long overdue updates...

Mobility:
When I last wrote, in early April, Sarah was just starting to crawl. Now, Sarah is a very efficient crawler. Though she rarely crawls on her knees; she does a modified spider-type crawl, on hands and feet. Unless she’s tired, then she drags her left knee, which looks rather odd, like it’s a bum leg. Sarah very much enjoys standing and routinely bounces while standing, then squats. She has been doing this for a while and then, just last week, she took her first steps! Yes, that’s right. When most babies are just learning to crawl, my baby is starting to walk!!! I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. Either way, she’s full steam ahead! She really enjoys practicing, although I believe it will take her a while to actually walk, more than just a couple of steps. So far, the most steps she taken is 5 at one time. Needless to say, I am a very busy Momma these days. I must be vigilant all the time, which really wears me out. I’m ready to pass out by 9:30 every evening. Kyle and I continue to baby-proof the house. A big open basement would be really nice right now…
Foods:
We have introduced Sarah to foods. We are trying one new food a week. First, we started with rice cereal, and then moved to bananas, then peas and most recently sweet potatoes. So far, she really likes the sweet things. This isn’t surprising, since the only thing she’s known until now [breastmilk] is very sweet. Still no teeth! Although, the bottom two front teeth are visible through her gums.
Verbal:
It seems like Sarah is “on par” in the verbal skills department. She very much enjoys making raspberry noises with her lips and tongue. Many times, if you do it, she will answer you. It’s a lot of fun! She also has been experiments with many different kinds o sounds, squeals mostly at different pitches (mostly ear piercing ones).
For 2 weeks in May, Sarah made this awful, harsh throaty yell. Well, she was actually abusing her vocal chords, because she was hoarse for a week. Which worried me enough to go to the doctor, who thought I was nuts when I explained that I thought Sarah has “vocal abuse.” Well it cleared up a couple days later, coincidentally when Sarah stopped making that awful sound… so there was no need for medication.
Sarah will say “dah” “gah” “yah” and “bah.” She strings them together in many different orders. She does not call objects or people anything yet though. I don’t think she associates words with things yet either.
Sleep:
Once Sarah started crawling and standing, her sleep patterns changed greatly. Unfortunately, she started resisting going down. And started to wake up 1 and 2 times a night, which was very unusual. Kyle and I had to learn how to do everything all over. Now, there is a bit of crying when we put her down for a nap or at bedtime but, it rarely lasts longer than 2-5 minutes. We are back to sleep through the night, with the occasional hick-up.
Other:
In addition to practicing all of her new skills, Sarah really enjoys bathtime. She also has enjoyed swim classes, playing with Odie, walks, swinging and mouthing/chewing on anything she can get her hands on! When I went through the pictures from April to now, I realized just how much more hair Sarah has now. It has really started to fill in. To me, it also seems to be turning a tad lighter.

Sarah’s 9 month well baby check-up is on June 25th. So, I’ll have her physical stats then. I estimate, by my home scale, her current weight to be about 17 pounds.

I'll post some movies very soon of all the new things Sarah is doing!