9 Months

We've reached crawling. She's been working and working at it, and managing to kind of rock herself around, but when I got home yesterday she had managed to get herself over to the bookshelf and empty a few shelves. She is really hard to hold right now, she still insists that she be facing outwards so she can see things better, but she's also usually squirming to get down to the ground, or at least be able to hold onto somethihng. Francesca says it's hard to walk with her because she wants to push the stroller. She gets super manic if Finn gets in the bath, or if she gets out of the bath and see's it she wants to get back into it. She still is pretty fussy about getting clothes put on, she doesn't like to be messed with. I've been using Tilly as my enforcer, the cats are always meowing to get food, trying to extort us "give us food or we'll wake everyone up" so now I hold Tilly low and we chase the cats all over the house. It's really sweet to come home and she is so excited to see me and wants to be picked up imideateley. She still likes to hang on to my mouth, and often tries to wipe off my beard. Eating is still a fun game, especially drinking from a cup although she always jerks her head to the side when she's done and winds up getting water poured down her front. Her favorite thing ever is paper and she doesn't understand why we won't let her eat as much as she wants. Whenever I get out my guitar she insists on playing it. Most of the time she's pretty quiet, but sometimes she gets in the mood to see how loud she can be, then she let's out super piercing shrieks and is very pleased with herself. It's hard to set her down on the ground because she tries really hard to land on her feet. Often if we leave the room and she starts fussing Oliver tries to pick her up and soothe her. Finn is a bit rough with her, we can't tell if he doesn't understand that she is a baby and not big enough to play, or if he's feeling a little jealous. Speaking of jealous though, she gets angry if Francesca picks up Oliver or Finn. But we're all doing well, growing and running along.

Rolling along

She's getting bigger. Very concentrated on moving, she's figured out rolling, so she sometimes tries to barrel roll across the bed to get to the kitties. Exploring more food, now she gets super excited if I'm holding her and holding a cup because she likes to drink. Rose is so happy and good spirited, recoverse quickly from upsets, when I get home she squeels and kicks and thinks I've been playing hide and seek all day long. She gets into squeely loud phases where she's just screaming loudly and happily, but they don't last too long. Still super enamored with her brothers, she loves to watch them and is happy to see them and wants to pull their hair. I shaved my beard recently and she was pretty interested in why my chin was different. She managed to push herself up from her belly into sitting yetserday, and is getting closer to figuring out how to crawl, getting stronger. This morning I put her in the middle of the bed and stepped into the bathroom to get my toothbrush, she flopped onto her belly so I started putting my toothbrush down to go get her, but in the next second she had pushed with her feet and flopped onto her face on the floor. I am really sad about that. I hadn't realised she's gotten so fast and strong. But she recovered quickly. Francesca's family visited recently and she was fine with everyone, even though she probably didn't remember Aunt Gillian from her last visit. Then they all went bridal gown shopping. Upper teeth are in. She seems so big, growing fast and strong and healthy. Had a cold recently and would get upset when we wiped her nose, not sure if it was uncomfortable or if she didn't like getting messed with. She still sometimes fusses when we lift her hips up to slide a diaper under her, or when we're reconnecting her clothes, guess she doesn't like to be messed with. She likes swinging, although Finn is sometimes too enthusiastic. She loves it when I get the guitar out, really exciting and fascinating(this video is after the initial thrill wore off). Still insists on being face out when carried, so when I'm holding her she tends to slide slowly down until I can hoist her back up. She gets excited when she see's her mom putting on a baby carrier, she sleeps best in them. Still thinks silk scarves are super fun, and they are a good emergency to stop fussing, it's fun when they fall softly onto her face, or when I'm underneath also.