Nine Months Old

Violet is now 9 months old! Eddie and I took her in for her check-up this afternoon. We have all been sick for over a week now (and Violet has an ear infection), so I think that her weight isn't as high as it would've been under normal circumstances, but she still weighed in at 19.9 pounds (71st percentile). She is 28.74 inches tall (87th percentile). Here's some fun stuff about Violet:

Favorites

Eating Out

When Eddie was a baby, he would get totally overstimulated by restaurants, but eating out with Violet is hilarious. She sits in the high chair, dancing like crazy to whatever music is playing, smiling at everyone, and eating everything we put in front of her.

Eyes

Violet loves eyes. She likes to poke the eyes on all her dolls. And if a doll has the type of eyes that close when the doll lays down, those eyes will entertain Violet for a long time. She also likes people's eyes, but we try not to let her play with that kind.

Outlets

We have had most of the outlets in our house covered since Eddie was a baby, and he never really showed any interest in them. Violet, however, finds all the uncovered ones and tries to stick her little fingers in them. Once I can find the rest of our outlet covers, Violet's efforts to electrocute herself will be thwarted for good.

Bathrooms

Violet loves to explore the bathroom at every opportunity. Luckily, we have been able to train Eddie to close the bathroom door most of the time. Every once in a while when things get too quiet, I find Violet in the dark bathroom, patting the stepping stool. She has not yet discovered the wonder of the toilet and I hope it stays that way for a few more months.

New Things

"Momma!"

Yes, Violet said, "Momma" for the very first time this last week. That is the only time I have ever heard her say it. She doesn't even babble "ma ma ma," so that makes me think she said it intentionally. She loves to crawl over to the drawers under our TV and pull out the bottom one. She had pulled it out, but got herself wedged underneath it, so she looked up at me with an anguished look and said, "MOMMA!" It was a lovely word to hear.

"Uh-oh!"

Violet has started to say uh-oh when she "drops" things. When we think she is ready for a nap, we take her into her room, put in her binky, and hand her Dora doll to her. If she is ready to lay down, she will quickly place Dora's hair against her face and lay down without a struggle. If she doesn't want to lay down, she will throw Dora on the floor, then remove her binky and throw that, too. So then I will rock her while she continues to throw the binky and the doll until she gives up. Now when she drops one of them from the rocker, she has to peer over the side at it and say "uh-uh," and continue to look at it until I pick it up so she can drop it again.

Stairs

Violet learned to climb the stairs. Luckily, she started doing this the day after we brought home a gate for the bottom of the stairs. Now her favorite place to play is on the landing, holding onto the gate. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand how to come back down, so she has fallen down a few times and gotten a few bruises. She can no longer be left in the living room alone.

Real Food

We have almost given up on baby food and instead, just feed Violet whatever we are eating. Since she has no teeth, it's a bit complicated, but she eats a lot of bananas and bread. She also likes cheese and grapes. Most meals, she eats more than Eddie does, but that's not really saying much.