Our Little Performer...

Marissa's teacher at daycare told me today that Marissa likes to use her crib to perform, not sleep.  Apparently, she plays peek-a-boo with her blanket.  The other kids crawl right beside her crib and sit around to watch.  They laugh and clap for her performances.  At least she has fun if she is not going to sleep!

Marissa is 9 Months Old!

Marissa seems to be doing much better with the no soy/dairy diet.  We hope she outgrows the allergy, but the doctor thinks she is a bit old so she may not.  We will see.  It is so nice to see her not crying all the time.  She is so smiley now and I can tell she is much better.  

Marissa is pulling up on everything now.  She loves to be up on her feet.  She is so fast crawling now and is instantly into the fridge, dishwasher or anywhere she is not supposed to be.  The girls still love to take baths or anything together.  They giggle and play non-stop.

Marissa has no interest in holding her own cup or picking up her own food.  We are working on encouraging it.  Right now, she is happy just having someone tend to her every need- HA.

She is wearing clothes 9m-12 years.  She is able to still wear Kay's clothes from when she was a year- 18 months.  

Marissa still has just two small teeth on the bottom.  I keep thinking she will get a new one soon.  She laughs all the time (especially now that she is feeling better). She loves to wave bye bye to everyone.  She does it on command now.  We say bye bye and she waves.  When we say 'NO', she promptly looks up and shakes her head side to side.  She claps when we say 'yay'. She quickly turns when anyone says her name.  She likes to be within sight of someone in the family.  If we all leave the room she starts crying and crawls as fast as she can to get to one of us.  She can find the tiniest speck of dirt on the floor.  She is not picking things up and eating them yet.  I am sure it will only be a matter of time.  She will pick up the dirt and inspect it for several minutes.  

On a good night she sleeps from 7 pm- 6 am.  She still struggles to stay up until 7 pm on school nights because she is not sleeping well at school.  On nights that her tummy hurts she is up most of the night crying in pain.  Thankfully, we are getting less and less of those nights.

Marissa at 9 months:

Weight:  17 lbs 3 oz- 29%

Height: 28 inches- 56%

Head: 44.25 cm- 57%

Hanging out...

In her outfit from Poppy....

Yum... toes...

We see you!

Marissa pulls up now!

Kay and Charlotte...

Another boot...

You may remember this post from 2010 when Kay had just turned one. Apparently I like to wear boots for broken bones when I have a baby to carry around...

I fell down some stairs during vacation and I get to wear this for 4-6 weeks for a broken big toe. Just like Kay, Marissa thinks the Velcro is a lot of fun just like Kay did at a similar age.

VBS...

Kay had her first experience with vacation bible school.  She went from 6-8 pm after school/daycare.  She had a BLAST.  She is so excited for next year already.

My favorite moments...

Marissa has been dealing with an issue with her digestion.  We are back on reflux meds and they do not seem to be helping too much.  The doctor wants her to do a dairy/soy free diet for the next week and if it does not help we will go to a specialist.  We have had a lot of long nights and days of a sad, upset, hurting baby.  Plus, she had her first double ear infection during all of this.  The best part is we still get the most wonderful snuggles.  She is SO wiggly that snuggles are getting harder and harder to come by.  When she is having an upset tummy episode we get to have moments like this...I wish I could take her pain away.  Because I can't I will just enjoy every snuggle I can.  These are the moments that make motherhood the most amazing experience ever.

Getting caught up...

Here goes a dump from our cell phones over the past month...

Our self portrait!

Who knew free glasses from the eye dr. could be so much fun!

Snuggle bug...

 Cars...Our family has had some bad luck with cars.  We sure did not miss them while in HK!  It started with two car accidents totaling both of our cars (not our fault) right before we moved.  We sold Craig's car and kept mine while we were away.  We returned, bought Craig and new car (a stick shift- YIKES!  I am learning) and my van gave us nothing but trouble (this is even after replacing transmission etc. while we were away).  We finally gave up and decided to get a car that was made in the current year (a new to us 2013 and the newest car I have ever owned).  Our luck continued when a recall that was done before we purchased was bad.  I should get my new car back today and I am hoping we can go for awhile without any car troubles!  I can't say she is the prettiest car, but you can't miss me!  We were again limited on what cars we could buy by both being six feet or taller and needing carseats to fit.  We still have to name her.  I am thinking something along the lines of living room tank.  She drives like a tank and is more comfortable than our living room.

The girls LOVE that they can take a bath together now.

Marissa crawled right up to Craig while he was playing for a front row seat.  Then, she started clapping for him.  Best fan club ever!

Ahhh...how we miss that pose.

All dressed up and ready to go.

Kay requested "taco, rice, and beans" for her birthday.  They even sang to her!

Kay's artwork.

Sister fun in the swings...

Kay LOVES her outfits from Aunt Pat!

Yummy!  The fridge...

I have officially put away the jumper.  Marissa would rather "be on the move" now.  Growing up too fast!

More gifts from Craig's co-workers in China.  They are so thoughtful!