9 and 10 AND ELEVEN..it's fast approaching

(this has been written at different times during the last 3-4 months and is very disjointed.)

dear e,

i'm having a really hard time with you getting closer and closer to turning a year old. soon, you'll be walking and talking and turning into a little girl. and i LOVE you being a baby. and bigH and goo love you being a baby.

i skipped your nine month post because honestly? i didn't want to write it. because writing it would own it. is that so dorky? yes. yes, it is.

these last two months have been amazing. if i could have a million nine-month-olds, i'd keep having children. this is my favorite age BY FAR. you have made so many changes.

• i'm still making your baby food. you now love homemade applesauce with just steamed apples and cinnamon. you eat bananas, carrots (whole but mushy and pureed), peas (whole and pureed), sweet potatoes (definitely with cinnamon), squash and zucchini, green beans (though these are not your favorite unless they are whole from KFC), mashed potatoes (especially from boston market -- yes, you appear to be a food snob), pears, peaches, blueberries, strawberries. you also love all of the gerber finger foods like puffs, wagon wheels, apple/strawberry mix and the cheeto-looking things. you love to sit on the floor when bigH and goo are having a snack and have your own snack. you feel (and look) like such a big girl. you still LOVE eating frozen fruit out of your mesh feeder. it makes your mouth so red because it is so cold.
• you love to clap. especially when we say, "yay E!"
• your smile is infectious. seriously.
• you are still attracting SO MUCH attention. everywhere we go.
• you will ALWAYS win a staring contest. man, you're intense.
• you have the best giggle. bigH can get you to giggle like nobody's business.
• you LOVE to sit with goo on the couch in the mornings when she's watching her morning cartoons. you sit with one toy and are so content just being with her. until...she starts messing with you. and then you're done with her.
• you still don't roll over. it's ridiculous. but every once in a while, you succeed. dr. g isn't concerned.
• you still get swaddled for nighttime. again...ridiculous. you always get out of it quickly, but it puts you right to sleep.
• speaking of sleep, you're doing it. you're finally sleeping well. most mornings, you wake around 6, eat, and go straight back to sleep for 2-3 hours.
• you have a little place under your neck that we put diaper rash cream or aquaphor on constantly. you are drooling so much that it's always chafed. poor you.
• we put diaper rash cream on quite a bit, so you really have never gotten a true diaper rash.
• at your nine month check up, your iron level was low. so now you take a 1/4 teaspoon of iron everyday. i was way worried that something was really wrong. but dr. g assured me that it was nothing to be worried about. as long as your level is increasing with your iron supplement.
• at the end of 8 months, you had two teeth. at the end of your ninth month, you had 10. four on top, four on the bottom, and two in the back. holy cow. you're so advanced.
• knocking on wood, you still haven't had an ear infection. crazy.
• you still like your sophie giraffe.
• you still play in your exersaucer in the afternoons before dinner. and that's still where you have your afternoon poop. you're regular, and we are thankful for that.
• when i go in your room to get you out of your bed after a nap or in the morning, you see me, smile HUGE, and kick your feed like CRAZY. i love it and it puts me in the best mood.
• you still love your ergo carrier.
• you're riding in a big girl stroller and you look so tiny.
• the women at goo's school and bigH's school love to hold you while i pick up your siblings. you still don't have stranger anxiety yet, and i love that about you.
• daddy gives you your bath every night, and that is such a special time for you two. you do NOT like getting your jammies on, and this makes daddy sad.
• your favorite thing to do is sit in the middle of the living room and rummage through your basket of toys like you're at a garage sale. you love your stacking cups. every baby needs stacking cups.
• bigH and goo love to squeeze your tush right before you get in the bathtub. they yell, "squooshy tushy!!" and sometimes they kiss it. mostly they just pat it and love on you. man, they love you. (and by the way, i had to go to dictionary.com to look up how to spell squooshy and to see if it was a real word.)
• i still love the second toe on your right foot. delicious.
• you went to kung fu panda 2 with all of us. you nursed in the back of the theater and then proceeded to fall asleep. best day of my month.

skip a month or two...

