lilah's 9-month check-up

Lilah had her 9-month check-up today, and she's growing like a weed! She's 18 pounds, 11 ounces (50th percentile), and 28 & 1/4 inches (75th percentile). (For comparison, Libby was 16 pounds and 27 inches as her 9-month visit.) She also has an ear infection, which is her fourth in less than 2 months (third in 4 weeks), so we got a referral to the ENT. That's scheduled for May 31st with the same doctor at Children's Hospital that did Libby's tubes. Looks like Lilah's headed down the same path, which is actually a relief, because these ear infections just make them miserable. Antibiotics knock out the infection but not the fluid, so that fluid just gets re-infected as soon as we stop the antibiotic.

Lilah's been a busy girl lately. I was filling out her baby book this weekend, and it seems like I was writing down "8 months" for every milestone.
• She has 2 bottom teeth and seems to be working on the upper ones from the way she's sucking on her lips, chewing on teething rings and drooling.
• She's eating three good solid meals and day, and loves Puffs for a snack. We're going to introduce some other finger foods very soon.
• She waves enthusiastically, especially at Daddy.
• She babbles "dadadadada" all the time, and "mamama" sometimes.
• She's crawling everywhere, although still with her belly on the ground.
• She can get in and out of a sitting position by herself.
• She can pull up to a standing position by herself, her new favorite activity!

She's delighted by Libby and all her dancing and silliness. They're starting to play together and it's awesome to hear them laughing together. She's also in love with Miss Kimmy, her primary caregiver at daycare. We recently found out Miss Kimmy babysits on the weekends, so we're going to have her watch the girls for us so we can go out soon, and hopefully make that a regular thing.

happy half-birthday, Lilah!

Sweet little Lilah turned 6 months today! Here's what's going on in her world:

• Her cute habits include kicking her legs whenever she's excited or sees you coming, rubbing her head when she's sleepy and blowing raspberries. She loves the jumper that hangs from the doorway, Sophie Giraffe and TV (we don't turn it on for her, but she sees what Libby is watching).

• She started eating rice cereal about two weeks ago, and we added applesauce this week. She still mostly spits it out, but she'll get the hang of it soon. We're going to try sweet potatoes this weekend and see if she takes to them better.

• She has her 6-month appointment on Monday, but unofficially she weighs about 16 pounds. She has the cutest little roly-poly thighs (Helen says they're juicy, tee hee). So we're not sweating the fact that she's not really eating solids yet.

• She's been rolling both ways for about 6 weeks but isn't sitting up unsupported yet. She reaches for toys and rakes things toward her when she's on her belly, a good precursor to crawling.

• She's not really digging her pacifier lately, so we're going to try to just stop offering it and see if she's cool with that. I'd love to not have to keep track of and wash those, and it will be nice to not have to wean her from them later on. She sucks her thumb a little.

• She's still getting exclusively breastmilk. My goal is to nurse her for at least a year, like I did Libby. I'm very proud of this.

• We started sleep training her this week using the Ferber method, which we've used very successfully for Libby. It went pretty well Tuesday night and great last night. She just started fussing again tonight, so we'll see how it goes. Even if we have to go in there several times to soothe and reassure her, it's wonderful to have both girls in bed by 8. There's not a lot of free time for two working parents of a 2.5-year-old and a 6-month old.

I'll post her official stats after her appointment on Monday.

neighbor girls

We are so fortunate to have a little girl just 2 weeks older than Libby living right next door to us. Even better, Ariella has super nice parents, so it's fun to have play dates with them or just socialize in the driveway. The week before Christmas they invited us over to bake holiday cupcakes. The decorating didn't last too long, but they loved it, and I think they enjoyed eating their cupcakes even more.

Yesterday we took the girls to Joseph Beth Booksellers to see a little preview of the Cincinnati Ballet's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and Ariella was there, too. Libby and Ari are both really interested in ballet and love to dance. They were both smitten with the older dancer dressed as a fairy and had their pictures taken with her. Libby went back a second time just to give her a hug.

So enjoy some photos of Libby and Ariella (and Lilah) as their friendship blossoms!