MY DAUGHTER IS 9 MONTHS OLD - HOLY CRAP!

I just cannot believe how fast this whole parenting thing goes. Whoa.

My NINE month old daughter is up to the following:

Tries to sit up from laying down. In actual sit-up style.
Crawls all over and loves exploring!
LOVES mommy & daddy ... quit saying "dadadadadada" generalized and says "mama" or "ma" with me or when looking for me somewhat consistency.
Squeals with delight when I return from an outing sans baby, hence melting my heart.
Has crawled up the bottom stair platform with standby assist and can crawl steps with moderate assist.
Can pull herself up from sitting position onto furniture.
GOT BIT IN THE EYE by a little demon at the mall.
Plays "peek a boo" and clearly thinks it's the bee's knees. However, she keeps eye contact with me most of the time as she peeks around the blanket.
Drinks from a sippy cup and bottle with set up and occasional min assist
Loves books! Especially those with touchy-feely things.
Has a real baby doll that laughs and Hazel stares at her and laughs right along with her like two little friends do. It's adorable.
Loves other kids! Especially boys. She stares and laughs at them at the mall. Or climbs on them. Oh no.
Is still working on the whole sleep thing. Talked to her pediatrician today and he recommended letting her cry for 5 minutes, comfort, cry for 10, comfort, cry for 15, comfort, and cry for 20, sleep. He said to do this for a few days, and she will be cured. Apparently it will help her establish good sleep habits for the rest of her life because she needs to learn how to put herself to sleep. Great. Welp - we've had 1 nap since then, and let's just say we're 0 for 1 in the following of that sweet little regimen.


We had a little "crafternoon" the other day with a friend and her two kiddos - thanks to Anna for the easy crafty idea! I had intended on doing this months ago but got discouraged when I didn't have an exacto knife and regular scissors would not suffice. To save time this time around, I just used the older picture. I'm so glad I did! I didn't realize the mohawk was so out of control. I miss it.