Lera is 9 Months Old!

I forgot to post Lera's 8 month picture last month, so here it is:


And this was taken on Sunday, at 9 months old:


In one short month, between the time these two pictures were taken, little Lera has accomplished a lot.


She started crawling,


climbing,


pulling up,


cruising along things,


turning on the water,


and sitting down easily from standing.


She got two teeth,


eats table food,


and pretty much thinks she's a big kid.

I did a little photo shoot to document her being 9 months old.

I can't believe ONE is right around the corner.

Lera has such a good sense of humor and I love her laugh. Chess makes her laugh a lot and she's pretty ticklish.

She's been "talking" a lot lately. Jared and I think we hear her repeating words we say all the time, and I heard her babbling "ma ma ma ma" the other day. Maybe we will have her first word soon?

She is starting to get picky about who she will smile at. When strangers talk to her in the grocery store, she gives them a pretty serious scowl lately.

This child will NOT lay still for a diaper change or clothing change of any sort. She is super-fast and squirmy. No distraction will keep her still very long, and she's so strong. She does this alligator roll (you know, when alligators are in water, and bite down on their pray, then they roll and roll, and there's no escape), anyway, she does this and crawls away before we can get a clean diaper on her bum.

Our sweet little girl is always on the move. You should see her in the bath tub. I can't keep her sitting on her bum for anything. She crawls circles around Chess! I have to dump water right on her head because she won't lean back for me to rinse her hair - she does the alligator roll (see above).

I'm so glad Lera is in my life. She snuggles up to me when she's tired and plays with my fingers when I'm feeding her. She gives us the biggest smiles and keeps us on our toes. Her breath is heavenly, and I kiss her as much as I can. I love my baby girl.