Dear Samantha,
It's hard to believe you are 9 months old already. Just 3 more short months and you will have been with us for a year already. It amazes me how much you are learning in such a short amount of time. You are getting bigger, smarter, faster, and cuter, and Daddy and I love your little personality so much. Here are some of your accomplishments in the past month.
You clapped on for the first time on January 18, when you were just about 8 1/2 months. You don't do it often, but you do it occasionally. You like to hold an object in each hand and bang them together. You love to shake, shake, shake anything that rattles.
All you want to do is feed yourself. You don't like eating from a spoon most of the time, so we give you lots of finger food. You love to eat things off of Mommy and Daddy's plates, and you usually like pretty much anything we let you have.
You get on your hands and knees and rock, and you do Mountain Climbers. You get very frustrated if you can't crawl or walk. All you want to do is practice walking now - no toys, no playing with other kids - you just want us to help you walk around and around and around... You have figured out how to inch yourself along by putting both hands forward and dragging yourself forward. You don't seem to care too much about trying to crawl the normal way - you'd rather just get up on your feet. You seem satisfied that you can move yourself about in the meantime, until you get the walking thing figured out.
You balanced yourself on the mirror and took a step. You can also pull yourself up on the fireplace and walk along it. When Mommy and Daddy hold your hands and help you walk, you try to do it one-handed now, and you usually can take several steps that way before you need to rest.
You imitate a lot of the words we say now. You say several things that are almost clear words. You used to say "Mamama" when you wanted me (or milk) but you don't say it much anymore. If you are with Daddy and need me (or milk) you will still say "Mama." Now your favorite thing to say is Dada. You LOVE Daddy. Your favorite time of the day is when Daddy comes home, and you love to greet him by saying "Dada" or "Dad" over and over again. When you are eating you say "Num num". I think your first "real" word is "Hi". You also say "dah" for dog (you LOVE dogs!) You try to say Dexter and Chloe - you say "Deh-teh" for Dexter, and for Chloe and cat you started out by making a throaty spitty sound that almost sounds like the hard C sound, but just the other day you actually started saying "Ca" for cat. Your favorite syllable is "dah" or "da". You point at things and say "dah" all the time. The cutest thing is when you say "Hi Dada" or "Hi dah (dog)". Mommy yells at Dexter to get down from the counter quite often, so you often say "Deh-teh" in a forceful tone, it's pretty funny. :)
You are starting to show that you are impatient. You sometimes throw temper tantrums, especially if you are done eating or if you are having a hard time getting mobile. When we are feeding you something you like, if we aren't getting the spoon in your mouth fast enough, you have these little mini-rage fits. You get red and growl and kind of shake. It would be cute, if we didn't know better than to encourage you! Last night you discovered how to scream. You opened up your eyes real big and got a goofy look on your face and screamed a cute little funny scream. (Not an angry tantrum scream, just a funny, goofy sound.) We all thought it was pretty hilarious.
It is so neat to see how much of what we say you are comprehending now. The other day Daddy was watching you so I could get some work done, and he brought you to me after a few hours so I could put you down for a nap. You did NOT want to come to me, and kept clinging to Daddy. I told you that I was going to give you milk, and you thought about it for a second and suddenly changed your mind and happily came to me. When you take a bath, I tell you to splash, and you will start splashing. You know so many words that I don't even realize you know. Your little brain is just full of information!
Daddy and I love you so very much. You are the highlight of our days. It makes me so happy to see how much joy your new skills bring you. I love you with all my heart!
Love,
Mommy
