Katie Beth is 9 months old!

Dear Katie Beth,

Whew, whadda month!

Okay, so a month and a half since the last letter. But still, you've certainly grown up in a few short weeks! Around mid-December I realized that you were doing really well sitting up without needing a pillow for protection. Then I blinked, and you started leaning forward and putting weight on your hands. I turned around, and you began to crawl. I must've sneezed and suddenly you are pulling up, balancing and even cruising along furniture.

Knock, knock - who's there?

It's Katie Beth!

"Here I go...weeeeee!"

loving on the lamb

This rocker makes you shriek, squeal and scramble out of my arms. Just like the bathtub does.

You absolutely love your baths and still don't really mind when water gets in your eyes...which is good considering how much splashing around you do in there. However, I did discover your first phobia this month - bubblebaths! (Da-da-duuuummmm) I misinterpreted your spastic arm flailing for wanting to join Ben in the suds, but the moment your skin touched the bath foam, you shot out of the water and up my arms like a wet cat! Then cries of terror ensued until you were safely out of harm's way.

Look who's standing up in her crib! Now that the mattress has been lowered, the guardrail is just the right height to gnaw on and thrash about on when angry that no one will rescue you from your crib as demanded. (which is hard to picture as happy as you look here!)

You will be our need-to-babyproof baby as there is nothing more intriguing to you than a brick fireplace, potted plant, power cord, or dog toy.

Well, except for maybe just the dog herself!

Zoe may not seem too interested here, but that certainly changes during meal time when she has to be constantly shooed away from under you. (no ulterior motives there or anything!)

Big (yet still toothless) grin after a yummy meal in your highchair

You may be weaning yourself as you have little patience most of the time for nursing. But you've been a great eater, only putting up a fight when I fed you beets. But they did smell like dirt, so I didn't push it. Otherwise, you've like spaghetti, scrambled eggs, chicken, taco meat, blueberries, bread - honestly pretty much everything. We also experimented with self feeding this month, and you LOVE trying to pinch little morsels and cram them onto your face...sometimes even into your mouth!

You are wearing size 2-3 diapers, 9-month clothes (some 6-mths too), and taking a morning and afternoon nap. At 7 p.m. you turn into a pumpkin and are ready for bed - and will let everyone know. Nights are still tricky as you'll have a great stretch of sleeping through the night, only to be followed by an equally long stretch of multiple wakings and crying. I'm trying to do better at letting you settle yourself now that your reflux seems to be more controlled. Lately we've had some early, 5:30 a.m. mornings, but I keep telling myself that like all baby phases...this too shall pass. (I also tell the Starbucks girl that I need another shot.)

And that hair. It deserves a letter all of its own. While you are in your ninth month of Bow Bootcamp in hopes that you won't constantly pull them out once you realize they are in your hair, they also serve a practical purpose of containing the wild mane atop your head! So long and stringy on top, you would never know that underneath, is not even an inch long.

It's been an exciting month: your first ear infection, Christmas, plane ride, and trip to Canada. You are keeping us on our toes, but the smiles, coos and eager crawls up our legs make it so very worthwhile.

I love you,

Mommy