• MONTH 11 -- oh EK. i am DYING here. i am dreading the one year mark more than i have ever dreaded any kid's birthday.
• you are delicious. period.
• as for food, oh my. you eat anything. granted, your sister would eat anything at this age. (and still eats most anything.) so we're hoping you're not picky. for a long time, you only ate homemade pureed baby food. but now you're eating some "pick up" food. you had a really hard time with choking so we held off on the finger foods. but now you love them.
• the foods you eat (have eaten): the non-frosted part of a donut this morning, strawberries, blueberries, mango (OH MY WORD HOW YOU LOVE MANGO), banana, apple (you don't care for), grapes (daddy does NOT like it when you eat grapes because you forget to chew them), mandarin oranges, watermelon, pineapple, pear, cherries, raspberries, chicken, avocado (mmm), peas, green beans, squash, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, carrots, sweet potatoes (you DEVOUR them when i sprinkle them with cinnamon and a *little* sugar), bread, chicken noodle soup (you WENT TO TOWN on this stuff the other night).
• FYI: i wish people cared about what i like to eat.
• you are STILL trying to figure out the sippy cup. there is only one you've "mastered." and to say you've mastered is laughable.
• you nurse about 4-5 times a day. once around 8am, once around noon/lunchtime, once around 4-ish, and bedtime. and for all of those CIOers out there, look away...sometimes once in the middle of the night.
• here is my take on your "feeding" in the middle of the night. i FULLY understand you are no longer hungry in the middle of the night. i am FULLY aware of the fact that you can sleep a full night. but now there are reasons you wake up that truly wake you up. like when i didn't get your diaper on well and you wet the sheet and your jammies. the main one now is when somehow you get on your knees and hold onto the rail. but you don't know how to get back down. and so you stay there, on your knees, crying, without having any idea how to get back down. so i finally go in there, after an hour of listening to you wail (dad sleeps with ear plugs now), feed you, and put you back to bed. we know you can go to sleep on your own. but, EK, you are our third. and you are our last. and i'll be honest. i am soaking up EVERY LAST DROP of your babyhood. because i'm going to be a MESS when you start walking and talking.
• speaking of...you STILL don't roll from front to back very well. you cry a lot about this. you can sit for extended periods of time. you go from back to front in about half a second. but front to back. very challenging. dr g is not concerned, which means we're not concerned. yet.
• you make a lot of noise at night.
• you have a lot of teeth.
• you still don't have stranger anxiety (which is awesome), but you have developed some separation anxiety. mainly from me. and as dorky as it is, i'm thankful for that. we're buddies, you and me.
• the workers in the nursery LOVE you. love the way you're dressed. love that you don't require a single thing when you're there. love your smile.
• i could look at you all day. you are a breathtaking little girl.
• still no hair. it'll come. and hopefully, it'll be as beautiful as goo's.
• bigH has gotten in the habit of going into your room when you wake up in the morning or after your nap. and he's gotten in your crib several times. i don't know who loves it more, you or him. have NO worries about boys treating you disrespectfully. bigH SO has your back, girlfriend.
• goo loves to "read" to you.
• you love to go swimming. you sit in a little floatie boat-thing. with your sun hat and kick and giggle. and if we give you one of your siblings' diving toys, you are ALL SET. you lean back, chew on that, and float to your heart's content. it's hysterical.
• you usually take a nap from about 930-1130 or 10-12. and then another nap from about 330-5 or 530 or 3-5. you never have been one to do the little dinky short nap late in the afternoon/early evening.
• dad still bathes you.
• you still get swaddled for naptime and bedtime. but it's a very light, thin blanket, and you come out of it in no time. the swaddling is more for habit.
• you really like playing with the wipes package. you love the "crunchy" noise of it.
• you went to disney world this month. you were/are a ROCKSTAR. you slept well there. it was incredibly hot. you nursed like a champ. you ate different foods. you rode in the stroller a LOT. and baked in the sun. and rode some rides. and fell asleep in random places. and rode on an airplane. daddy and i could NOT stop commenting on how amazing you were/are.
• papa found out he has/had cancer this month. and you have been with me every step of the way. i used to think it was kind of a drag to have a nursing baby that you had take everywhere with you. but you are so different. i like being able to be with you all the time. you got to see uncle bob again, as he was in town to see papa.
• people love taking care of you.
• you cackle instead of giggle. it's freaking awesome.
• your birthday is next month. HOLY COW. don't know what we're going to do. celebrating you is the only important thing to do.
• you love to clap when we say, "yay EK!" and then you grin from here to eternity.
• you light up when you see bigH or goo. especially when daddy walks in from work.
• you fight sleep in the car. and only do so when necessary.
• you do NOT like having your fingernails or toenails clipped. you share this with your siblings. man, what a beating. but your fingernails? it is VITAL that i clip them as often as possible. because man, are they sharp.
• when you nurse, you like to take said sharp fingernails and scratch my face, especially my nose. OUCH. and you always like to pull my hair. and not a lot of it at once. no. you like to grab one little piece that's easy to pull. and give it a go. i mean, i lost enough once you were born. would you please let me keep the rest? even though it's grey? sigh.
• you still kick your feet like crazy when you're excited.
• you sound like you're hyperventilating when you get excited. bigH always says, "breathe, EK. that's too much."
• tomorrow (july 11), we are putting you in your big girl carseat for the first time. i know. you've been in your infant carrier (though we haven't "carried" you anywhere in it in i don't know how long) since day 1. but you've never broken the 20 pound mark, and your feet don't touch the back of the chair yet. but tomorrow's the day. why? don't know. just seemed right.
• today was your last sunday in the infant room at church. you've been in THERE since day 1 as well, and we are WAY sad to move you. but...you are no longer an infant. miss jenny is very sad to see you go. luckily, your buddy sam (whose mom has been my nursing buddy since the beginning) is moving to the crawlers room next week with you. glad to know you won't be afraid. :)
• you JUST started crawling. 11 months. freaking awesome. we are so glad you waited so long. we were in NO HURRY to have you moving.
• we moved you into the big bathtub tonight. why? no idea. dad just felt like it was time.
• big sad news in our house this past week. mommy's external hard drive crashed. in a big way. as in...all of your photos since you got here? gone. mommy is what we call OH MY WORD DEVASTATED BEYOND DESCRIPTION. honestly, i can't even talk about it.
• you've been to your third movie now. we saw mr. popper's penguins. you fell asleep through part of it. but you didn't stay asleep very long. still, you've seen more movies in your first year than bigH and goo saw in three years. right on, sister.
• you have several nicknames: big baby, e luh-roo, e-dawg yo (bigH's personal favorite), sweet girl, peanut, punkin, goo (sorry...this one slips sometimes), easy e.
• you have no hair. and it's ok. you won't. until you're at least 3.
• when you eat, you hold food in your right hand, and eat with your left. like the food in your right hand is on reserve.
• i know i've mentioned a billion times, but you're the only wisner baby who doesn't sleep well. sigh.
• you don't cry very often. you're very laid back and easy going. but...when you DO cry, you cry ENORMOUS alligator tear drops.
• when you're sad or sleepy, you suck your right thumb and grab your left ear with your left hand. every once in a while, you lay your head on our shoulder. oh, and when you do...BLISS.
• you are not a car sleeper. you wake up the minute the car stops. you never transfer to your bed. so bigH consistently says, "stay with me, e. staaaaaaayyyyyyy with me."
• you rarely watch anything. not really even baby einstein. we've shown it to you maybe a handful of times.
• you're still not very good at the sippy cup. but you wanna be.
• you have cradle cap or eczema on your head. dr. g will look at it again at your one year check up.
• your iron was VERY LOW at your 9 month check up. which, of course, freaked me out. so dr. g put you on an iron supplement and rechecked it and he said he was pleased that it was going up. so i feel good about that. (we still LOVE dr. g, by the way.)
• i still swaddle you (ridiculous), but you get out of it very quickly. you still love being in it right at the beginning of your nap or nighttime.

