Lasa at 9 Months

Our "ward" (how wild is that word?) is NINE months old today.
3/4 of a year! 

And she has had quite a busy month getting there.  Here's her latest..

• She checked off some new "firsts" this month - first time pushing up to sitting, first zoo visit, first crawling, first pulling to standing, first cruising along couch and ottoman, first self-fed bites, first times being told No, first disciplinary hand smacks, and first paid babysitter experience.  That's a lot!

• She is now officially in our full legal custody ... which doesn't mean a whole lot to her in terms of day to day operations, but it is a big development overall.  Worth noting it again in this month.  With custody came all sorts of fun official documents we weren't privy to before.  Getting this in the mail was a long time coming!

• She has a new trick - clucking and smacking with her tongue. It's adorable. She is so pleased with herself when she does it.
• She will not tolerate Stage 3 foods (the chunks make her mad), so for now we just thicken up stage 2 foods with infant rice and oatmeal. 
• She is napping one or two times a day.  It's an even split between the two routines depending on the day's activities and how late she slept in the morning.  She reliably sleeps 12-13 hours a night, waking to eat at 6:30ish about half the time. One particularly busy day/night recently she actually fell flat asleep on Josh.  This happens so rarely, he was quite taken with the moment with her. 

• Now that she is so mobile, she gets into things that we have to take away from her/baby proof.  This has resulted in some striking moments of her fury! Short-lived screaming, but angry objections just the same.
• She does not like the cold kitchen tiles and has taken to getting across them in a tippy-toe type crawl so as to keep her legs off the floor.  It's hilarious.  She usually only gets a few feet in before she is exhausted and cries for us to come get her.  

 

• She enjoys playing with her reflection in her crib after naps ... she spotted the mirror behind the door this month and thinks it's the coolest.  Adorable!
• Another new trick she does is leaning waaaaaaaaaay over left and right.  She loves it if we repeat after her.  This happens in the high chair sometimes too which makes feeding a bit of a circus act. :}

 

• Drooling has dropped to almost nothing, so we are down to one bib a day maybe in just this last week?  From 4-5 a day!  That is a nice change.  
• She continues to love swinging. She would sit in a swing outside all day if we let her.

• She is now cutting her first TOP tooth.  This is gonna change her smile big time!
• She is in 9-12 months clothes now.  More 12 months than not, but I still squeeze her into 9 mos stuff just to buy us more time. :}  
• She is over 20 lbs. and that puts her in the 78th %ile.  She is an armful!  Her height is in the 44 %ile. Her doctor says she is a "healthy" girl. ;}
• We have not heard from her momma in a month now.  We will start reaching out to find her again after this week. We have not had contact with her since the custody change and are anxious to see what she thinks about it and expects to happen next. 
• Other fun Lasa shots to mark 9 months...

• And finally, now that she is in our custody, we said goodbye to DCS when they closed her case and stepped back a little from Jonah's Journey as they discharged her from their active files.  We will miss these dear faces we saw and spoke with on a monthly, sometimes weekly, basis over the last year!  

Mariah from DCS at her final home visit.  Not to be forgotten is Janne before her.

And our sweet Allyson from Jonah's Journey who came for an extra visit just because I needed to see her and pow wow a little bit after all was said and done.  Love this woman!  I simply MUST get a pic with her counterpart at JJ as well, Susan.  Amazing, godly, gentle leadership and support. Just wow - I love them both.

Big month, Lasa Love!  Please try to slow down for month ten.  Try not to walk til 11 months at least. I am not ready for your toddler days just yet.  We are still soaking up all your precious baby moments.  Can't believe they have come and gone in such a flash!