Nine Month Old Esther

• At nine months and a few days, Esther weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces (9th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (49th percentile).  She is our long, skinny girl.
• I have been trying to introduce Esther to more finger foods.  (I think I have a tendency to be too cautious about this.)  She has had Ritz crackers, bits of banana and watermelon, pasta, rolls...my goal is to expand this list greatly in the next month.
• Esther is down to four nursing sessions a day.
• This was another rough month, sleep-wise.  Lots of night waking, sometimes for brief periods and sometimes for hours.  Esther just likes to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy in the middle of the night, I think.  And we have tolerated that much more than we ever did with Austin.
• Esther proved herself to be an awesome car traveler this month when we drove to my parents' house in Missouri.  She amused herself for hours just playing with toys in her carseat.  Hardly fussed at all.
• Esther also proved herself to be kind of a clingy Mommy's girl on that trip.  It took her half a day to warm up to my mom and at least another day to allow my dad to hold her without crying.  My parents remind me that I was totally the same way.
• When strangers talk to Esther (while I am holding her), she lays her head against me and holds on to my shirt.  She'll look at the people, but it is clear she wants to feel secure with me.  Sweet baby.
• Esther loves loves loves her brother.  He talks baby talk to her, and they sit and laugh at each other.  The pure love they have for each other amazes me.
• Esther loves necklaces.  On other people, I mean.  She likes to play with them and chew on them, if allowed.  It occurs to me that this is not new this month; I've just never thought of it before as I wrote my monthly post.  Plus, I hardly ever wear jewelry so I only notice it when we're around people wearing necklaces.
• Esther still doesn't like being on her tummy much so crawling seems a long way off.
• I think my baby girl is the sweetest in the whole world.  I am one blessed mommy.