9 Months and before...

Ok, so most others post about what their child does and is like on month birthdays. I never have, but since I am not exactly keeping up with my kid anywhere else, let's see if I can hit a few highlights and then put what's going on now.

Smiling started somewhere between 1 and 2 months

Laughing started Labor Day weekend - about 3 months and a week or so

She was rolling front to back (though I think totally on accident) by her 2 month dr appointment. I explained what it was to the Dr, then he saw her do it and he said that was it. I still say she was never very intentional about it - she just pushed up with her hands and fell over.

She was rolling from back to front right at 4 months - which she accomplished while we were in Montana. After she figured that out, she stopped playing on her back for awhile - she would immediately flip over! She never did too much of the roll to get what she wanted. I was kinda glad about that.

She started scooting (an army crawl) not too much later - between 5 and 6 months. She got much better at that and although I was hoping she would crawl by Christmas (7 months) she didn't really. She army crawled only for the really important things (cell phones, computers, remotes, sometimes keys) but a lot of the time just cried and fussed till I finally gave in.

I guess at some point she started sitting up on her own. Sadly, I think this one is not on her calendar because there was never a clear day where ta-da she could do it. It was just, she can sit up for 10 seconds, now 20 seconds, and then one day I realize she's played a few minutes without falling over. I do remember at her 6 month check up the Dr seemed surprised she was pretty good at it.

At Christmas she learned to sit up from laying down. I did not like this one because it meant she sleeping got a lot harder. Where before, she was easy to put down for naps, because she'd be close to sleeping and I would lay her in bed, now she would immediately perk up after I laid her in bed, sit up and then cry. And actually, sometime in January, I thought I was putting her to bed and she was going to sleep, but after awhile I started looking and really she was just sitting quietly in her crib for half an hour or so and tricking me! One 'nap' I know for sure she never took and how many before that had me fooled, who knows!

So nap time (which had been beautiful for 2-3 months) became increasingly more difficult beginning in January, but really taking a toll in February. Tomorrow is the start of March and maybe I can update next week and let you know how nap time is. (Today - still very frustrating)

On the other hand, sleeping at night got much better in January! After a week or two of seriously frustrating nights, we decided to try giving Sam colic calm in the evenings before bed. We started with a dose before dinner and another before her night time nursing. I hate to give colic calm all the credit, but after 3 nights, she slept ALL NIGHT. Like 7pm to 6:30am. Yippie! Its kinda an expensive bottle, but it comes down to $1 a night and mommy feels like a new person. I thought maybe once she got the hang of sleeping all night, we wouldn't have to use it. But, as the first bottle ran out, we started giving it to her every few nights. Night times got worse, I was super frustrated now in the middle of the night haven back-slidden, so a new bottle and a full dose 2 nights in a row and she was back to 11 hours of sleep. This past week we were in St Louis and traveling and strange beds never do well, plus in the last 2-3 weeks, she has been waking up (sometimes) VERY early. So we'll try to get back on a routine and consistently add a night time bottle (around 9-10pm when we go to bed) and see if that helps. The night time bottle seems to work fairly well in helping her sleep till at least 6 (instead of 4:30 or 5) when I'm good about giving it to her. She is so easy too - I go into her room, pick up the sleeping baby, she might let out one fuss, I stick the bottle up, she (most of the time) sucks it down, and I put the paci back and she is out like a light so I can lay her back down. It takes all of about 6 mintues, so why do I not do it some nights? I don't know...

Just about 2 weeks after Christmas she started actually crawling on her hands and knees as I posted last. She is now all over the place. I caught her on her way out the front door that I had left open for a breeze today. As soon as she saw me watching, she slowed down and didn't actually even make it to the door mat. She is so funny!

So 9 months. She is pretty funny with the camera. She knows to smile and turn on the charm. Sometimes the red-eye flash throws her off. AM had trouble getting good pictures of her, but I don't often use a flash much at all at home. I'm usually taking pictures with my phone and there is no sound on it, so when I hold it up, she just smiles and smiles till I bring it down. When I've had her help me model something I've made, she has been pretty good about doing what I ask. I put her in a dress and was taking pictures of her sitting then asked her to crawl and she sure enough got down on her hands and knees. Maybe a coincidence, but I'm telling you the camera does it. Does she listen to me any other time? NO

She LOVES shoes...which is a problem. I've tried to consistently tell her "no" for only a few things - the dog's water, cords, electronics, and shoes. At first, I really thought she was a wonderful kid and a good listener. Now...the dog's water got moved outside, she will grab any electronic the second you turn your head, and shoes are just a lost cause. I do my best to keep them out of the room we're in. *sigh* So much for good discipline at an early age....

She's still very much a mama's girl. I guess I do spend all day with her and no one else is around all that much. Of course she does love daddy (thank goodness) and she's never complained about Cristal, but anyone else she takes awhile to warm up to (and some people, a long while). Of course this makes everyone sad, that they can't just come in and pick up the cute little girl. If anyone tries, there is usually flailing and screaming that ensues. Much to mom's dismay as 4 hours is about the longest I've ever been away. And the last 2 supposedly 'relaxing' get-aways have made me more tired than before I went!

Update

I feel like I owe the blogging world a post, since I so nicely, stalk, everyone else to read theirs.

So there's been a lot going on.
Samantha started actually crawling in early January - up off her tummy, on her hands and knees. But she didn't seem to care for it much. She would go a few feet and then turn and sit again and start playing. If I left the room, she would crawl and few feet (while crying) then just stop and continue crying till I came back in the room. Yes, poor pitiful little mama's girl. And no, I don't think I spoil her, I don't know why she is so attached!
About 2 weeks ago, she really got the hang of this crawling thing. Now I put her down, turn around and she's off in the other room! Ahh! She loves opening doors - cabinets, bedroom or closet doors...
Today, she was playing with the backdoor since I left it unlatched. We have a doggie dog in the screen door and I usually leave the back door open for Libby to go in and out. Guess who soon got started playing with the doggie door? Oh yes, my sweet Samantha started playing with the flap. Libby was even nice enough to go in and out a few times to show her how! Then of course, my friend Cindy went outside and encouraged her further. Luckily Sam wasn't quite sure about it and only put about one arm out before coming back.
Good thing we move in a week and a half and the new house has no doggie door! Ha
I haven't done a whole lot of child-proofing here. Shame on me, because I haven't even moved the cleaning supplies from the bottom cabinet in the kitchen! But, I was going to get to it and now we're moving...
I am very excited that I had the brilliant idea (and my husband is nice enough to go along with me) on turning the dining room into a play room/sewing room. It has two smaller doorways so I can get gates to block them off and one doorway is straight into the kitchen by the stove/oven, so I'm hoping that I can cook and Sam will be content cause she can still see me. I am SUPER excited to have a room that is totally safe for her so I can do stuff without always running back to see what she got into. Yeah, I'm not sure how my sewing stuff will work in that room too, but since that's the other thing (besides baking) that I like to spend a lot of time doing, I figured it needed to go in there as well. Probably all in high drawers/shelves with the cords up when not in use. Should be ok (at least for now!)
And to top it off, I'm hightailing it out of town tomorrow, woo hoo! I had a trip planned when we got our moving date and I figured, go anyway - get away from the stress of it. So, I get to take 4 days to relax before coming back and moving it all in a week. Definitely excited to see Alice Marie and spend some time not worrying about things and hopefully getting help with my little angel that likes to wake up at 5am. :-D Please read the sarcasm into that angel part ;-)