Polly turned nine months old last Wednesday and we snuck in a visit to the pediatrician on Thursday morning. I was so worried we would have to wait until after our trip, but we managed to make it work. It is so hard to believe that her next visit will be after she’s a year old?!
nine months as of June 5, 2019
Height + Weight: Josh and I were placing bets on what we thought she would weigh at this visit. There’s been some family debate about whether or not she’s bigger than her cousin, Evie (10 months), and SHE IS! Polly weighed 19 lbs, 3 oz and was 27.5 inches long.
Clothes: She is still wearing mostly 6-9 or 6-12 months, depending on the style, and a size 3 diaper. This swimsuit is a 6-12 months and it is snug. I’m glad we wore it for a few photos, but I’m not sure it’s practical to wear it to the pool or beach.
Sleep: Her sleep continues to improve each month, but I’m not sure she’s going to sleep through the night again until after she’s weaned. We’ve made her schedule work for us and she gives us 3-4 hour stretches between nursing sessions, so we’re learning to live with it. She does take pretty fantastic naps for me (usually 1.5-2.5 hours, 2-3 times a day) and slightly longer naps for my mom during the week.
Schedule: I talked a little bit about this on Instagram a few weeks ago, but Polly is in a reverse cycle and prefers to nurse overnight and avoid bottle during the day. She takes water with her meals and my mom can usually coax her into taking a bottle or two, while I’m at work. I nurse her before and after work, right before bed time, and once or twice overnight.
Health: Polly finally has a tooth after much wailing and gnashing of (nonexistent) teeth. It broke through the skin on her nine month birthday, but is still working it’s way into view. She also suffered her first black eye, at the hands of my dad (who felt TERRIBLE), but the bruise has almost faded. She’s quite the daredevil and will change course at a moment’s notice!
Crying: She still only cries in extreme distress, but she does have a fake cry that is hilarious and always gets our attention.
Likes: Polly’s likes have been pretty consistent over the last several months — she loves bath, dinner, slinging, being outside, and playing in the pool with her big sisters.
Dislikes: She doesn’t love having her diaper or clothes changed, being left in the church nursery, or riding in the car for long periods of time. She also hates it when I don’t nurse her as soon as she requests it — she is very impatient!
Milestones: Polly loves being mobile and is into everything these days! She crawls super fast and can pull up on almost anything. Josh swears she’ll be walking within a month, but I’m praying that doesn’t happen. We’ve started letting her play in the playpen this month and it’s fun to see her play independently for so long. I’ve already mentioned that she got her first tooth, but that’s our biggest milestone, for sure! She’s saying dada, bye bye, ball, and mama (occasionally). Her wave has improved so much and she’s starting to do it with both hands. We’re pretty close to clapping our hands and have been working on blowing kisses.
Places She’s Been: She went to the beauty shop to watch her sisters get a haircut, she started hanging out in the nursery during church, and visited the office with mom for a few hours last week. She also survived her first seven hour dance recital on Saturday, so I’m betting she can do almost anything at this point!
Mama, Daddy + Big Sisters: Ella kept her for me a few times this month and that was super fun for us all. Josh was in his office working, in case of an emergency, but she did everything (except a big poopy diaper) all by herself. It’s nice to run a quick errand without dealing with the car seat! Sophie is getting more confident holding her and carrying her around, so she’s also been a huge help this month. I know they are going to be the biggest helpers on our vacation this week and we’re all looking forward to plenty of sister moments in our favorite place.
One of Josh’s favorite things to do is lay in the floor and toss a ball up to the ceiling and catch it. I don’t now if this is a thing that all men do, because we don’t have boys and he’s my only example. He talks about doing that with his granddaddy as a little boy, so he’s always done it when our girls are playing in the floor. Polly loves this game and will watch him toss the ball for as long as he’ll lay with her. He had her repeating ball a few nights ago and it’s so cute!
We’re off to the beach, so we’ll see you in a few days!
