Eating at our house is getting more and more adventurous. The other night we had hashbrown casserole which I gave Belle in her bowl because it sticks really well to the bowl and I wouldn't have to worry about it all over the floor. Good thing too. She has also become a true North American as last night she had her first Mickey D's. Tonight's adventure-spaghetti!

Well it's finally happened. Belle has started standing on her own. On Friday January 20 she started standing long enough for us to take pictures. And last night she got herself to stand long enough to clap in triumph! Yay. She has also cut her first tooth this week!

The Great Outdoors

Our first Owie

At Bible Study last night Isabella was a ball of energy. She was all over the place and ended up banging her head onto my chair which was metal. Today she is sporting this little "black ey" bruise dealy. Guy dig tough chicks, right?

Belle got into the recycling! Is this foreshadowing?

Well, what a journey so far. Today we went for Isabella's 9 month well check up. She is doing great. My doctor is a bit of a whack, so I don't know how well Belle is really doing, only that she is meeting the minimum requirements for a baby her age. I'm glad to report that she has moved up from the 5th percentile to the 20th percentile for her height, and continues to maintain a good weight percentile, (although I wasn't told what it was). She is now 18 lbs 10 oz and 26.6 inches tall. That gave me great relief considering that at her 3 month appointment she was so small she didn't even get on the graph and at 6 months she was just barely on there. I am officially done stressing about the way she grows. She's small, I have no problem with that.

She is also doing a lot of great things. I'm not sure what is perhaps "beyond" where she should be, but she is definately mastering all things nine months old should be able to do. She is pulling herself up on everything, 'cruising' around the furniture and this week began to stand by herself for about 15 seconds at a time. She is eating all table foods now, of which her favorites seem to be hot dogs and bananas. She has perfected the pincer grasp and if something has a tag she actually prefers to pick it up by the tag instead of in her hand, unless it's a ball in which case she palms it and waves it in my face as though to say, "here's something my mommy can't do!". LOL.
She laughs oh so beautifully and has begun to do things that make herself laugh. She smiles about 80% of the day. She plays peek a boo, she watches tv with great interest,(especially Blue's Clues). I've listed a bunch of other things she can do in other blogs, and I'm not sure that any of this is really of interest, but today I was just blown away by how much she's grown and how she's already moving into becoming a little person instead of a baby.

Today during lunch Isabella dropped her sippy cup under her highchair and it fell a bit under the couch. I forgot about it after lunch and so it stayed there for a bit, until Isabella spotted it and went after it. She crawled under the high chair claimed her prize and then sat up to take a swig. She was kinda stuck between the highchair and the couch, and before rescuing her I couldn't help but snap these photos of her baby's plumber butt. I have no idea how it happens. Those diapers are huge and seem to go halfway up her back, but everyday a little bit into play time that crack just pops out. It's adorable. For now anyways. We'll have to find a remedy before Kindergarten.

I think that Belle has decided that 2006 will be the "Year of the Caper". Yesterday I fell asleep on the couch without meaning to. When I awoke she was inches from my face putting her sticky hands all over me. Her face was covered in pieces of nut and raisins. As I awoke rather in a daze I started to try and remember what I had fed her that contained nuts and raisins. Nothing. While I was sleeping she had reached onto the coffee table and removed the cover from the left over fudge and butter tarts we had at our New Years Party. She then consumed a butter tart, leaving 1/3 of it on her dress, 1/3 of it on the floor and 1/3 of it on her face! She was so pleased with herself too, I couldn't help but giggle. Then I got her some real super.