Mia at Nine Months

At last, a moment to write about Mia. Life has bee so busy, I haven't documented her recent developments but I've noticed them with excitement every day. Mia has gone from scooting around on her stomach to crawling and now she's doing so with speed and efficiency. She's gone from pulling herself up to walking along the furniture. She's after everything in sight. I've given up on wearing jewelry for the moment.

Also, Mia can finally sit! She was crawling and standing long before she could hold herself in a sitting position (it was very puzzling). At first I thought it was the Bumbo seat that delayed her ablility to sit. Honestly, I think it was her constant need to be on the move that was responsible. She was seldom still enough to learn to sit. Now that she can do so, I love being able to sit her down on the floor.

Mia's single solitary word at nine months is "uh oh!" She repeats it many, many times each day. When she wants to show off she says it. She says it when she plays her favorite game (I drop it and you pick it up). She does a lot of babbling and repeats sing-songy noises. A few days ago I called "Jo....lie!" from upstairs and Mia immediately repeated a similar-sounding noise.

I'm afraid that Mia is also venturing into the first phase of seperation anxiety. She doesn't like me walking past her or (heaven forbid) out of the room. Last weekend Dan built a contraption that serves as our baby gate for the top of the stairs. I've been less able to carry her from room to room due to my incisions on the left side. She just falls apart when I walk past her. She takes it very personally, as though I'm intentionally rejecting her. I've also noticed that she looks at less-familiar faces with uncertainty. Dr. Kramer was examining her last week and she watched him very carefully and with a bit of suspicion.

Mia loves her family! Upon seeing Dan or one of the kids, she pounds her hand, kicks, throws her head back and forward... She also yells. I think she's trying to say "hi" (comes out as "ahhh!") She has to have a looky-look whenever she's nursing. She gulps it down and then twists and turns until she can see what it is that's going on around her.

A few days ago I was out with Mia, running from here to there. Mia had been dragged from one obligation to the next. She managed to get a 20-minute cat nap in the car and some finger snacks along the way. She was still pleasant and happy to be along for the ride. I gave her a kiss and said a prayer of thanks that our Mia is such a happy easy-going soul. A delight.