nella: 9 months

Height: 27.75 inches (50%)
Weight: 16 pounds 12 ounces (23%)
Head circumference: 17 inches

Clothing size: I just switched her to 9-12 month clothing! I have a lot of very cute summery rompers from when Kaya was her age that I’m excited to use, but I might have teared up a little while packing away her smaller things. She just grew too fast!

We also decided to go ahead and move her out of “newborn” cloth diapers to the one-size snap ones. We ended up replacing the Bumgenius ones from the older girls (they were pretty worn out and not always leakproof) with some Alvas, and those have worked great so far.

Eye color: The brightest blue.
Hair: It’s really starting to fill in, and it’s still blonde, like her eyebrows!
Teeth: Two on the bottom in front, and that’s still all. She was super cranky for about a week, and I thought for sure she’d get some on the top, but nothing so far.

Eating: She’s nursing every 3 hours for the most part. It’s nice to have a bigger gap so I don’t have to rush out of the house for my run immediately after feeding her, or I have more uninterrupted time to sit and work with the older girls on their school lessons.

I gave her just tiny bit of pureed food (a blend of strawberry/apple/banana) for the first time, and she wasn’t really a fan. Other than that, we haven’t tried anything besides peanut butter. Kaelyn also tried to feed her a Goldfish cracker when we weren’t looking. Nella gagged a little, and Kaelyn was pretty upset and knows not to do that again.

Sleep: Not to brag, but if there were awards for how well babies sleep, Nella would be number one. She goes down around 7:30 or 8 pm at night, and then typically doesn’t wake up until I go nurse her at 6 am. She also takes a 3-hour-long nap every afternoon, as long as we’re home. If we’re out, she’ll nap in the car or stroller, but she crashes hard later that night if she doesn’t get her full nap time.

She also hates to see me go when I lay her in her crib, and will almost always start to cry as I walk away. I usually give her this pink Little People plastic pig to hold in an effort to distract her from missing me. Sometimes she holds it while she sleeps.

Favorite things: Her sisters, ripping/eating paper, stuffed animals, riding in the Ergo, and being outside. She loves snuggling, being tickled, being held high in the air, and trying to throw herself backward so she can hang upside down when someone is holding her.

Dislikes: Sometimes, she doesn’t like being buckled into her car seat. She is also very sensitive to other kids crying (or big sisters throwing fits), so sometimes she’ll bawl right along with them. She also really dislikes nursing with a cover, so I’ve pretty much given up on it.

Nicknames: Nellbells, Baby Sunshine, Nella Sunshine, Nell, Nell-Nell, Nels, Angel, Cheeks, Newwie (by Kaelyn), and “Baby Nella Sunshine Sprinkle Pop” and “Pushy Cheeks” (by Kaya).

Milestones, etc.: -She’s so close to crawling, but still not doing it quite yet! She just rolls and rolls until she gets to where she wants to go. She’s our first baby to do that (Kaya was a crawler, and Kaelyn would just scoot on her bottom across the floor). It’s fun to have a roller, although I am pretty surprised at how far she can get with this method of movement!

-We’ve seen her attempt to wave a couple of times, but it hasn’t happened all that much.

-Her main “language” for communicating with us is growling! Seriously… she can make a happy-sounding growl, as well as a sad and frustrated growl. It sounds crazy, but it’s true!

-She initiates peekaboo with us by pulling a blanket over her head, and always has the biggest smile when we “find” her!

-She still has no interest in standing on her legs… but her pediatrician and I agree that she’s just kind of lazy and doesn’t want to.

-She started giving the best big kisses! Daddy definitely gets the most though, by far!

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Nella Sunshine,

I love you more than words. I enjoy all the moments we have together, even if you happen to be a little fussy. You light up when I walk into a room, and don’t think I ever take that for granted. You are still very relaxed and will generally let anyone hold you, but I think your mommy is still your favorite.You love to put your head on me and curl up to rest, almost like a newborn baby. I love your smile and laugh and chubbiness. You still have that sweet baby smell, so sometimes, I just hold you and breathe it in.We sure do love you, Nella Joy!

Love, Mommy