9 months, 9 months!

Okay, so again I am a few days late on her 9 month update. My life is a little insane right now. I just started watching Layla again (more like 30ish hours a week this time around), and I am getting used to working that many hours. I have not been online that much lately and if I have been on, it's been for a short time period. Alivia is getting bigger, although she is only in the 4th percentile for weight in her age group. This does not worry me because she loves to eat! Something that we started doing since I am watching Layla is scheduling when we eat. It goes like this: 7:30 a.m.- breakfast 10:00 a.m.- snack 12:00 p.m.- lunch 2:00 p.m. or when she wakes up from her nap- snack 5:00 p.m.- Dinner I still breastfeed on demand in between feedings, so I know that Alivia is getting enough food! She just has a fast metabolism like Ben and she plays hard during wake time! Alivia's Loves: This month, she does not have too many new loves as she still enjoys doing the same as last month... But with saying that here are few things that keeps her interest for quite some time - Turning off lights - Climbing up the stairs - Tearing down books from book shelves - Knocking over high block towers - Reading books - Playing with Layla and other little kiddos - Baby Time/Toddler Time at the local Library (I was very excited that they added a Baby Time to a closer library this month!!) - Playing with clothes, particularly socks and shoes (She loves Velcro) - Playing ball with her daddy - Going for walks - Being outside on the grass and touching trees - Being held! Alivia's New Things: - She has mastered crawling up the stairs, now just working on the crawling downstairs (We still have not purchased baby gates and don't know if we will) - Alivia's first top tooth is coming in! - Alivia loves her bedtime routine! Yes, we just established one, for the longest time we just went with the flow and followed her cues. We still somewhat follow her cues, but we put her down around the same time every night (between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30ish p.m., before it was 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and she was overtired so we moved it up) as she has become accustom to the same bedtime. Bedroom routine as follows- *We turn on both lights in her bedroom and bathroom (keep the bedroom door open and the hallway light on for light when the bedroom and bathroom lights are turned off) *Change her diaper and put her into a nighty *Wash her face off and brush her 2 1/2 teeth :) *Let her turn off the bathroom light *Turn on the fan *Let her turn off the bedroom light *Breastfeed til she is full *Sing her a song that we made up *Turn on her night music (just goes for a minute or so) *Put her in her crib to drift off to sleep - Alivia is able to eat more table food because of her teeth and she loves it. I think she is starting to like it over pureed baby food. - She can now walk when pushing something (like her toy with wheels) or when we hold her hands - She thinks she wants to move to 1 nap a day... I feel like I have other plans for her on that one! :) I am all about baby directed days, but Alivia needs more that 1 nap a day still. I think she likes to play with Layla that she forgets about her morning nap and then gets really tired (overtired) and only takes an 1 hour afternoon nap. Gear an overtired baby that is teething together and you get one crabby little girl. Overall, she is still a very easy baby to tend to and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter. I know it sounds crazy, but I already started planning Alivia's birthday... Keeping it a secret as far as details go, but I needed to start thinking about it because I have a few crafty things I want to do for her special day that will require me to spend some quality time. I am making the invitations, cake, and party favors by hand. So I might be a little a head of schedule, but I have never made what I plan on making so I need the extra time. I am enjoying my time with our little Alivia and although I am happy that she is going to be 1 soon (God Willing), I am a little sad to know that I won't have her as my little baby for much longer. Just a reminder that I need to really cherish these moments with her now!!!