Isla Bea--9 Months

Hard to believe this sweet babe is already 9 months old.  Partly because we have been so busy moving to Germany that time has flown by, and partly because she is still so tiny!  Our smallest baby so far, that's for sure.  Here were her stats at her 9 month visit:

                       HT: 27.17 in (38%)   WT: 15.87 lbs (7%)      HC: 16.93 in (23%)

Oh how we all love little Isla!  She is the sweetest baby ever.  Extremely even-tempered, a truly happy girl.  The only thing I can honestly say that was ever a struggle with Isla, was her crying in the car.  That lasted for quite a while...probably until about 8 months.  Then suddenly it got MUCH better.  Who knows.  But other than that, she has been SO easy.  She sleeps like a champ!  To the point that I have actually considered googling, "is my baby sleeping too much?".  Most days she will sleep until 8, sometimes 9 (or later!).  I often have to go in and wake her up, for fear of our entire days' schedule being thrown off.  And she is hovering between waking up to eat once during the night (between 3-5), to not at all.  Most days she goes from 7 pm until she wakes up in the morning.  And to top it off, she will sleep through a considerable amount of noise (I guess 3rd children have to learn that).  Crazy.  I've never experienced anything like it.  Sawyer was a pretty good sleeper, too.  And I've always been a strict 'sleep scheduler', although that's gotten less and less with each child.  Violet struggled the most with sleep, and she is still my earliest riser, ready to eat the second she wakes up.  But Isla is a miracle sleeper.  And I am so grateful.  On top of sleeping through the night, she still will take 2, 2-3 hour naps during the day.  I don't even know what to say, except, we'll take it!

Isla is also a wonderful eater.  She is still nursing, but gets the job done quick, which we all appreciate.  And she hasn't really come across a food that she doesn't like, yet.  She will eat most things that I give her.  And she is excited about all of the table foods she's been getting lately.  Some of her favorites are, sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, cereal puffs, and crackers or bread.  She finally got her bottom two teeth around 8 1/2 months...and I'm sure the others are not far behind.

Isla has been a tad slower than her siblings on learning to move around.  But not by much.  Sawyer and Violet both crawled at 6 months, walked by 10 months.  Isla started crawling around 7 months.  One challenge that I have not had to deal with until now, is that of keeping my baby from ingesting small toys (LEGOS)!  It is a nightmare, and I am hardly ever relaxed when she is crawling around, for fear that she will find some hidden piece that got lost on the floor.  But luckily, Sawyer and Violet both know how dangerous it is for her, so they help me in the effort to 'save Isla Bea'.  Shortly after crawling she mastered sitting on her own, and around 8 months she started pulling up to stand.  Now she is walking around the furniture a bit and I'm sure it won't be long before we have another toddler.  I hope she doesn't rush it too much, though.

Isla LOVES her siblings.  Whenever they pay her any attention, she just grins from ear to ear, and squeals with delight.  And they love her.  Sawyer is definitely more interested in her than Violet.  He is totally gonna be that 'protective' brother--which makes me so happy.  And every now and then, Violet shows her some love too, and I just know they will be great little sister friends.  I'm excited to watch their relationships develop.

Isla is a mama's girl, but not to the point that she won't go to anyone else.  She will still be happy in someone else's arms.  But when given a choice--it's mom.  One of my favorite things is when I put her to bed, I give her a binky and she lays her head on my chest.  It is so snuggly and wonderful.  I want those moments to go on forever.  But after a short time, she will start trying to reach for her bed.  So I lay her down on her back, and she smiles and starts energetically pumping her legs (she does that all the time, and has done it since she was born).  I wish I could just keep Isla this way forever.  I know there is so much joy in watching your children grow and develop into great people, and that it only gets better, but I am perfectly content to soak up every minute of them 'right now', the way they are today.  When I think about my baby Isla, I will always remember a perfectly sweet and happy baby who brought us all so much joy in our day to day lives.