EK. basically, most of this will apply in OH MY GOODNESS TWENTY DAYS when you turn one. daddy and i are NOT ready. we're probably just going to have nana and papa and your aunt/uncle/cousins over for dinner to celebrate. we don't even know what to get you. you really are so easy going that you'll play with anyone or anything. you are a dream. your brother and sister are MADLY in love with you. you light up when you see your daddy. and me? well, i don't know how to put into words how i feel about you. i love when you and i get to be by ourselves, have some alone time. but i love watching your siblings respond/react to you as well. i love nursing you. i love feeding you. i love pushing you in the stroller. i love playing with toys with you. i praise the Lord everyday for bringing you into our lives. i love you, big baby.

you loved ikea. so much that you SACKED. OUT.

one of the few times you fell asleep in your car seat.

guess these jammies have gotten too small. but that big baby belly? yummy.

oh how you love your mesh feeder.

seriously. beautiful.

goo picked out matching skirts for the two of you. she has a sweet spirit. and wow, she LOVES you.

the scene in our living room several different times a day. bigH and goo build you a tower and laugh when you push it down.

gorgeous.

what was left of your first serving of guacamole. you LOVE yourself some mexican food.

my shameless plug. but you rocked your tshirt, mini skirt, and leggings. (outfit courtesy of your sister.)