Kelsey Brooke: February 2010

9 months! Where does the time go? It's crazy to think that we'll be celebrating Kelsey's FIRST birthday in just a few short months. Our baby is looking more and more like a little girl- yes, we have mixed emotions about that! She is into EVERYTHING and loves to make a game of it! Apparently my plan when she was tiny to smile at her after telling Mocha or Bella "NO!" wasn't the brightest. At the time, I didn't want her to think I was using a harsh voice with her, but now it has backfired as everytime Adam or I use a "parent" voice, she looks at us and smiles or laughs and it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep a straight face. We definitely need some fine tuning as far as "discipline" goes :) Kelsey is crawling all over, pulls up on everything (Mocha and Bella included) and walks with her push toy. She even "walks" with any toy that is close to the right height.

Kelsey continues to nurse very well and is eating a TON! She loves pureed foods and finger foods and is dying to eat anything we are eating. Newer foods she's eating include: cucumber, kiwi, raw apples, blueberries, broccoli, strawberries, zucchini, rice, chicken, egg yolks, green pepper, lettuce, wheat pancakes, various melons, bagels and more. Despite her great eating, she continues to be the tiniest in her play group. She's weighing in at 15 lbs 9.5 oz (5th percentile) and measuring 26 3/4 inches (25th percentile). Our pediatrician thinks she's just supposed to be this size and collectively we're not worried. ( I was a couple months ago, but have realized she's just the right size!)

Kelsey is also now officially saying 4 words. Her first word was on 1/27/10 and it was MAMA!! YAY!!! :) I worked hard for that one :) She also followed that shortly with DADA, then Bella (sounds like Deda) and Mocha (momo). She's using them all the time now. :) We're signing too, but other than "up" I haven't seen any definitive independent signs yet. Kelsey seems to understand a really lot and is following one step familiar directions fairly easily AND when she wants to. Ofcourse! :) She turns pages in a book and LOVES when we read to her. She's fairly independent playing and despite some mild separation anxiety, adjusts well no matter where we are or what we're doing. Adam and I count our lucky stars every day to be blessed with such an amazing daughter and we frequently talk about how we love her more and more every day!!