Dear Kate,
I experienced my most scary moment as a parent to date with you. You’ve been doing pretty good with food over the past several months so I handed you a cracker from William’s 3rd birthday party the evening before. This cracker was a little bit harder than others you have eaten, but not that hard and I have you a pretty small piece. But you started choking on it. You couldn’t breath, weren’t making any noises or coughing and were starting to turn purple. Thankfully, I was holding you and tipped you upside down and started giving you back blows. Nothing was coming out so I flipped you over and did a finger swipe in your mouth to try and loosen things up. You started coughing a little so I flipped you back upside down and did more back blows but you still weren’t breathing. I asked Daddy to call 911 knowing that it can take several minutes for them to arrive and I know that every second counts when choking. I applied two more rounds of back blows and you finally started to cough and the cracker came loose and you spit up a little. In reality, I’m sure this little scenario was 1 minute or less, but it felt like an eternity in the moment, and my blood pressure and adrenaline were running so high I was shaking for a good 5-10 minutes. Many extra prayers were said in thanking God that nothing terrible happened, or ever will.
Outside of this scary incident, eating is going well. You like all foods and do a decent job of getting food into your mouth. You’re still figuring out how to actually get it out of your palm as you aren’t pinching it yet. You’ve figured out how to drink out of a sippy cup–which was a life-saver on the airplane, but haven’t realized that you need to tip it back to get something out of it.
Nursing is going OK. You easily get distracted from any kind of noise. You’ll stop, sit up check out what is going on around you and then go back to nursing and you’ll do this like 5 times in one session. Pumping has become pretty pathetic. Although I am going at noon everyday, I’m probably pumping a total of 3-4 ounces and it used to be closer to 6-7. So we’ll see how much longer it lasts.
You’ve started to put your arms up for ‘So Big’ but it takes several prompts and someone else showing what you’re supposed to do.
You love to swim and were so happy splashing and kicking your little legs around in the pool in Florida.
You love to be tickled, receive raspberries and giggle. You’re ticklish on your belly, your neck, feet and behind your legs.
As a family, we went to go visit Grammy and Papa in Florida for a week and you took your first airplane rides. You did so awesome. For the first flight, I tried to nurse you during take-off to help with your ears and you had zero interest in hiding under a blanket or nursing for that matter with all of the nosies and action happening around you. I did have a sippy cup filled with water to help with your ears and that seemed to do the trick as you would drink the water during take-off and landings. You also kept yourself very entertained with the bag of peanuts and crackers they gave us.
You loved Florida and getting loved on by your Grammy and Papa, playing in the sand, swimming and enjoying some extra vitamin D.
You love to sit and have NO interest in tummy time, crawling or rolling. Although I think you have the strength to roll-over, you never try. You do roll onto your side while you’re sleeping but that is as far as you ever try and go. Tummy time just puts you into a cranky mood so it doesn’t happen as much as it probably should.
You are the best little sleeper. You never fall asleep in my arms or cuddle. You always always always are put into your crib awake with your bunny and pacifier and you just rub your face against your pal, roll over and go to sleep. You never cry, chat or monkey around. You go straight to business. You still go to sleep around 8, wake up around 5ish to nurse and then sleep until 7 or 8. You also take 2 naps each day which are about 2 hours long.
My sweet Kate, you are the happiest baby ever. You are so content just playing by yourself with your toys and rarely fuss or make a peep. You always go with the flow and smile at everyone who glances your way. I love you so much little bubs! It is the best coming home from work everyday to see your sweet smile and squinty eyes absolutely light up and your legs kick excitedly when you see me.
Happy 9 Months Sweet Pea!
Love,
Mama
Stats:
- Height: 27″ (36%)
- Weight: 19 lbs (69%)
- Head Circumference: 17″ (84%)
- Size 3 diapers (but getting small)
- 6-9 month clothes, but they are tight and will need to transition to 12 month
Peanut Smiles 