nine months.

good gracious, our baby is nine months old! I pretty much love this age... the only tough part is the whole "grab her quick, she's gleefully pulling up on that unsafe thing!"-part. here are our photos, taken in our front yard on this beautiful day:

ballerina!:

we're tight right now, this one and I. I am so crazy about her. the other night after watching Road to Perdition I did the whole, 'mikebell, if something happens to me you'll have to tell her all the things she needs to know, but mostly about how much I loved her.' he said sure, because no photographic evidence exists to prove such a thing...

she's still pulling up on everything, and is beginning to be brave about letting go a little. toys and books are cool, but Pat the Bunny is a special favorite and she likes doing each page's activity. we're into pointing and waving right now, and love to use our fingers to eat our Miss Barbara's hole 'n ohs, sweet potato fries, green beans, carrots, bananas, and anything else mama will put on the tray. she's getting better with the sippy and gestures to have a drink of water from our cups at mealtimes. she's still eating pretty well - I'm looking forward to more fruits and vegetables coming into season. I'm still making most of her food, and while it's easy and only requires a little more planning my most recent lesson taught me this: baking apples and pears is a ton more work and effort than just steaming or boiling them in a little water. mama's not doing it that way again. we're mashing things just a little for her to eat, and she's getting pretty good at 'chewing'. I had no idea the puree phase would be so fleeting, it seems like we moved on to chunkier fare very quickly. I've been hitting most of the foods on our pediatrician's list and have included seasonal local things we've found, but have also been taking advice from Ellyn Satter's Child of Mine; Feeding your Child with Love and Good Sense.

for kicks, here's what we LOVE right now:

1 sweet potato, cut into fries
pinch of cinnamon
drizzle of olive oil

mix it all together and bake them on a foil-lined baking sheet for 25-30 minutes @ 350. it is delicious and you'll want to eat all of them yourself.



I could write more, but she's pulled up and is peering at me from behind the laptop. and is now reaching for the power cord.

I'm out. :)

-m.y.