She's been out

as long as she was in.

That's just crazy to me.

Technically, I think there's a few more days until she's actually 40+ weeks old, but it's close enough.

I don't know what has seemed quicker - the pregnancy or her nine short months here with us. I didn't really enjoy being pregnant, so I am going to say the latter. I mean, I did enjoy being pregnant, but there were lots of things about it that I could have most certainly done without. The end product is quite amazing though. It's also amazing to see how far she has come in nine months. I look back and am in complete awe at how much she has learned in such a short period of time.

Madeline's nine month pediatrician appointment was Tuesday and I really thought she would have been more than 20 pounds. Nope. She's knocking on the door weighing in at 19 lbs and 1.5 oz, which is right at the 50th percentile. That's a long way from the "off the charts" baby at two weeks. Yup. She didn't even register on the one month charts at two weeks old and now she's middle of the road. She's still topping the charts in length though, 28 1/4 inches, and is apparently long for her age (90th percentile). No wonder her clothes fit her the way they do.

Things she's been up to lately:

- Waving bye-bye. It's hilarious to watch because she gets SOOOO excited to wave.
- Lots of babbling, but minor word recognition. I think she may understand mama and dada. More than mama and dada, she totally gets cat. She says, "tat" all the time and even more when she sees a cat. She will also mimic me when I repeat the above words. And oh, the conversations she has with herself!
- Speaking of cats. She is getting better with them and Hutch is the most patient creature. She will literally crawl over the top of him and hit his face and he just tolerates it all. He's a good kitty.
- She absolutely loves going outside. I can barely hold on to her as I unlock the door or grab my keys because she gets so excited. She knows the front door is the passageway to outside and she knows when I grab my keys, we're going outside. She shrieks when she sees a dog and waves to the cars driving by.
- Playing chase and hide 'n' seek with me. The giggles she makes when she finds me and when I chase her are to die for.

- Climbing the stairs. Sheesh. She has gotten half way up the first part of the stairs when neither of us are looking on more than one occasion. We remedied the situation by installing a permanent gate separating our foyer from the living room. It's great because I can let her crawl all around the downstairs and know that she's in a safe place. The places I don't really want her going, I can see from the kitchen so I can monitor her.
- Chewing everything in sight, especially wood and metal. Go figure. Nothing is safe!
- Growing hair! I'm so excited!
I'm totally not a big bow fan. Actually, I really don't like big bows - at all. Bows/flowers that that take up half a baby's head make me giggle. They are just not my thing. I have also never put a head band around her little head. Again, not my thing. If, one day when she can decide how to dress herself, she wants to wear big bows and hair accoutrement, I will let her. I would never put my foot down that firmly over a hair bow if Madeline wants to adorn her head with them. But, until that time comes, she will get dainty little bows. I actually bought gobs of crochet flowers off Etsy months ago and now it's time to turn those suckers into clips! There's a story behind the flowers and I ended up with way more (and paying way more) than I bargained for due to a USPS snafu. They are super cute and I know that half of the flowers will probably get left behind somewhere, so it's all good! (If you are a big bow fan, please don't take offense to my big-bow-dislike! And Katie, remember the hair ribbon conversations we had freshman year in college??? I remember you found a stray ribbon in the dirt and you got sad. I laughed!)

I realize this post is all over the place :-) Congrats if you made it to the end.