Nine Months!

I didn't think to take her nine-month picture until she was already getting her bath tonight, but we haven't had a bath picture in awhile, so here she is! (We're having professional pics made again this month too, but can't post them online).
She had her nine month check-up today, and of course is doing so well. 17lbs 13oz, in the 50th percentile on weight; 28 and 1/4 inches, in the 75th percentile on height. The doctor said we should get ready - she has four top teeth that will break surface in the next few days. (That explains all the drool)!
She is one active and verbal nine month old gal. She is crawling like a little champ - quick as can be - and pulling up on everything. She can cruise around stationary objects (hold on and walk around them) and has figured out how to slide just about anything across the hardwood floors as
a sort of baby walker. She already shows a real aptitude for climbing - an activity we have to protest against mightily in the bathtub. She is really great at getting up and down from whatever she's holding onto, and even practices this skill repeatedly by purposefully dropping toys on the floor from a standing position, lowering herself down to pick them up, standing back up and repeating. She seems to relish the times when she is able to pick up the toy without going into a full sit.
Her verbal skills are amazing by any standard (how is that for a biased parent statement???). She has talkative times of the day, though she is generally fairly quiet. When she feels like talking, she now says "Daddy" (not Dada), "kitty cat" (which really is well enunciated and recognizable), "pooh" (which for some reason she always seems to whisper), "ball" (no "l" sound at the end of that word, but it is said when she's holding a ball or throwing one), "hey," and "yay!" (said while clapping her hands). We just started working on signs (Mommy was waiting until she could clap which is a new skill for her), and she will sometimes sign "more," though this is definitely work in progress.
She finally thinks it's funny most of the time when she's tickled (mostly just on her feet, but I'm not sure she's ticklish anywhere else). She's on a great schedule (which may not seem a big deal to her, but is so nice for Mom and Dad), with naps at 9 and 1 and sleep from 7 to 7. She's eating three meals a day and seems to like only those things she can feed herself, plus yogurt. This is actually not a bad arrangement - steamed veggies cut into little bites, or fresh fruit (she loves strawberries) and cheese - and she's able to take care of herself with minor supervision. Mommy's still nursing her and is really proud to have managed to keep that up for nine months (with plans to make it for the first full year).
She's developed a love for her stuffed animals - she has a crew of friends in her crib and whenever we go out, Mommy lets her pick one to take. She actually chooses different ones many times. Brown Bear is still her special favorite sleep buddy, but she has a dolly named Sally, Pooh bear, a Webkinz kitty cat (a reward for her first word), the sock monkey and sock frog - Larry and Rico, and of course Brobee. If we're going out, it's usually a toss up between Brobee and Sally, but today at the doctor she took Larry. It's really funny to watch her choose. I think she understands what she's doing, because she'll talk to each of them and pick them up and move them around and finally grab just one (two if she's being greedy) and then try to get me to pick her up.
Her real fondness is for one particular blanket. Mom's know you can't force them to take the one you want - she picked a plain waffle weave blanket with an AU on it. Luckily, I've discovered that this is a texture thing and I have two back-up waffle weave blankets for her when I need to wash the main one.
Mommy has started taking her for a daily walk in the neighborhood and has even rigged the stroller so that Colson and Soozie are each attached to one side and the other. It has been going greater than great. The dogs are perfect, and Claire LOVES having a pack to walk beside her. Mommy is also thrilled to be walking every day and has even started a little bit of jogging in the walk - hoping to build this into something. (When I was pregnant, I was told that weight is 9 months up, 9 months down as far as recovering from pregnancy goes. Though I was not where I wanted to be weight-wise when I got pregnant with Claire, I gained less than 20lbs in the pregnancy and have managed to lose all of that weight plus another 30lbs with little work. I'm hoping with the walking to take off another 10 and be in a place that I haven't weighed since - wow - before I started high school)!
Okay, I think that's enough of an update for now. Other than all of this, our beautiful nine-month-old daughter is just busy being the delight of our lives here at the Peel home.