Our wee Fifi continues to grow -- at her nine-month appointment, she weighed 17 lbs., 9 oz. (50th percentile) and was 28 inches long (75th percentile). We had to fill out this fairly extensive Ages and Stages Questionnaire for this checkup (which I think is new -- our pediatric practice didn't require us to do this 2.5 years ago for Joshua), which was an interesting exercise in evaluating and challenging Sophia. She's right on track for communication, problem-solving, fine motor, and personal-social skills, but she's ever so slightly behind the curve on her gross motor skills. Which we've known, given her utter contentment with her immobility. :) Our pediatrician isn't particularly concerned, especially since there are no physiological reasons why Sophia isn't moving around much (no hip dysplasia, and her core muscles are certainly strong enough), so he's given us some ideas of games and exercises we can do with Sophia.
So I've started a bit of a baby bootcamp with her this week, encouraging her to stand while grabbing onto toys on the couch and doing more floor time with her. She's fine with it for maybe 1-2 minutes at a time, and then she'll start pouting and huffing with displeasure, craning her neck around to try to fix me with a baleful glare -- it's actually really funny and cute. And she's discovering civil disobedience as well -- she's figured out that she can just slump and refuse to put her weight on her legs... But the lure of rattles and toys (and sometimes, when I need to bring out the big guns, my phone) are generally enough to encourage her to stay on her feet for at least some of her awake time!
Oh! And she did manage to roll over from belly to back this month! Woot!
Perhaps the biggest change we've seen this month has been in her interactiveness. She's mastered the art of grabbing, and will happily amuse herself by gripping various toys or blankets or her own clothes. But what she loves more than anything is to try to grab our faces. :) She loves playing with my chin while I burp her, and she really, really loves grabbing whatever part of her brother is within range. As a result, Joshua has realized this month that Sophia is pretty much the coolest toy EVER. Sometimes, it's really wonderful to watch these new depths of interaction between the two of them -- Joshua loves giving Sophia small toys to grab and shake, and she laughs like crazy while she tries to grab hold of his arms or face. But other times, it seems Joshua still thinks of Sophia as more of a toy than a person, and it requires a lot of hands-on refereeing to make sure he doesn't, say, pile all the blankets on her face or treat her like a bobblehead doll... Thankfully, Sophia is still very patient with him, and he's learning that Sophia's frowns and cries are her version of saying "no, thank you."
And other milestones reached this month: her second tooth popped through (without tooooo much fuss, so hopefully she's getting more used to this process?), she fed herself puffs and Mum-Mums for the first time, and she grows more vocal every day. Including some precious "mamamama" sounds to break up the more usual chorus of "dadadadas." :)
And she discovered how very, very tasty the onesie stickers are this month...
She gave me that last face when I made her stop eating her sticker and sit up straight next to her bunny. :)
Happy nine months, sweetheart! We love you so much!
