love watching her learn and explore what she can do (like dancing to Mickey Mouse!). :)

Mom & Dad update: This month was filled with house hunting and then a short trip home to marry off another sister. (I left Andi for longer than a work day for the first time the night of the wedding. I did really well, but I think that's because she was with my mom and I was having too much fun.) Andi did fantastic on the plane! We're back in Kansas until Thanksgiving though and our schedules are starting to fall back into normalcy. Crockett is in a volleyball league, I have Bible study at church, our home group is starting back up this week, and we both started serving as teachers in the children's ministry at church. It's nice to be busy and back in routine, but it's crazy to think the next time we'll be home is for Andi's 1st birthday party! Time to plan!

Andi- 8 months

 Weight:  19.8 pounds

Length:  27.25 inches

Wears: 6-9 months & a couple 6 months & 9 months clothes, size 2 shoe, hair bows (her hair is finally long enough for a small pony tail!)

Loves: Exploring new areas in the house, like the dogs bowls, Mo's cage, under the table, & in the kitchen, crawling everywhere, drinking water from a sippy cup, touch & feel books, toys that light up and sing, Mickey Mouse, swimming, giving kisses, & tickling.

Eats: 9 ounces 4 times a day, cereal/fruit in the morning & a veggie in the evening.

What's new: Andi still has just 2 bottom teeth and she's eating more and more new fruits & veggies. She is pretty picky about her veggies though and will only eat sweet potatoes and avocados without some fruit to hide the taste. She does not like peas, apricots, or carrots. (She also fell asleep while eating for the first time this month!) She still spills water from her sippy cup on herself for fun, but she can actually drink out of it now too. We tried puffs a couple weeks ago, but she choked and threw up so we'll wait to try those again later this month.
We are officially, definitely crawling! Andi crawls EVERYWHERE in the house on all fours and man she is fast. We're having a hard time containing her to the baby proof areas. She still loves to follow the cat around when he actually comes down from his cat tower.
She's also pulling up on everything and sitting all by herself. On the 4th of July was her first time to move from a crawl to sit on her own. :) She has tried to let go of whatever she pulls up on, but always falls. Thankfully, she's not ready for standing yet. She's getting too big as it is! With all this new moving Andi has gotten hurt more in the last month than in her whole life. It's really hard for me to let her explore what she can and can't do without wanting to stop her from doing things I know will lead to her falling. Fortunately, she's learning VERY fast and already catches herself almost every time she falls and has mastered how to get down once she pulls up. (At first she'd pull up on something and not know how to get back down on the floor so she'd just stand there and cry.)
Andi has stranger anxiety pretty bad and where she used to smile at strangers in the grocery store, she now scowls at everyone who is not Crockett or me. Especially men, it's kinda embarrassing. She even has to warm back up to people she knows who she hasn't seen in a few days. She's very cautious. She's into whining/crying not just when she needs something, but also when she is unhappy/displeased. (Mom is not amused.) Her hair is as dark as ever and those beautiful eyes are still dark blue. :)

Mom & Dad update: We were in Texas for most of July and when we came back to Kansas we brought our 4 year old nephew with us to stay for 10 days. Andi enjoyed the company. She thinks her cousin is hilarious! Crockett and I loved seeing everyone and getting to spend time in God's country, but it was nice to be back home in our normal routine. We have a couple weeks before heading back south for a wedding. We survived the drive to and from Texas with a squirmy 7 month old & 4 year old, but we're glad to be flying for the next trip. ;)
Crockett & I are both in shock just about every time Andi does something new, which has been a lot lately, because we can't believe we're already here. It feels like just last month we were bringing that 6 pound little girl home. She's so big and smart and mobile now. We're so in love with her and just can't imagine what our lives would be like without her!
(Also, we're in the process of buying a house here in Topeka so that's stressful exciting!)

Andi- 7 months

We were on vacation for Andi's 7 month and I did not do her blog, but we did takes some pictures on the 4th of July!

And the outtakes...