9 months.

I can't believe i'm already writing yet another monthly post about Halli. It just sneaks up and then BAM! It's the 9th of the month and I have to iron on a monthly sticker to one of Halli's onesies =) I don't think i'll be able to keep this up when I have other kiddos. {which won't be for a while p.s.}

Halli's 9 month stats:

weight: 15 lbs. 8 oz. 9%

length: 26 in. 4%

head: 45 cm 80%

She is moving up in life! 9th percentile is the highest she's been since her two week check up! Yay! She didn't have to get any shots this time thankfully.

Halli loves getting her ears played with, rubbed, cleaned, anything! And while her pedi was checking her ears with the otoscope, she closed her eyes and stayed completely still. So cute! They got a kick out of that =) 

Teething has turned our world upside down a little bit. I posted last month JUST before she really started having a hard time. Seriously the night I posted about how she had been great, this happened:

3 am wakefulness. 

The time change + teething has made me feel like a new sleep deprived momma again. Who knew how much one hour jump forward could affect a baby's sleep schedule? Poor Halli has forgotten how to sleep through the night and take good long naps. I guess it's natural for that to happen with teething. It's just discouraging for me. Thankfully it's not every single night but i've gotten into a habit of taking naps in the late morning when she does and it makes me feel lazy. But I should just get over it and be glad I can take naps with her. 

I like the teething tablets over the gel. How are you supposed to get the gel onto their gums?? I use a cu-tip and it works better than my finger but not great. I started trying out these mesh feeder things in hopes of her eating frozen fruit to help soothe her gums. We're still working on that...bananas are all she eats from it right now. But it's nice to take it places we eat because I can put what i'm eating in the mesh feeder and she can eat it without a choking hazard.

first attempt with frozen pineapple. Not successful.

first attempt with banana. Was successful.

While we're on the subject of food, I need help with what to feed her! She has barely two teeth. 1 1/2 right now. So she is not a good chewer. I've read suggestions for baby food at this age and she doesn't seem to do well with any of it. Anything non-dissolvable basically. Bananas are about the only food she can eat cut up in little pieces. Everything else she has choked on =( And in some cases thrown up. Sad day.

So I guess it will come in time, where she'll be able to eat more of a variety of foods. Right now we're sticking with different jar pureed baby foods. I've introduced Cheerios and she seems to be able to eat those, thankfully. 

One thing my sister pointed out that I should be thankful for, is that she eats all veggies{minus avocados} and fruits. She doesn't really seem to care either way as long as it's pureed. Maybe because I started her with veggies? I don't know.

Being sneaky and covering avocado with a food that she will eat. In this case, sweet potatoes =) She would occasionally make a face that resembled disgust and betrayal. But then willingly opened her mouth for another bite =)

Halli loves her crunchies.

But does not like chicken and gravy.

Halli's first Jamba Juice =) It was fruits and veggies only. Super healthy =) She liked it and would watch me everytime I would take a bite, waiting for her turn.

I was a proud mama the other day. I have been showing/helping Halli for a while pull herself up on furniture but she hadn't gotten the hang of it yet by herself. Until one day, she got it! Tyler and I had just finished changing an extremely poopy diaper and I set her down in her crib. Then all of a sudden  I turned around and she pulled herself right up! I was so glad Tyler was right there to see it. I cheered and clapped and she smiled so big and looked so proud of herself. I loved it! It reminded me of the first time she laughed and how crazy it was to see her growing up. 

This was the first time she held onto something standing up all by herself. I planted her there and let go just long enough to snap this photo. 

I've been dying for something for her to do while i'm in the kitchen. There isn't any door frame in the kitchen for her jumper unfortunately. I've been eyeing these type of activity center things for a while but they are big bucks and I couldn't bring myself to spend near $100 for one. $30 however was definitely a more reasonable price and it's exactly what I got this one for on ksl! She seems to like it but is still getting the hang of it.

 Halli is getting hair! It is finally filling out and I love it.

 Her awesome bath hair.

her awesome post bath hair that would make a great baby boy hair style.

 Finally I can make the clips I saw on Pinterest before she was born! I even bought the supplies while pregnant thinking I'd have a baby with loads of hair{I had loads of hair as a baby}.

 So excited for summer. Trying on her summer hats.

 She does this randomly and it's so cute =)
"how big is Halli? SOO big!"

 She is so happy in the mornings.

 Baby Center said that it's good to let babies make a mess with their different colored food on their high chair. I was reluctant but on bath day I thought why not?

 Halli makes a good shopping buddy. Old Navy has great items right now!

Halli and her two baby cousins.

My sisters baby.

 Halli is trying to check out who Daddy is holding. She doesn't seem to be too affected by us holding other babies. P.S. Tyler's holding baby Katelyn who is his sister Charlotte's baby =)

She is precious and tiny.

We are super excited for Halli's newest cousin coming to us in October! Tyler's brother Devin and his wife Sarah are pregnant! After 7 years of trying almost everything, they tried nothing..and it worked! A HUGE congrats to them! They just announced it to the FB world so I can finally talk about it =)

We celebrated Tyler's birthday two weekends ago with some close friends Mark and Mickelle =) They have the sweetest boy, Daxton, who is four months older than Halli. He loves Halli and she loves him! They are meant to be.

She has even claimed him.

 They play so nicely together.

Blowing out the candles on his favorite treat. Reese's Peanut Butter brownies.

Here we are on his bday. The big 24. 

He wasn't feeling too well with his cough so we kept it low key.

I semi-surprised him with tickets to his favorite band Imagine Dragons in May. I say semi-surprised because they were pretty pricey and I wasn't about to buy unrefundable tickets without his approval to spend that much haha. But he didn't know they were even coming to town which was part of the surprise =)

It will be our first concert together =)

I also made him this to put at his desk at work:

Halli Ann tidbits:

-She is a ball full of energy now it seems. She is never satisfied with one thing for too long. She can't hardly sit still anymore either. It seems like what used to amuse and entertain her is now dull and she needs something new.

-Changing her diaper is SO difficult now. She seems to hate just lying there or anywhere on her back. She insists on being on her stomach or reaching to the side of the changing table and pulling herself almost over it. I'll grab her legs and she'll arch her back and nearly flip herself over! It's frustrating and I have to keep her entertained with something or she will make it as hard as possible for me.

-The bath has become quite the ordeal now because she has out grown her bath seat but is not quite ready for sitting in the tub on her own. She likes to explore every inch of it or grab an out of reach toy but can't quite crawl yet so she face plants into the water if I don't catch her. Lots of work for momma with a slippery baby.

-Still loves her velcro swaddle wrap around her chest and white noise.

-Doesn't prefer mommy or daddy over the other. Although she tends to follow me around the room when Tyler is holding her but she seems to love both of us equally =)

-Not a lot of stranger danger yet. But if she gets too far away from us in someone else's arms or if too many people she doesn't know crowd her she doesn't like that.

-Starting to laugh at just our facial expressions or noises which is so fun! We used to have to tickle it out of her. 

-She's holding her bottle pretty continuously which is awesome =)