Monthly Marleigh - 9 months

Am I terrible at blogging these days or what? Marleigh turned 9 months old on the 3rd and she's now closer to being 10 months old. I think I have been in a slight state of denial putting off this monthly update post. I can't even think about the fact that her first birthday is less than 3 months away. Just stop it, time! I'm begging you to let my baby stay a baby just a little bit longer!

At 9 months, Marleigh is so much fun! She's seriously like my little best friend and I absolutely love spending time with her. She's a little spitfire and definitely knows what she wants and when she wants it, which gets her into trouble every once in a while.. But overall, she's the sweetest, silliest little girl with a big personality - fake laughs, belly laughs, goofy faces, furrowed eyebrows, and -my favorite- plenty of hugs reserved for her mommy!

To keep from rambling on, here are a few of my favorite things about this 9 month stage:

- Teeth!* Marleigh so far has two lonesome little bottom teeth, with a few more visibly on the way. I finally gained the courage to let her eat "Puffs," which she loves, and I always sit in amazement while she eats them like such a big girl! *it should also be noted that, while baby teeth are insanely cute, the teething process s-u-c-k sucks. Hard.

- Not as many dietary restrictions. Going along with the whole teeth thing, we have really loved watching Marleigh discover new foods. Mashed potatoes (or any potato variety), kiwi, bananas, fluffs, ice cream (in tiny portions of course), lemons, pickles, and more! I still get paranoid about choking so I don't give her too many things to try, but we are slowly but surely adding more foods to the Marleigh menu!

- Personality. Marleigh sure does have a big personality for such a tiny little thing! She is stubborn and strong willed, goofy, adventurous, and so sweet (when she wants to be)! She always knows how to make me smile with her fake laughs and mimicking noises, she adds so much fun to my days with peek-a-boo and dancing, and she melts my heart with random moments of snuggling. Don't get me wrong -- there are days I want to rip my hair out and/or drown myself in a bottle of wine at the end of the day, but one glance at her sleeping soundly in her crib usually slaps me out of it!

- Belly laughs! Marleigh had her first laugh right around Christmas time (3 months-ish), but she's just recently started laughing more often, and I swear it is the best sound in the world! Her daddy always seems to be the best to get those real deep belly laughs with tickling, peek-a-boo, and smothering her with kisses, and she loves watching people dance and make fools of themselves! (and "Prancercising with her Mimi)

- Power naps. Marleigh does this thing lately where she will be playing and having a good ol' time and then, out of nowhere, she will decide its a good time to lay down and rest. She lays her little self down on the floor, puts her head down, and closes her eyes for a few seconds, then gets right back up and continues playing! 

- Morning snuggles. Lately, it seems Marleigh's sleep schedule has changed a bit and she's been waking up almost every morning between 5:30-5:45 for a bottle. Rather than sitting in her room rocking her, we usually just bring her into bed with us, give her the bottle, and let her fall back asleep in between us for another hour or two. If you haven't started your day with baby cuddles, you haven't lived! It's the best to have her zonked out in bed with us for those much appreciated extra moments of shut eye.

- Greetings! Marleigh's first official word was Hi, so it kind of goes without saying that we hear it multiple times a day! In the mornings when she wakes up, when either of us walk back into a room after being away for any amount of time, when daddy gets home from work, when she sees my parents' dog/cats, you name it! Her little voice saying hi is so stinkin' cute, and the excited little waves that accompany it are just as adorable!

People have been telling us that 9 months is such a fun age, and they weren't lying! It's so nice to have MJ as my little companion and I seriously cannot imagine my life without her!

9 month stats:

18 lbs. 5 oz.

29" long

Still fitting into 3 month onesies

6 or 6-9 month pants

9 or 9-12 month footie jams

Size 2-3 shoes/socks

Miss Marleigh,

Watching you learn and grow these past 9 months has been nothing short of amazing. It might sound silly, but you really are one of my best friends! I love spending time with you, being silly with you, and smothering you with hugs and kisses all day long. Even though you sometimes test my patience, I wouldn't trade these days for anything in the world. You light up my life and I love nothing more than being your momma! Happy 9 months, my sweet girl. 

One of those days...

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Yesterday was one of those days as a mother. You know the ones. You say "Don't touch that" or "Stop climbing on that," "No no," and "Please stop touching that!," a million times in a matter of minutes and to no avail. Your determined almost-9-month-old daughter crawls back to those entertainment center doors, stops to smirk at you, and continues to pull the DVD's out one by one at turbo speed until you can grab her and pull her away from them.

She cries. And throws a fit. And then she moves onto the next thing she shouldn't be doing so you can repeat the process all over again. 

She's clingy... all. day. long. And while it's nice to know that she loves her momma and wants your constant attention, it makes it nearly impossible to get anything done. And somehow, these days when she's a "Velcro baby" only seem to come around when your to-do list is a million miles long.

At 8:00, bedtime finally comes around and she fights you to get to sleep. You wonder if you can possibly last another minute listening to her whines and fussiness, wonder if you can control your temper as she tries relentlessly to squirm out of your arms while you try with all your might to rock her to sleep. And suddenly, as if she knows you've almost reached your breaking point, she drifts off. She slumps into your chest as you wait for a burp and you kiss her head before you lay her down to sleep for the night. You breathe a sigh of relief that the day is over, even though you feel guilty that you should be cherishing these days - because they are already coming and going much too fast.

The trend of the day continues throughout the night. She wakes up multiple times until you finally give in and pull her into bed with you. Snuggled in-between her mommy and daddy, she continues to squirm and wiggle, punch and kick in her sleep; causing you and your husband to get little to no rest.

