Team Schuchter: Gwyneth Eden: 9 months

Gwen is 9 months old! This month was a little confusing for when to declare she was 9 months since her birthday is on the 31st, but February only has 28 days. I can only imagine how those poor Leap Year people feel. This month had lots of fun firsts and we can really see her personality developing. Adorable!

Gwen's "Firsts": Lots of things! She can now clap, give high-fives, and somewhat wave. My favorite is when she is playing by herself and I see her from across the room clapping.

She also is showing some interest in being mobile. She rolls onto her belly, pushes her arms straight, and starts scrunching her whole body. She has maybe only moved an inch.

Gwen stayed overnight with her grandma and grandpa for two nights in a row for the first time! She did great and so did we!

Last, she has been eating finger foods! Well, one of two things happen. Either I feed her the finger foods or she picks them up, forgets that she picked it up, and then drops it on the floor. Her other favorite tactic is to pick them up, squish them, and move onto the next piece.

High of the Month: My favorite moment from this whole month was our family dance party to every amazing Disney song. It was fun for David and I to reminisce our childhood and to see Gwen giggle as we danced with her. As she has gotten older, it is fun being able to do things all together and she her also enjoy it. In the early months it was also David and I having fun and Gwen had no idea what was happening. I can only imagine this gets more exciting!

Low of the Month: Gwen is officially afraid of men with beards. She has never cried when anyone looked at her until now. Three of our good friends have facial hair and as soon as she sees them is hysterical. She is definitely going through some separation anxiety so maybe there is a correlation? Dad has no beard and these men do, therefore I will not trust them. Don't be offended, some day she will come to realize that beards aren't so bad.

Something I Learned: I think I have finally grasped the idea of phases. In the past I constantly freaked out when Gwen started eating or sleeping differently... normally when it was for the worse. Now, I may actually understand that sometimes babies sleep worse for a period of time and that's just part of being a baby. There are growth spurts, teething, illness, milestones, and a thousand more things that affect how babies act. Sometimes you just can't fix it. Its good for my type A personality to go with the flow :)

Facts for the Month:

New foods: strawberries, chicken, cottage cheese
Words: just saying babababa
Teeth: one is coming in... though this process is going on 2 weeks now!
Weight: we find out next Wednesday
Favorite book: ones I let her try and eat
Cloth diapering: still going strong
Breastfeeding: also still going strong!

And here are your monthly pictures: