The Sorensons: 9 Months

My baby girls are actually 9 months old. I cannot believe it! It hit me this morning that they will be a year old in only 3 months...I remember how fast the first 3 months of their lives went, and I am a little sad thinking about how fast the next 3 months are going to go.

The girls just get more and more fun every day. There are days that are so hard! They kind of feed off of each other...it's usually Lyla who's upset, and then Alya just feeds off of her...but most of the time they are really fun.

They still love to be outside! They would rather eat finger foods than be spoon fed, and when they are eating from a spoon they are always trying to take it from me and trying to feed themselves. Mostly Lyla, but sometimes Alya tries it too. They have tried toast with jelly on it, powdered donuts, Oreos, chicken, turkey, and Cheerios. They LOVE Cheerios.

They also tried strawberries and really liked them. But they made some pretty funny sour faces!

The other night, Lyla was really upset while I was feeding her dinner and the only thing I could think to do in order to calm her down was to face her chair toward the window and finish feeding her dinner...then she got to eat her Cheerios and all was well!

They are busy little bodies. They love to crawl...but would rather be holding someone's hands and walking. They have changed their schedule; they are now taking two naps a day instead of three, and I now only have to nurse them three times a day instead of four and then they take their bottle for bed! They love to eat real food. They are such good eaters - both when they are nursing and eating real food.

They are really good at pulling themselves up onto things. They are still really cautious, but they are getting more daring. They like to stand up in the tub. They have recently started standing with one hand balancing them, and occasionally Alya has been seen balancing for a second on her own. It's pretty exciting!

Yes, that is a picture of my girls climbing the stairs. They are going to be the death of me, I just know it. They are only 9 months old!!!! (Not even 9 months when this picture was taken.) This picture was taken at my mom's house, and it's a flight of three stairs. When we got home, I wanted to show Matthew their new trick, but Lyla pretty much wants nothing to do with it. I think our flight of 7 stairs scares her a little bit. But Alya has no issues with the stairs - she's pretty good at getting up them. They are both REALLY good at walking up them, though, if someone is holding their hands. The don't even use their knees too much when they are walking up the stairs. It's pretty crazy to me! Maybe it's normal for a 9 month old baby?

They are starting to interact with each other. Sometimes they are actually pretty mean to each other. They fight over toys and pull each other's hair, but sometimes they sit at opposite ends of the hall and squawk back and forth to each other. If Lyla gets ahead of Alya while they are crawling she will stop every few feet and turn around to look at Alya and yell something to her.

We were able to get up to Idaho a couple times and got to see the girls' buddy! It's always fun to get these three together and see how much they've all changed!

Lyla is definitely a wild child. Matthew and I have joked that she might be bipolar! Haha! She is either really happy and playful and talkative, or she is extremely upset or throwing tantrums. Yes, my nine month old throws tantrums. Matthew came home from work one night for just a minute, and then he left again and she SCREAMED for about 30 minutes...just because her dad left. She is a daddy's girl.

She is a social butterfly. She loves to go new places and will stay out as late as we will let her.

She is really good at getting herself into a sitting position. She loves to hang upside down...it's really funny. When I hang her upside down she will almost always give me a kiss and it's one of the easiest times for me to get her to laugh.

She has moved on from telling me "no" (by shaking her head) to saying "dadadada" and I'm pretty sure sometimes she says "dad." I'm telling you, this one is a daddy's girl. Like I said, she yelled at me for about a half hour the night that Matthew left her home with me. She and Matthew got to spend some time with just the two of them this month. They went on a little daddy/daughter date to Wal-Mart. It was kind of fun to have some true one-on-one time with Alya!

Lyla has taught herself to drink from a straw! They got some straw sippy cups and she loves it. She just doesn't want to stop, so she never drank anything out of the cups that she had to tip because it would have meant that she had to lay down. She does so good with her straw sippy cup, and she can now drink from my water cup...or even a tiny restaurant straw. It's pretty impressive to me!

I may have a little photographer on my hands. She smiles every time she sees my camera and tries her dangdest to get her hands on it. She also LOVES the piano. If we get anywhere near it while I am holding her she starts kicking her legs and flailing her arms. She likes to sit on the bench by herself and plunk away at the keys. I predict that I have some pretty musical little girls!

This is what the majority of our days look like!

She thinks she is pretty funny...while Grandma Sorenson was visiting, Lyla coughed a little, and Grandma laughed. She picked right up on it, and continued to do a little fake cough every now and then to get a reaction out of Grandma. It was the funniest thing! Another example: usually Lyla finishes nursing before Alya does. She used to lay on the pillow (now she rolls herself off of the pillow and crawls all over my bed. I have to drag her by the foot back toward me so she doesn't go off the edge) and we would play a game where I would stare straight ahead and all of a sudden jerk my face toward her and make a little noise. She loved it. Well, today when we got home from the store I went to take her out of the truck and she would NOT look at me. I sang her name and for about 10 seconds she just stared straight ahead, then all of a sudden she jerked her face toward me and got a big ol' grin on her face! It was so stinking cute!

Alya is my people watcher. She LOVES when we get out and go for walks or go to the store, and I think it's because there is so much to see. Lyla just gets bored at home. Alya just wants to see everything. People have even commented on how she is such an observer. It's pretty rare for Alya to get upset because she's actually upset. Usually when she gets fussy and ornery, it's because Lyla is being fussy and ornery.

She has become quite a cuddly baby...but usually she'll only cuddle with me. There have been rare occasions when she will cuddle with someone else. Matthew and I alternate which baby we bottle feed at night, and on the nights that Matthew feeds Alya, almost as soon as she is done eating she will start to try to escape his arms to come cuddle with me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love how much she loves me. I love that she is a mama's girl! She thinks almost everything I do is funny - it's pretty easy for me to make her laugh - or at least smile.

She does not like to sit in the tub...or sit at all for that matter. I would say 95% of the time you try to sit her down she stiffens up and refuses to bend at the waist. She would MUCH rather be holding your hands and walking than doing pretty much anything else. In the tub, though, she gets pretty daring. She is getting comfortable enough to stand and lean her belly on the side of the tub and let go with both hands so she can play with whatever tub toy she has. It's pretty cute, but it makes me so nervous! She pulled herself up on the outside of the tub the other night and Matthew caught her actually standing for a second. I don't understand why she is only that gutsy near the bath tub. I wish she would try it around something less likely to break her chin open.

I have only actually seen her get herself from crawling into a sitting position twice. Usually she props herself up on one arm and does her little sexy pose while she plays with her toys...either that or she kneels. I love myself a kneeling baby! It is probably the cutest thing I have ever seen! I bought them this little turtle that sings and lights up and Alya LOVES it. She even started dancing to it, and now whenever I turn on music, she dances. It's so cute...she just kind of bounces her torso and head up and down and bobs around with the music. It is so adorable!

She is so studious and meticulous sometimes. Where Lyla will usually use her whole fist to pick up a Cheerio, Alya will focus on it and study it and really aim her thumb and finger at it to pick up a Cheerio. She is really good with her pincer reflex. Lyla is getting better, but Alya is pretty patient. You can usually see her wheels turning as she watches things and people.

She tried her first taste of dog food this month. I have been waiting for the day that they find Mo's food and water dishes. She finally did. My studious little Alya watched where I went one morning and decided to see what was around the corner that she had never explored herself. She crawled in there while Mo was eating and I was fixing their breakfast. When I realized she wasn't playing with her toys I knew exactly where she was. By the time I found her she had a piece of his food in her mouth. Of course I had to photograph it, but don't worry - I didn't let her eat any more. (Nor did I let her actually eat the piece that she did manage to get into her mouth.) It's a good thing Mo is so patient and not too territorial!

Their hair is getting long enough that I have been able to clip some bows in it and not need a headband. That is really fun for me! However, they are also noticing each other's hair bows and trying to rip them out of each other's hair. Alya actually pulled out a small handfull of Lyla's hair one day.

They are going to be moving into their own bedroom here in the next couple of days! I am so excited to have my bedroom back! And I LOVE how their room is shaping up! The above picture is just a sneak peek of their room! We are in the process of upgrading a couple of things for them and getting their new furniture situated, so once all is said and done, I will definitely be posting more about their room. It is such a happy room though, and I can already tell how much they love it!

I just can't believe how fast these 9 months have gone by and how much they have changed and learned in such a short period of time. I thought I had an idea of how much a mom loves her kids before I actually had my own, but now that I have them I realize that I had NO IDEA of the love a mother has for her children. These two seriously make my heart happy. I feel SO blessed to be their mom. I remember my life before them, and while it was so much easier, I can't even imagine going back to that life. I feel so lucky to have TWO little babies! I get to watch them interact with each other and learn together and be independent from each other. It is so amazing to me and I feel so lucky to have them both at the same time. Some days it's REALLY hard, but most of the time it is the best. They are the best!

And because I know you all love pictures of these two crazies, here are a few more from the past month!