Nine Months Old

• I was in Texas last week for a conference. While I had a wonderful time, it was nice to get home to Mike and Mia. Mike picked me up at the airport. Brent and Carol had Mia, and I nearly ran into their house when we arrived to get her. I missed seeing her pretty little smile and feeling her arms wrapped around my neck. 
  
• Last Thursday night I went to a meeting at St. Aloysius parish. Mike and I decided to go ahead and join the church and will have Mia baptized Catholic. We aren't certain that's the path we will eventually take with her religious upbringing or education, but we want her to have the option just in case. The next baptismal meeting is in January, so we will probably have her baptized sometime shortly after the first of the year.
• I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Mia over the weekend. It was wonderful!!! I've blocked off the kitchen and living room so she's free to crawl around with minimal supervision. I got on the floor with her and we played for hours. We celebrate all her accomplishments by clapping and saying "yay", so Mia now claps and says "aaaaayyy" at just about everything!
• She now waves anytime we say "hi" and she often waves when people come in and out of the room. While I was feeding her lunch, she was watching the dogs out on the deck. Each time Grace came up to the door Mia waved to her. Of course Mia waves as she sees us wave, with the fingers pointing at her face. So she really waves to herself!
• Mia pulled up a lot more over the weekend. She's most confident when she pulls up on me so several times she pulled up on my pants legs, or my arms if I was on the floor. 
• Cara was in town over the weekend so Mia and I went to visit her at Mom's. Dad and Sue stopped by to drop her off and Mia lit up when she saw her. Mia absolutely loves Cara and is beside herself with happiness when she's around her cousin. Mom and Bruce had a "baby party" and the girls got lots of attention from their great aunts, great grandma and Granny's friends. 
• I had two moments this week where my heart lumped in my throat. The first happened when we were at Mom's. Mia is such a social little baby and she has many people who love her and give her attention. She's happy with just about anyone and isn't very discriminating with her affection. But at Mom's, in a room full of people, when she started getting sleepy and was ready to settle down, she crawled over to me and buried her face in my legs. For the first time I truly realized I'm someone special to her. I'm who she goes to for comfort. In the midst of all those people, I experienced a life-changing moment, where I truly felt like Mia's Mommy. It was such an amazing affirmation. I know that sounds weird, since I've been her mommy for nine months now. But that look on her face as she sought me out, needing the one person who can truly comfort her - well, that's the same need I have for my mom, the one person who can truly comfort me when I need her. I know how deep and true that bond is. It was such an incredible moment to realize I am able to provide that love and comfort to my own baby, as my mom has always been able to provide to me. 
• Mia is eating like a little piggy these days. We've continued to introduce more and more solids into her diet, but she just can't get enough. The other morning she ate a 12 oz bottle for breakfast! So we're now doing breakfast selections at daycare, her regular bottle, baby food and cereal for lunch, adding a small snack following her afternoon nap, and continuing with a veggie/meat combo and a fruit for dinner. Plus her regular bottles every four hours. We'll see if that satisfies her!
• Ever since the time change, Mia has been waking up an hour early, at 6 instead of 7. We've tried just about every technique I've heard of to get her back to 7, but 6:30 is as far as we've gotten. We've tried putting her to bed earlier at night, to get her into longer sleep rhythms, we've tried feeding her more in the evening, we've tried keeping her up later at night, eliminating her evening catnap, but nothing has worked so far. We're still working on it. Keep your fingers crossed for us. We NEED that extra half hour!!!
• We had Mia's 9 month photos taken tonight. The place was a friggin zoo! When we arrived Mia was asleep in the car. They told Mike they were running a half hour behind so we let her sleep for about 15 minutes and went in. I had only put on minimal makeup this morning because I knew I'd need to freshen it up before the pictures. It has been raining all day so I brought stuff to redo my hair. Well, the moment we walked in the door they were ready for us. With about 10 families crammed in the place, there was no opportunity to even look at a mirror. So off we went to get our pictures made, with a baby who just woke up and a mommy with flat, wet hair and no makeup! They did not turn out great, needless to say. They took very few pictures because Mia really just wouldn't smile. I'll attach the few good ones, and also a couple "out takes"!
• While we were getting Mia's pictures made I had my other heartwarming moment of the week. The photographer kept wanting Mia to stand while holding onto things (chairs, boxes, etc.), but those things kept sliding. Mia doesn't yet have the balance to stabilize herself, so when those things moved she got scared. She kept looking to me with fear in her eyes, so I'd go over to her and hold onto her to try to reassure her. Well, after several tries of the standing poses, we gave up and the photographer put her on a stool. She positioned me on a stool behind her, to hold onto her waist as she sat there. At that point Mia was just worn out. She didn't feel secure on the stool and she finally turned to me and threw her arms around my neck. When the photographer came over to her Mia buried her face in my neck and clung to me. Once again, I was her comfort and once again, I was reminded that I am actually Mia's Mommy. It was wonderful and I just grabbed her and held her to me. I'm so honored to be blessed with this child and I can't believe God deemed me worthy of such an incredible gift. I'm so overwhelmed with love.