Zadie is nine months old!

She's clapping! She pulls to stand on everything! She plays "The Sharing Game" with Dadsie (like so: she is holding a toy, he cups his hands in front of her and says "can I have a turn?" and she puts it in his hands and he exclaims "Thank you!" and she grins madly, then takes it back. Rinse and repeat.) We have given Nolan more and more leeway to "play" with Zadie. It's really only fair since she is enthralled with whatever he is holding and now that she's mobile, well, it's a constant shell game. ("Nolan is playing with that, Zadie; how about this toy?")

We had a furry, four-legged houseguest for about two weeks, and though it seems unkind to deprive her of something she would love, we are not getting a cat. She did pitch a little fit of joy (once, almost off the bed!) at every Sneaky-Pie sighting and that Tiger-with-White furball was pretty patient with her grasping hands. When the cat would high-tail it out of there, Zadie would crane her neck as far as it would reach to watch her go.

I got the flu and called into the advice nurse for myself, but who then heard Zadie coughing in the background and said "Get that baby to the doctor!" We went (why? I know she was fine, but the guilt, people...the GUILT!!) to find that the ear tugging was definitely due to the teething. Remember when I posted : Zadie has teeth! Well, now she's got a mouthful and more pushing through. Eight - 8!! - are through and more just keep coming. Hopefully we will get all the interrupted sleep out of the way, a nice mouthful of chompers, and then blissfully sleep through the night. (Hey, it could happen.)

In a way, Zadie has come full circle: nine months in, nine months out. Here's to what was, what's now, and what's next!

Routines were made to be disrupted.

Just a quick story today:

Last night, Dadsie was out with friends (for the first time since, ummm, Zadie was born! For those keeping track, that's about 8.5 months or so. I'm glad they recognized him!) Getting both kiddos to sleep is somewhat like herding cats and NASA-like timing all rolled into one. To make things worse, both kids and I have coughs that strike juuuuust when someone is on the verge of dream-ville. Anyhoo, I lay down on the floor in Nolan's room to nurse Zadie to sleep while Nolan does his thrashing on the bed that drives out all his last bits of energy. Quiet music is playing; lights are out with just enough leftover daylight so we can see general shapes. Zadie is giving me those long blinks that turn into closed sleepy eyes. For reasons that are unimportant, I switch her to my other side to complete the zonking out process. Oops. She gets one look at Nolan on his bed and sits straight up and laughs. He sees her and *he* laughs. She crawls to him laughing and he crawls to her laughing. I'm laughing (though not crawling), he's laughing and she's laughing and though the bedtime routine is pretty strict, how can I put the kibosh on these two crawling around in the dark, laughing with each other - delighted to be in the same room?!? This goes on for about 20 minutes until it starts to wind down and the calming down period begins all over again. Sure, I have a fever and a wracking cough and want nothing more than sleep. But watching those two in the moonlight more than makes up for it.

ps These pictures are un-related to the story, but what's a post without some pix?

Zadie is eight months old!

Where to start? So much is going on in Zadie's little world! She is kind of crawling around these days. The poor thing, though, practices all day and when she wakes up in the morning, it's like she's forgotten how to do it so she starts all over. And by the end of the day, she's kind of motoring around. And then it's nighttime and it all begins again...One good thing she has mastered is pushing herself into a sitting position from any other - a relief to us all. She also is quite skilled at pulling herself to standing - on us, on a bookshelf, on the mattress (though that brings her to half-standing as it's on the floor.) We are smack in the middle of the "separation anxiety" stage and when I leave the room, her little face crumples and she beings to cry. Aw, how sweet, you say. A testimony to her love for me, you say. Yes. And. It can make for an emotional day sometimes because you know what? Now and again, I need to leave the room. (But, it's true, if I scoop her up and bring her with me, all is well. And seriously, you should see my left bicep!)

Games that involve anticipation are the best. Give her a raspberry on her neck and she giggles. Lean in to do it again, she is already giggling and bringing her head to her shoulder to protect that ticklish spot. Repeat as many times as you want to hear that laugh and see that big smile which activates both dimples. Zadie loves hearing Dadsie sing the "She Had To Be Nude" song - especially while she's on the changing table (and, yes, that's to the tune of "It Had To Be You.") Loves. It. Even Nolan requests it now and then (it *is* a catchy tune.)

She's a helper when it's time to get dressed. She knows when that onesie/shirt comes over her head, she needs to push one arm through a hole, then the other. This is remarkably helpful unless I haven't gotten the sleeve all lined up and she pushes against the material in the front or her arm shoots out then neck and we have to start over. She makes no bones about voicing her displeasure. Who can blame her? There's a lot to play with out there in the world and who wants to waste time getting dressed?

Now that she's mobile, we face the clash of who's playing with what, when. It's amazing to me that in the disarray that is Nolan's floor of toys, when Zadie picks one up, mouths it, then drops it in favor of something else, that upon entering the room he can remember exactly where he left his train/stuffie/car and know it has been moved. I know he has a good memory, but it's astonishing. Sometimes I am a mother, sometimes a referee. Maybe I need a whistle?

She really plays in the tubby now. I still put her in an inflatable one inside the bathtub, but the other night after a messy diaper change (say no more!) I popped her in the big tub with Nolan. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I think they both liked it. Ever the helper, Nolan really wanted to help wash out the soap, but you and I both know that's just a job for a grownup...

At the playground, she swings or sits in the sand and the grass, using those curious fingers to feel the texture of both. So far, she hasn't eaten any sand, but that may be because she hasn't eaten anything! Bananas? Ick. Avocado? Not so much. Sweet potato? As if. No biggie...she'll eat when she's ready. She's clearly thriving (see: chubby cheeks.)

Zadie doesn't really "sit still" for pictures so I've included a few "outtakes" from the photo shoot last weekend. (And, no, she doesn't appreciate the concept of gravity; and, yes, I put the camera down and caught her before she crawled right off the chair!) And while I'm at it, here's one of her and big brother splashing away in the tub!