Charlie at Nine Months

Charlie turned nine months old on St. Patty's Day. Here are some interesting facts about this little weed:

• She really is growing like a weed. She was a skinny baby for the first few months of her life, but now she is a chunky chunker that is as tall or taller than many babies months and months older than her. She is officially in the "greater than 95th percentile" for height.
  
• She has a very deep voice. I used to think she was an alto for sure. Now I'm betting on tenor.
  
• She loves to clap. If we are watching TV and an audience starts clapping she will drop her toys to clap along.
• She HATES solid food. Milk is glorious. Finely pureed baby food is satisfactory. Anything with chunks is not tolerable!!! If I give her food, such as a french fry, she won't take it anywhere close to her mouth. If I bring a spoon full of real food up to her mouth she will tuck her top lip into her bottom lip so that there is no way you could wedge anything in there. She just isn't interested.
• Sometimes she gets confused and forgets that a bottle is her milk delivery system. We have to swaddle her and put her in a headlock so that we can force the bottle into her mouth. Once she gets one swallow down she calms and will drink the whole thing. And we know she is hungry because she hasn't eaten in HOURS. She just HATES things in her mouth if they don't have to be there. (She does suck on toys sometimes, but it more like a few licks and done.) She has been a bit better about this lately.
• She still loves being swaddled to go to sleep. To this day we wrap her up in a straight jacket every night for bed. I've been keeping her out of her swaddle for naps, but it is frustrating because she will cry for 20 minutes if she isn't swaddled. Also, once she does fall asleep she will only stay asleep for 30 minutes to an hour, whereas if she is swaddled she might take a two to three hour nap. I think it just makes her feel safe and secure when she is all bundled up.
  
• This girl is a talker. She hasn't said any actual words yet, but she has gone through a ton of consonant sounds. She'll pick one and stick with it for a few days and then move on to the next sound. One day it will be dadadodoooodododu and then the next babubuuuubadadadada. She has gone through Ds, Bs, Ms, Ns, Gs, and I'm sure a few others.
• Charlie is a pure angel. I really have no complaints about this little one's personality. She is super patient and an all around sweetheart. She is very content with her lot in life. I think this is why it took her a few more months that some other babies to roll over and then crawl. She was just happy where she was at. But boy did she learn fast on both counts once she figured it out! She is a smart one, too.