The next day, the alarm goes off at 6:15, forcing you to start the day much sooner than you would like. You feed her a morning bottle and by the grace of God, you both fall back asleep until 8:00, two hours past her normal wake-up time. She wakes up happy and spends the morning reading her books and playing with her toys while you get to enjoy your morning cup of coffee start to finish without it getting cold. You soak in the quiet moments and brace yourself for another day.

Much to your surprise, the morning is spent with smiles and innocent playtime, and your daughter is quiet for the entire duration of your client call, peacefully watching Baby Einsteins and playing in her exersaucer for 30 minutes straight. She eats her breakfast without fuss and without mess -- and doesn't even try to grab for the spoon while you fed her, which is almost unheard of these days.

After breakfast, she starts getting a little fussy, so you carry her downstairs and close the curtains in her room while you rock her to sleep. It only takes 1 ounce of her bottle to get her to drift off, and she turns into you as you sing to her, closing her eyes and falling into a deep slumber.

Now, listening to her breaths on the monitor, with your candle burning and Etta James playing in your office upstairs, getting ready to tackle the rest of your work for the day, you can't help but wonder if she knew you would need a day like this. A day full of smiles and "hi"'s and kisses from your baby girl - the sweet little lady who challenges you and captures your heart simultaneously. The strong-willed, stubborn daughter you love more and more with each passing day. 

You stop to reflect and wonder if maybe those not-so-good days only come around to remind us to really, truly appreciate the good ones. Maybe they need to happen to make us realize just how good we have it. Or maybe they happen just because that's life,  and your job as a mother isn't meant to be perfect or easy or anything like what you see in the magazines (or on Pinterest). Your job as a mother is hard.

Your children will get messy. You'll forget to put them in their special Memorial Day outfits and instead you will spend your afternoon playing in the dirt and trying to keep them from eating it. You will cry out of frustration after a long day and feel guilty from time to time for not making your child laugh enough. For saying too many "No"'s and too few "I love you"'s.

But then a new day will come, and you will have the chance to start over and make it a good one. Because no matter what you were faced with or how defeated you felt the day before, you are a good mommy, and your baby loves you. And you're reminded by those gummy smiles and slobbery, open-mouthed kisses, that as trying and exhausting as it may be sometimes, this motherhood gig is the best and most rewarding job title you will ever have. And despite it all, it's 110% worth it.

8 month recap

A couple weeks ago, Marleigh turned 8 months old, which kind of chokes me up to see it in writing and say it out loud. 8 months. For some reason, it seems like such a milestone age. She's so much closer to 1 now than she is to newborn, and I catch myself wishing that I could freeze time for just a little while, to keep her little just a bit longer.

At 8 months, Marleigh is really coming into her own with a spunky, happy personality and a stubborn nature that can make you so frustrated and sneaky grins that make it so hard not to laugh when she's being naughty. She knows the way to my heart and is a constant source of entertainment!

She is becoming such a little smarty pants -- just like daddy. She knows how to put the balls into the circles on her toy dragon  and dances whenever she hears a catchy tune. She especially likes theme songs to shows (Parenthood and Grey's Anatomy, to be exact), and cranks her head around to the TV every time she hears them come on. My dad ("Papa") taught her how to wave hi and bye a few weeks ago and she's definitely mastered it, which seems to melt our hearts every time. ;)

She is in the process of getting lots of teeth in, making her pretty miserable from time to time and making us feel pretty helpless when nothing seems to be soothing her. Hylands teething tablets still seem to work pretty well, but I'll definitely be glad when those little suckers pop through her gums! (Even though I'm going to desperately miss her gummy, toothless smiles).

I think we must have gone through a growth spurt lately, because she is starting to grow out of her 6 month pajamas and 6 month pants are starting to look more like capris on her! her 3 month onesies still fit, though... oddly enough. Time for a shopping spree, perhaps!?

Overall, miss Marleigh is the best natured baby I have ever known. She lights up my life with her smiles and gives me hugs and kisses that go deep down to my soul. Even through the frustrations of days with no naps and grumpy moments here and there when her teeth are bothering her, she is my best little buddy and I am so happy and so incredibly blessed to be her momma.

Now if we can figure out how to get the time to at least slow down a little bit, for goodness sakes, that would be great.

I love you with my whole heart and soul, Marleigh Jo! I can't wait for this summer as a family together, watching you explore the world around you and making so many happy memories. Thank you for being mine :)

A Mother's Day to Remember (or forget)

Remember the Pukefest I mentioned in the last post? Yeah, that... those pesky germs caught up with me on Saturday night (or morning... 4AM to be exact) when I was jolted from a deep sleep with the sudden urge to throw up. This continued for 12 hours. I spent my Mother's Day between our bed, the bathroom, and the couch; trying my hardest not to get too close to Marleigh, all the while wanting to hug and kiss her and play with her and Luke in the living room.

My first official Mother's Day was far less than ideal. But throughout the day, I caught little glimpses of how beautiful my life is. Glimpses of our little girl taking a nap on her daddy's chest; of her big gummy smiles as soon as I walked into the room; of her new-found sense of independence while she played and entertained herself with her books and blocks. And although I spent the better portion of my day with my head in the toilet and the other parts trying not to toss my cookies, I was grateful, and am grateful, for this amazing life we have created together. For my little girl... the bright ray of sunshine who made me a mommy.

Here's to hoping your Mother's Day was a little more exciting than mine was! And cheers to all of you fabulous mommas out there! xoxo