9 Months

Adelia is nine months old. This month has been so much better, words cannot even express. Seriously. After talking to quite a few people who told us that babies who have milk intolerances usually also have a soy intolerance as well, we decided to experiment a bit with Adelia's formula. We've had her on soy since she was about 6 months old, because she was really spitty and having a lot of diarrhea issues. The soy got rid of her diarrhea, but not the spit-up. I figured she was just a spitty baby and that we were stuck with it. But even after we started solids (which is when my boys started to be significantly less spitty), she was still SUPER spitty. Like, she could spit up an entire jar of baby food with in a half hour or so, of eating it. Anyways, we figured it couldn't hurt to try something new. They make a hypoallergenic baby food, but it costs practically as much as liquid gold, and we weren't really willing to go that route. But after reading lots and lots of formula labels, I found one that is milk based but has rice starch added to it. I have no idea how rice starch is supposed to make a baby less spitty, but that's what the can said it would do, so we opted to give it a shot. And it's working. She still spits, but not nearly to the same degree as before. That would have been enough to convince me, but another miracle occurred, SHE'S BEEN SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! It's almost too good to be true. As soon as we had her 100% switched over to the new formula, she started being a lot easier to put to bed, and she started sleeping. Still sometimes she'll wake up once, but most always she puts herself back to sleep before Aaron or I can get up with her. This last week she slept through the night FOUR NIGHTS IN A ROW! Wonder of wonder, miracles or miracles! (Fiddler on the Roof, anyone? And I seriously feel like doing that goofy dance the tailor does while singing that song, that's how thrilled I am.)

I love the picture of Adelia in her Easter dress. She looks so beautiful. We got her the little shoes to match (the dress was a present from Grandma and Grandpa Swan when they found out Adelia was going to be a girl) and put them in her Easter basket. I think yellow is a great color for her.

Adi is also a crawling champ these days. She's always on the move, and has no problems crawling for real (as in, no more army crawling). Being able to move has made her one happy little chica. The difference continues to be extremely noticeable. I'm assuming it can only get better the more mobile she gets right? If that's that case then bring it on, because we've definitely had our fill of grumpy baby. The other day she was crawling around on the bathroom floor while I was getting ready (ya, you read right, we have enough space in our bathroom for her to crawl around! Can I get a woot, woot!) and she pulled herself right up onto the side of the tub. I've also caught her on the stairs multiple times. I see a baby gate purchase in our near future.

People ask me all the time if I notice or can tell that Adelia is more girly than my boys. The answer is no, I can't tell. I don't know if she's just not old enough to express that trait yet, or if I really lucked out and got a not very girly girl. Only time will tell. But for the moment she's pretty non-particular about what she plays with. If it can go in her mouth she likes it, if not, well, she'll crawl around until she finds something that does. She really seems to enjoy the flavor of Lincoln's Trios. She doesn't seem to be shy when it comes to rough housing either. If Aaron is wrestling on the floor with the boys, she'll crawl right into the middle of the action and take it all in with a slobbery grin on her face. She is bossy...maybe that's her girly trait. She likes to yell gibberish to the boys at top volume, but somehow she makes it sound like a command. She also has really ticklish feet.

Adi waves hello and goodbye now, which causes her to get a lot of attention from people and cashiers at the grocery store, which she seems to enjoy. She has one little wispy curl right above each of her ears, which I adore. And her hair is coming in surprisingly well and evenly. I'll take it. She's got her two front bottom teeth. And try as I might, she will not let me take a picture of them. She's also got a fang coming in on top. And every time she sees me with the camera out, she does her best to try and taste it. So far she has not succeeded. But she gets close.

So here's to 9 months, and all the wonderful blessings that have come with it!