I’m not sure what makes me more sad.  To say my baby is 9 months old and to realize that she’s grown more than twice as big as she grew the first 9 months I knew she was in existence….or to say she’s three-fourths of the way to one.

Let’s not even think about her being one.  That’s when manufacturers switch her from “infant” to “toddler” and I have to baby proof everything in the house that’s within three feet of the ground.

Well, I wish I had that long to wait on the proof that she’s ready to get going and exploring in her little world, but the truth is at nine months, she’s more active than I remember either of her sisters being and she’s into anything she can reach, which means I hope I never have the need to call anyone in the next county who’s last name starts with V-Z since our phone book no longer possesses that page.

At nine months, Amelia can crawl fast enough to make it down the hall before her sisters can shut the door of their room and proclaim they’re “doing big girl stuff” necessitating in a lot of wailing from Amelia, whining from Annabelle, and shrieking from Madelynne–“She’s going to eat the crayons!”

At nine months she can put away two jars of baby food, a Swedish meatball, a half-dozen noodles,  a handful of puffs, and a cup of juice in one dinner and still pull up on my jeans with a beseeching look less than an hour later when I’m doing dishes and she realizes I’m holding a bottle.

At nine months, I have introduced her to the simple pleasures of life like ice cream…and the never ending drudgery of such tasks as dishes.  For now she finds the dishwasher an intriguing contraption with the allure of denial.  As in, she’s not supposed to play in it, so of course that’s the only place she wants to be when it’s open.

At nine months, she coos and squeals and squawks and calls “dadadadada” constantly.  But never, ever will she even attempt to utter an “mmmmm” sound.  She waves “bye-bye” and giggles when tickled.  She’s by far the best behaved when we go shopping, but that might be because she waits until I’m distracted to soothe herself by chewing on the cart.  Despite the seat cover.

Right now she’s chewing on my knee and pulling up in another favorite play place.  Under the kitchen table.  She’s sweet and cuddly and demanding of attention.  She thinks Annabelle shows her too much love and Madelynne is the funniest person she knows.

In just nine months she completed enough growth to ready her for a vibrant life…and in nine months she has completed our family beyond my dreams.