Little Reese is 9 months old

Even though her 8 month post was only 2 weeks ago, we definitely have some new developments to report. Tooth number 7 is here but just barely peeking through on the bottom. Everything goes in Reese's mouth, it doesn't matter what it is. Our good friend Meaghan Latimer sent us an adorable owl for Reese for Christmas. She looked at it for a second, then grabbed it and stuffed it in her mouth. That means, she loved it.

Reese with 'baby Grinch' hair after she woke up from a nap

She is getting so much more interactive in her play. She loves for us to stack her blocks so she can knock them over. She has figured out how to roll things, so she will roll them away from her and then crawl after them.

Her new favorite game is to stand on the diaper caddy and pull all the diapers out and toss them around the room. Speaking of which- she is pulling herself up to stand now. She has gotten really good at it and is able to sit down carefully when she is done (most of the time.) She likes to climb the little stairs at my parent's house, but always wants to turn right back around and go down them head first.

She is making lots more sounds and is actually combining some. The other day she said "dat" for like 5 minutes. She also whistled yesterday- it was pretty funny. I can't wait to see if she does it again. She is SO NOISY! At least she is happy, but I'm telling you she is so loud and especially at church. The other day we were driving in the car and Spence called me. I had to have him call me back later because she was babbling so loud I could not hear a word he was saying.

She has definitely learned the meaning on the word 'no.' She is actually pretty obedient (for a 9 month old.) She will go for the Christmas tree chords and I'll say "Reesie, No No." She will look at me and smile and then crawl away to play with something else. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.  (I love this picture because not only is she heading for the tree, but she is a total blur. The majority of my pictures turn out this way- she just never sits still.)

She still loves her tubby time but it is starting to give me severe anxiety. She won't stay sitting down but wants to crawl all over the tub and try to stand and it's slippery and I'm just waiting for her to bang her little face on something. If anyone has any advice please share it!

 

She is still just as friendly as can be. Anywhere we go she is making eyes at someone. It's actually been pretty cool because she has no prejudice,  she will smile at anyone. On the plane home from Utah there was a young twenties kind of punk looking kid sitting in the row behind us. He had a long pony tail and some earrings and stuff. He and I probably would not have made eye contact or spoken to each other, but Reese just grinned at him and he smiled back. Then I smiled at him and he smiled at me and we were all a little bit happier then we were before.  

 

She is just such a happy kid- most of the time anyway. We are so fortunate and truly blessed to have her with us. She is my little buddy and she teaches me a lot about being Christlike, looking at people with no preconceived notions and she definitely teaches me a little about patience. She has helped me discover some of my weaknesses but also some of my strengths. We love her more every second.