Nine, neun, kyu, nueve

Gigi is nine months old, which means that she has now lived outside of my body for as long as she lived on the inside. I'm sure that the adjustment was hard for her, but it sure is swell for us getting to know her and watching her grow and learn.


Things that are new this month:

• Gigi now has two teeth. Her two bottom teeth are in, and they are pretty adorable as long as you don't get too close.
• Gigi is pulling up on everything within reach, and she is just barely starting to cruise (walk along the side of something, while holding on). Her preferred method of transportation is still crawling, but she is remarkably fast, and we find that when we turn away briefly she is already in the next room.
  
• Gigi eats food now, and once she got the hang of it she has eaten very happily.
• Gigi's new solid foods diet has come hand in hand with her new style of poops. Those things are like owl pellets. I can tell exactly what she is eating.
• Gigi has become a very satisfied independent player. She is fairly bored with our toys, but each day she can sustain a good amount of independent play, mixed up with time together with Marcos or me. Her favorite toys are her two puzzles: one is wooden and makes the noises of the farm animal pieces, and one is a foam alphabet, which serves as a great chew toy.
• Gigi just learned how to sleep through the night. We have been sharing a room with her since she was born, and because I am a light sleeper I have always just retrieved her at the slightest stirring. At my friend Lindsay's advice we started sleeping this week in the living room on our air mattress, and although we had a sad night or two, Gigi now stirs and immediately puts herself back to sleep. In the mornings now I have to wake her to feed her before I go to work. And I didn't do this earlier because....?
• Although her motor skills are still pretty crude, Gigi claps and waves and sometimes imitates our sign language, though usually not on command.
• This month has been a miserable time for changing diapers. Gigi is too strong and too determined to stay put longer than .5 seconds, so if you don't have everything out and ready to attack, you're doomed.
  

In general, Giovanna is curious, content, happy to explore and socialize, and quite talkative.

Finally, during our 9-month check up today, Dr. Goldbach gave us her stats. At nine months Gigi is 19 lbs. 10 oz., 28 inches long, and is in the 65 percentile for height, weight and head size. Her percentiles started in the 90s when she was born, so she has been steadily averaging out. I was a little sad today that our baby is no longer a whopper, but with her soft chubby cheeks and thighs, who could be upset?