Nine Months of Evelyn...

...have treated us quite well--especially Spencer.  I just noticed a few days ago that we'd been having such a great week.  I realized that he seems back to his little pre-Mommy's-pregnancy self.  I missed him so!  He's feeling safe, secure, and heard again; and he is really starting to enjoy Evelyn.  It's been so fun for me to watch.  As soon as she started pulling up, he started picking her up (and attempting to carry her).  I'm disappointed to say that I'm fairly confident he's dropped her a few times as well (when I wasn't there to disallow the 3 year old carrying the 8 month old).

It hasn't slowed her down nor decreased her intensity or zest for life.  She is all. over. the. place.  In one month's time she has started "for real" crawling, sitting without any surprising tips or falls, and pulling up everywhere, all the time.  She falls, and she tries again.  Yesterday she let go of the sofa and turned to face the living room all in one fluid movement.  She just stood there for a second, then someone caught her before she fell.  That girl is going to try to walk!  Spencer asks where she is, he asks to hold her, he says he has to play with his "wittle sister Evie," and he LOVES to get into the bath tub while we're bathing her.  Getting to watch them enjoy each other is easily worth a month of nausea and vomiting.

We sent Spencer to his room the other night, and he was crying and carrying on; and Evelyn crawled down the hall and sat by his door.  She looked really confused and concerned.  She reminded us of a puppy.  She thinks he hung the moon (that makes two of us).  He's not interested in sharing his toys, and Jonathan and I figured out yesterday that each of us had been requiring him to share quite differently.  Jonathan was making him share with Evie if she had a toy that he was not playing with.  End of story.  I, on the other hand, told him that if he wanted his toy that Evie had found and was playing with, he needed to go get her one of her own toys, and then he could nicely trade out his for hers.  Spencer had not been strictly adhering to either policy, however, he preferred his own grabbing-while-saying-"mine" alternative.  It does have a certain ring to it.

Evelyn loves to play in Spencer's room.  She will crawl in there even when it's pitch black, find some of his toys, and play so contentedly.  That'd be great if she wasn't simultaneously trying to pull up on everything or pull the veneer off of his bedroom door--no splinters so far.

Evelyn slept through the night five times this month.  Four of them were in succession.  I know getting a baby to sleep through the night should not be the goal of their upbringing, but let's face the facts.  It's so nice when everyone in the house sleeps all night.  Someday that will happen here.  It's a dream worth having.

Evelyn loves to eat "real" food--avocado is still a favorite.  She gets furious if we are eating something we won't give her.  She fights us tooth and nail to hold the spoon the entire time we try to feed her.  She wants to do it all by herself.  She is also in full out bottle refusal (brings back lots of memories).  She is just so busy.  And taking her to her room, sitting down in her rocking chair, lights dimmed just makes her angry.

Evelyn has had lots of opportunities to play with friends and family this month, and she's loved it.  She loves people and kids.  She has stayed with her Nana and G-Dad as well as her Papa and Gigi, and she's done great for all of them.  She and her daddy do GREAT together--sometimes I'm fairly certain she prefers him to me; but she has been going through a bit of a "Mommy" stage this month.

She survived another road trip this month, and did slightly better in the car this time around, although she certainly didn't love it.  She also slept slightly better in the "congo" (as Spencer so fondly called the condo).  She loves the bath, and she loves the pool.  She's squirmy, but she still likes to steal a little cuddle every now and then.

We saw the dermatologist this month who told us to stop the steroid cream.  Thank goodness.  He said it would get worse before it gets better (which it did), but that it should get better eventually (which it is!).  Thank goodness.  He told me she's atopic (which we knew), and that she'll have stuff like this until she hits puberty and then she'll have acne.  Ha.  I'm choosing not to worry about adolescence quite yet.  One stage at a time, please.

Hairbows, sadly, are seeming to become a thing of the past.  She does not seem to care for them--at least not for having them on her headband on her head.  I can't say that I blame her.  But, all of you online onlookers know that we've had a good run.  =)  I was quite the bow-hater myself, so it'll be interesting to uncover her preferences and opinions.  Her brother will still wear whatever I get out of his drawer, no questions asked, although occasionally, he'll complain if he thinks something is too big or too small.  I wonder when she'll start telling me she doesn't like what I've picked out for her to wear?

Evelyn Rose, you still have grayish green/brown eyes and light brown hair.  You still have a little tuft of newborn hair on the top of your head that curls up in the humidity.  The rest of your hair has come in lighter brown, straight, and so soft all over your sweet little head.  You have just about outgrown your 0-3 month shoes, but your 3-6 and 6-12 month ones are still really big.  Your are a perfect, precious little size.  At your 9 month well-visit, you weighed 17 lbs. 8 oz. (26th percentile), were 27 in. long (31st percentile), and had a head circumference of 17.5 in. (65th percentile).  Your growth curve plateaued a little bit, but you are in the 50th percentile for height for weight, so Dr. Martin was not concerned.  She said sometimes average or big babies slow down by 9-12 months and start on a growth curve that is more where they will stay from then on.  She said it will be interesting to see what your twelve month stats are.

You can pick up finger foods really well.  You like to clap and peekaboo.  You say, "dadadada," and you like to blow raspberries conversationally!  You make noises and laugh at strangers until they look up from what they're doing to see your sweet little smile.  You sometimes wave "hi" and "bye," and your Nana is sure you're saying "Yea!"  (I think she's probably right).  You have one tooth, and I think you have more working their way in.  You take one or two naps a day and wake up at least once a night--the only time of day you ever take 6 oz. at a time.  You're a funny, sweet little girl, and we are loving our new normal with you.