9 1/2 Months

8-20-12
Swinging in the backyard.

8-20-12

8-21-12
She still occasionally spends time in the hopper, but it's less and less now. Pretty soon she'll be done with it completely!

I can't remember if I put Alanna's 9-month stats on the blog, but she weighed in at an even 16 pounds (10th percentile) and 27 1/2 inches (50th percentile). The week after these pictures were taken, she tried a whole bunch of new foods; scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, graham crackers, cottage cheese, rotini noodles (with and without red sauce) acorn squash, bread, and more things I'll add if I can remember them. :)

TMI alert! This week in August, I almost straight up quit nursing her because of a very sensitive issue involving a crucial body part and an open sore. OUCH. I went from nursing her 4 times a day (morning, noon, after nap, and before bed; occasionally 3 times a day, depending on her nap schedule), down to 2 times a day (morning and night) because of some... defects with the nursing equipment. After a few teary nursing sessions, I almost called it quits. However, after sticking with it, I nursed (haha!) myself back to 'health' and have kept with it. I'm not sure why, but I don't want to have to give Alanna formula. She's so close to being ready for cow's milk that I just want to make it to the end, or my projected end which is 11 months. She has done really well lately with a sippy cup of water so that calms my fears that she's not getting enough liquid in her diet. Other than two sips of Charlie's still watered-down juice, I haven't given her any juice at all yet. I probably could, I just haven't. I know in the end I'll be glad I stuck with nursing, but it was a little hard to see during that week of painful nursing sessions!

Alanna tried yogurt around 8 1/2 months, but no cow's milk yet. At 10 months, she still has baby oatmeal in the morning, but after this box is gone, I'll switch her to real oatmeal, rice krispies or toast for breakfast. She tried popcorn for the first time at the high school football game last weekend (8-31) and liked it a lot! I broke off the fluffy parts and tried not to let her have a lot of the kernel. She likes to feed herself now; great that I don't have to feed her every single bite, but hard because not everything she eats can be cut into bite-sized pieces.

I know I took pictures of Alanna eating rotini noodles and red sauce so check back for those soon!