Stella Marie: Nine Month Stats

I took Stella to the doctor this morning for her nine month well-visit.  Little Bit is growing so fast, that I feel like her first year of life is just flying by.  She will be one in three months!  That's crazy!  Anyway, everything went great at her appointment and she is growing well.  Here are her nine month stats:

Height: 26 1/4 inches long (25th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs., 6 oz.  (35th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.25 cm (75th percentile)

For comparison, here are Nora and Liam's nine month stats, too:

Nora weighed 16 lbs., 13 oz (15th percentile) and was 27 inches long (35th percentile)
Liam weighed 20 lbs., 1 oz (50th percentile) and was 28 1/2 inches long (50th percentile)

It appears that Stella weighs a little more than Nora but is a good bit shorter than she was, for now anyway.  Liam blew both girls out of the water with height and weight.  But he's our boy!

At nine months, life with Miss Stella B is wonderful.  Here are some things going on in her world:

*Stella is exclusively bottle fed now.  She was fully weaned by the beginning of February, so it's been just over a month.  She takes four bottles a day: when she wakes up, before lunch, after her afternoon nap which is just before dinner, and one at bedtime.  Altogether she probably gets about 24-26 oz of formula a day.
*Stella also loves to eat table food.  The pediatrician released me to feed her whatever, as long as it wouldn't be a choking hazard.  Stella still doesn't have any teeth, but she does a great job of eating almost anything soft that I put in front of her.  Some of her favorites include:  banana, avocado, blueberries, rice, pasta, oatmeal, breads, sweet potatoes, apples and pears, cheerios, peas, carrots, butter beans, green beans, black and pinto beans.  Seriously  This girl loves to eat!
*I mentioned the other day that Stella has started crawling.  It is the cutest thing.  She moves her hands really well, but she doesn't always get her legs coordinated so she'll just kinda hop her bottom half up a bit to move forward with the rest of her body.  She is into everything, particularly power cords, remote controls, and anything she shouldn't touch.
*Stella loves bath time in the big tub.  She loves to play with Nora and Liam's toys, but I have had to remove cups from the play things because she keeps trying to drink the nasty bath water.  When I take something away from her that she wants, she is very verbal in expressing her unhappiness. 
*Stella takes two naps a day.  The first nap is usually about two hours long, and most days I have to wake her up to eat lunch.  I put her down for her second nap at the same time that Nora and Liam go down, and she usually sleeps until about 5:30-5:45 pm.  So, that's about a 3 hour nap.  She's a great sleeper.
*At night, Stella goes to bed around 8:30 and she sleep all night, usually waking around 9:30.  Lately, she's been waking earlier, around 8:30-9:00, but I am not sure if it's because of her cough/congestion or because she is just waking earlier now.
*Our sweet girl has been battling a cold/allergy gunk for about three weeks now.  Just when I think it's getting better, things start to flare up again.  The doctor checked her ears and throat today and said she looks great, so she is just suffering through the same allergy stuff I am.  I am ready to stop being so stuffy!
*Earlier this month, Stella spent her first night away from Momma.  A few weekends ago, Jonathan and I went out to dinner at the Melting Pot with our best friends.  This is an annual tradition that we do in the winter to celebrate birthdays, and it's definitely a long evening out.  So, my in-laws graciously kept all three kiddos overnight at their house.  It was really lovely being with Jonathan and our friends, and Stella did great.
*Stella is wearing mostly 9 month clothes, but there are some 12 month items she is wearing.  I am trying to hold off on purchasing more things because I have plenty of warm weather clothes she can wear.  I wish our weather would make up it's mind; I am so ready for Spring.
*Stella knows how to wave, and she has signed for "more" and "all done" on occasion.  She likes to blow raspberries with her tongue, and she can say, "Dada," "Mama," "Nana," and "Rarara."  She's definitely not seeming as verbal as Nora was at this age.

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl: