2 for 1!

When the end of August was rolling around and I realized I still hadn't posted all about Allison's eighth month of life, I figured I might as well wait and do a two for one special! Hey, don't judge. It's been a busy summer. Month 7 and month 8 have been such a blast and it is hard to believe that our little girl is 9 months old. She had her 9 month check up a few days ago and she is developmentally right on track. Size wise, she is a bit of a peanut. She is up about two pounds from her last appointment weighing in at 17 pounds and 10 ounces (28th percentile), grew an inch to be up to 27 inches (37th percentile), and that head is at a staggering 45.4 cm (86th percentile). Since she started moving this month, the doctors were not too concerned about her weight. She doesn't exactly have it in her genes to be too big anyways.

With a little help of her daily calendar, here are 17 things about our little Allison from the past 2 months as she enters her 9th month!

1.) Travel Bug. This little girl sure has logged the miles on Delta. With 3 flights under her belt, she looks forward to another flight to Ohio this week and her first trip to California at the end of the month. Good thing she still flies for free!

2.) Mighty Mississippi. Allison took a boat ride down the Mississippi in August with Mom, Dad, and our good friends Brent and Brenda. She LOVED it! She even got a certificate to Dairy Queen from the sheriff for wearing her life vest. Since Ali is quite old enough for ice cream, Mom will happily take care of that one :)

3.) Water, water everywhere. Our little water baby not only loves the water to swim and bathe in, but she loves water from a water bottle. As soon as that cap comes off, her mouth opens and she reaches for the bottle. We've tried juice and she just gives us the sour face. What can I say, she's easy to please :)

4.)Chatter Box. Back in early July, Allison started up with "dadadadada" and "babababa". She doesn't associate those with anyone or anything yet, but she has definitely found her voice!

5.) And 5 make a mouthful. At the end of July, Allison's top teeth popped through. Not one, not two, but three. All. At. Once. It was a bit of a rough week, but she looks so cute with that little mouthful. It is so bittersweet. More teeth means eating is easier. Nursing, eh, sometimes it doesn't mix so well with those teeth.

6.) Puffs! Speaking of eating, Allison has mastered the art of the pincer grasp and picking up puffs. I can't say she always make it from the tray to her mouth. But hey, maybe she gets her hand-eye coordination from her mom.

7.) Sister. Sister. Babysitter. We have been super blessed with hitting a babysitter jackpot. A pair of sister (Sam and Syd) come to watch Allison when grandma and grandpa are out of town. They are awesome and Allison just loves them. Having a date night every now and then is amazing. We are so grateful to have found them!

8.)Pull ups. One day while we were packing for a trip and Allison was hanging out in her crib, she decided it would be the perfect time to pull herself up with the first time. We were so proud of her! And then immediately lowered the mattress in the crib. Which is a good thing because...

9.) Up everywhere! She is pulling herself up all day long now! The coffee tables, entertainment centers, and everything else within reach have been cleared off. If she can see it, she is determined to get it.

10.) Determination. Speaking of determination, this girl knows what she wants and how to get it. I find it so amazing that she can have all the toys in the world, and she wants keys, phones, electrical cords, remotes, hair brushes, etc. If she wants it, she'll get it. All of this has been made much easier with the new ability to...

11.) Crawl! It started with a face plant crawl. Which evolved into a full blown, fast paced, climb over anything crawl. It is so fun to see her explore and finally be able to get to where she wants to go. It keeps her busy and us even busier.

12.)Dancing Queen. Turn on some music and this girl starts to shake it. We love to dance around the house and when she hears a beat, she gets it going. It is so funny to watch that little girl try to dance. But then again, her parents dancing is pretty humorous as well.

13.)Stair climber. I think Allison is learning that when she is at her grandparent's, she can get away with just about anything. While at Eric's parents this past week, Allison decided to take up the art of climbing stairs. She hasn't quite mastered it yet, but good enough that gates have been purchased and will be set up soon.

14.) Food. Food. Food. We are still working on getting all sorts of foods in Allison. So far she has had sweet potatoes, avocados, butternut and acorn squash, pears, zucchini, apples, mangos, summer squash, pumpkin, blueberries, bananas (still hates those), peas, carrots, canteloupe, and most recently- chicken! We are on the path to a full blown Thanksgiving dinner.

15.) Now I get it. Allison has figured out some of her toys recently and she is just too proud of herself. She has a jack in the box that she just figured out how to open and a giraffe that makes noise when she puts the ball down the slide. She thinks she is just the most awesome little baby out there for figuring those out. But I suppose she is :)

16.)Bull face. Allison is quickly learning how to get her way. And when she wants something and doesn't get it, she scrunches up her little nose, pouts up those little lips and snorts like a bull. It is hilarious. She looks so stinkin' cute that she usually gets whatever it is she wasn't allowed. How does she have us figured out already??

17.) Book Worm. Allison has seemed to enjoy being read to from the beginning, but just recently she wants her books all to herself. She is so good at taking her books one by one and flipping the pages. It is almost as if she is studying each page and then flips it to the next one. Let's work on keeping up this habit.

Phew! If you made it all the way to here, you have the determination of Allison. Here are a couple videos of her and her most recent accomplishments! Pardon my voice in both :)