Mary had her nine-month checkup at the pediatrician today. She was very pleased to be able to walk around the office in her diaper for a while and smiled at everyone, even the nurse who gave her a shot (not while she was getting the shot, but about 10 seconds later, which is pretty good). Mary is 29 inches tall (the 95th percentile or so) and 18.2 pounds (around the 45th percentile). The doctor said it's normal for babies to slim down around this age, so no worries, and it explains why all her 12-month size pants are about the right length but fall off when she walks. She's also working on two or three teeth, which is making her want to chew on her fingers a lot, but is not motivating her to chew on any new foods. I guess plenty of people live on cheerios and yogurt.
Here are some videos of what Mary is up to.
I think Mary stands up about 12 hours a day. Here she is showing off how she can stand up without holding on.
Mary is picking up lots of new sounds. You'll notice it is quiet in the background - she only manages to be heard when Catherine is out of the house!
Mary is very pleased with her new-found ability to make kissing noises.
PS - Did anyone notice that I try to keep some of your favorite videos in the quick links list to the right so you don't have to sift through back posts to find them? I'm happy to take requests if there is something you want over there...
It was uncharacteristically warm here today (in the mid seventies) so after churches we and some friends went to a nearby "farm" with the kids. Bray Farm has two Scottish Highland cows, two miniature donkeys, some sheep, some goats, some chickens, and some blueberry bushes. And some tractors. The kids love it! Catherine's favorite part was definitely the chicken coop, because it is ok to pick grass and feed it to the chickens through the fence. This was a big hit, as were the large grassy fields where she and Morgan could run until they were both quite red in the face.
Here is a rather boring video of feeding the chickens:
Farmer Catherine
Mary enjoying the "cock-a-doodle-doo"s
Our super-cutie friend Tristan (we might have informally betrothed Mary to him at this point...)
I forgot about this video since it was on my camera and I've only loaded things from Grandma's camera for the past week. After the dance party, Catherine challenged Uncle Tommy to a stroller/shopping cart race. Just try running while bent over like this sometime and you will be surprised at how tiring it is. (Sorry it's so dark again - I have to figure out how to fix that on my camera.)
Mary is getting almost that fast in her walker, and now when she runs in it she almost always runs with her hands up in the air - I find this hilarious every time I see it.
And, as promised, a video of Catherine doing the Hokey Pokey:
Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Tommy and Aunt Jena have all returned to their homes and lives sans crazy Catherine and merry Mary. Catherine does very well with the good-byes, yelling Bye-Bye and blowing kisses and giving very energetic waves, but it's always when she wakes up the next morning that the farewell sinks in. Thursday morning she woke up and told me she was going to be quiet because Grandma was still sleeping, and of course I reminded her how we had said goodbye to everyone the day before and they had taken their big planes back home so they weren't sleeping in the basement anymore, and she started crying "But I need to see people!" It makes sense that she misses them already. Grandpa was always ready with early morning story hours, wagon rides, and outings with the tricycle. Grandma braved several trips to the park, let Catherine help her with her makeup, and lead at least one expedition to the mall. And Aunt Jena and Uncle Tommy not only tasted ALL of the meals Catherine cooked for them (repeatedly), but they were willing participants in Catherine's dance parties, and that can be hard to come by (most people have a limit on the number of times they can endure the hokie-pokie).
(Sorry, videos of the hokie-pokie were vetoed.)
Catherine apparently has fond memories of the 5K and marathon in Boston as well. For the last two mornings when we have been out on our walks, every time Catherine hears a motorcycle she tells me "Here come the runners..." because the motorcycle policemen always preceded the runners in the marathon (and we thought she was just playing in the dirt the whole time).
Luckily the beautiful weather is distracting all of us. In addition to our morning walks (which are possible again since it is actually light when we wake up and usually above 40) we took an afternoon trip to the park with Robert yesterday and then did some digging in the garden when we got home. Maybe I'll actually get my plants in the garden before Memorial Day this year! And the weekend is supposed to be even warmer - our first trip to the beach might be in our near future...
Meanwhile Mary has turned nine months. It is slightly terrifying to think that when Catherine was nine months I was pregnant with Mary. (Don't get your hopes up - that was simply an observation and not a preface to any big announcements.) Mary still has walking on the top of her "to-do" list. She routinely pulls herself up to standing with the table, chairs, doll house, and book shelves, and has even tried to attempt it using Catherine. She also will let go of things and stand on her own for a few seconds at a time. The problem with all of this is that she is absolutely terrible at falling down. Whether she falls sideways, backwards, forwards, or anywhere in between, it looks like a tree being felled. She does not bend at all, but just tips over like a log and lands on her head. So we still have to hover around behind her when she decides it is time to stand up, which is always.
Here are some remaining photos of last week (courtesy of Grandma, of course).
I was going to let Grandpa have this one for his blog, but they are just too cute.
Grandma's Girls:
(Mary with her tongue sticking out, like usual): Catherine modeling her Easter hat and purse:
