Lydia turned three-quarters of a year old on the 5th of this month.  Happy (belated) birthday, my sweet girl!

Just today, I finally got her to the doctor for her nine month check-up.  Here are her current stats: Height – 27.75 inches, Weight – 22 lbs 2 oz, Head Circumference 18.25 inches.  That means she is in the 51st percentile for height, but in the 91st for weight.  She’s also holding on to a respectably bobble-headed 95th percentile for her head measurement.  You go girl!

The most notable change of the last month has been Lydia’s increased mobility.  While she hasn’t started crawling on her hands and knees just yet, she has perfected her army crawl and is now a dangerous force to be reckoned with.  She can get across a room surprisingly fast for one so small, especially if she has the motivation of Alethea’s toys to get her moving.  She has cried a few times when Alethea has demonstrated just how unwelcome her persistent presence really is.  And who can blame her, I’d cry too if someone twice my size tried to stand on me, or whacked me with a strainer from the kitchen drawer.  However, unless she’s in a particularly bad mood, Alethea doesn’t do anything worse than poke at her and Lydia still thinks that’s pretty funny.

Other milestones this month include going from one tooth to four, and then to five and finally… to six!  We’ve had lots of drool and some pretty whiny days, but over all, she seems to handle massive amounts of teething fairly well.  And of course, now that she has the teeth she wants to use them.  She almost exclusively feeds herself now (I only get to help with the sippy cup and yogurt, when she’s in the mood for it).  Her favorite foods are peaches, bananas and crackers, but we have yet to find any sort of fruit, vegetable or bread item that she won’t at least gnaw on.

Her favorite room in the house is Alethea’s bedroom, since there are so many forbidden things to get into.  Her favorite activity is standing up next to a piece of furniture and holding on all by herself.  (She’ll stay there for minutes on end, being amused by nothing more than her own ability to stay upright.)  Her favorite person is Mommy, followed by Daddy and then Alethea.  Her favorite things to say are “ma-ma-ma-ma” and “ba-ba-ba-ba”.  (I’m pretty sure she is just babbling and not refering to any particular person or object at this point.)  Her favorite stuffed animal is her bedtime lamb and her favorite toys are Alethea’s baby dolls.  She also likes books, but always tries to eat them and is not terribly interested in being read to, because if Mommy is holding the book, that means it’s not in her mouth.

Now we’re looking forward to Lydia’s first Halloween – she’s going to be a flower.  Her first Thanksgiving – maybe she’ll be eating meat by then.  Her first Christmas – I can’t wait!  And after that, if you can believe it, her first birthday!  How time flies!

Don’t grow up too quickly, Little Girl!  We think you’re just right the way you are!