Everything Britt-Britt was up to during her 9th month of life (August 6th-Sept 5th)…yes 9th. Goodness this child is growing up quick!!!
Solids: Solids are still going beautifully. I’m so, so thankful we used the Baby Led Weaning technique (read more about it here). This technique has allowed mealtime to be a joy for ALL of us. We can all eat together and just enjoy each other without dealing with baby food. Yes, it’s still messy. But she’s gotten the hang of it now where it isn’t nearly as messy anymore. She is also able to find food that she drops in her high chair or bib, so that makes it a lot easier too. She eats a wide variety of foods and has enjoyed everything we give her!!!
We did start REALLY focusing on training her with keeping the food on her tray this month. She tends to toss it off the tray and onto the floor. I started warning her a lot. I’d say “no ma’am keep the food ON THE TRAY” and put the food back on the tray (assuming no dog ate it first haha). Then I started giving her little spankings on her hand. I’d warn her then tell her if she did it again she’d get a spanking and show her the stick. I’d pop her if she dropped the food again. She caught on pretty quickly and then towards the end of the month she’d start pretending like she was going to drop it just to get my attention then she’d put it back on the tray. So silly!
Trying toast for the first time
Being messy
Okra!
Gave her okra and zucchini for the first time on 8/7
Testing out yogurt (I now don’t give the spoon, I just dump the yogurt on her tray)
Yogurt was fun 😉
Saving a Cheerio for later!
Sippy Cup: I give Brittlynn a take and toss sippy cup of water with every meal. She does GREAT with it. One day she had a bottle for her lunch and when we got home to eat solids she hadn’t finished the bottle so I put it in a sippy cup to see how she’d like it. At the time I was trying out this cup (but have since switched to JUST the take and toss brand, for sure my favorite!). She did fine with it and didn’t seem to care one bit about her milk being in a cup.
First time having milk from a sippy on 8/8
Nursing: This month I suffered with some nursing issues. Brittlynn started biting me and it was SO painful. I tried acting hurt (which was NOT an act!) but that didn’t phase her. I also tried removing her from the breast and popping her on the mouth and telling her “no ma’am don’t bite mommy” she would get SO upset. Like she’d refuse to nurse. I also developed a pretty bad pain in my left breast. It was painful whenever she nursed and by the end of the month was also painful when she wasn’t nursing. It was tender to the touch and the other breast started to hurt as well. I literally had NO CLUE what was wrong with me. I tried treating us both for thrush, didn’t help. Tried an antibiotic for mastitis, didn’t help. Tried some antibiotic cream on my nipples between nursing sessions, didn’t help. I even took a pregnancy test, negative. I was clueless but it was MISERABLE. I want to ENJOY nursing and this special time and I had come to dread it. Since we were going to Orlando for our vacation I told Zach I’d pump the whole time and we could go ahead and transition Britt from the bottle to the cup. Haha. Rrrrright. We tried giving her a cup of breastmilk before we left and she looked at it, laughed, smiled and wouldn’t drink. I didn’t want to spend vacation stressing so I just continued to nurse her through my pain. I eventually realized it was ALL because she was getting her top 4 teeth in AT THE SAME TIME. Once they all came in, biting and pain STOPPED!!! Good to know! I also decided just to wait until I wean her to whole milk at a year old to transition her from the bottle to the cup. She only typically has one bottle a week (during church services) so it’s silly to try to get her to make the switch!
Attempt at giving her a cup!
So Big: Brittlynn started to enjoy attention a little more this month…she realized that by doing her “so big” arms that we’d give her plenty of it so this became her favorite “trick.” She did it for the first time on Aug 31st while we were in Orlando on vacation! Here’s a video of her doing it 🙂
Ear Picking: This is so random to me but Britt’s ears pretty much always have little dots of blood in them. Isn’t that gross? I guess while she sleeps she plays with her ears or picks at them or something? It’s a strange habit for sure but she never wakes up crying or acts like her ears hurt at all. She also doesn’t play with them much while she’s awake. Maybe she does it in her sleep and doesn’t realize it? I’m trying to do a better job at keeping her finger nails really short, hopefully that will help!
Monster Teething: Like I mentioned earlier…Britt had FOUR teeth coming in at the same time. Poor thing 🙁 She was pretty much miserable. She was SO much fussier and drooled like crazy. She also had a snot overload and it was pitiful 🙁 It’d be all dried and crusty on her face and she hated having her nose wiped. On 8/19 she actually WOKE up in the night (9:00) for the first time like EVER. For real. She NEVER has woken up since she first started sleeping through the night. Bless her heart. Hyland’s teething tablets seem to help her the most. I tried Tylenol when she seemed to be in a lot of pain but she would not drink it so I just use the teething tablets! Her big left front tooth came in first and the one beside it came in second so she was a little funky looking for a bit until the ones on the right side broke through 😉
Talking: She says “ba ba” allll the time. Kye likes to call her a little sheep since she bas non-stop! “Da da” is still the most common word, but she doesn’t use it correctly yet. Also on the 17th she said “bye bye” at an appropriate time! She makes this sound that can be a lot of different words…most often we say she’s saying “duck” but really it’s just baby babbling and not legit talking haha Also it often sounds like “aflac!” I feel like she’s not as vocal as Kye was at this age. Maybe I’m wrong? But it seems like she doesn’t make as many noises or “talk” as often. Second baby thing maybe? She does make a constant clicking sound with her tongue and she also smacks her lips a lot (here’s a video). Legit words I’m confident in saying she says “duck” (video here!), dada, and hey but none of which she knows the meanings!
Touch and Feel: I remember Kye being around this age and LOVING this one touch and feel book we had. Brittlynn is the same way. She really enjoys the touch and feel books. In fact, she doesn’t pay attention to any other type of books. I really adore the way she uses her sweet little finger to feel and touch everything. It’s so dainty and girly to me 🙂 Here’s a video
Standing: Brittlynn has been able to stand up for awhile now. She can also pull herself to standing, cruise (she did it for the first time in her crib during her monthly photo shoot on 8/6), and this month she started to hold on with just one hand! I’m waiting and waiting for her to be able to stand completely on her own. She’s not there yet, but she’s very close!
Your Baby Can Read: With Kye we started the YBCR videos at a young age. I followed the instructions with the set and had him watch it one or two times a day (20 min long videos). I don’t necessarily think they made him any smarter? He’s 3 1/2 and doesn’t know how to read anything so I don’t think they worked haha. However, I do see the advantages of it. Kye has a WONDERFUL attention span. He is also able to sit for long periods of time with no issues. He also enjoys watching movies when allowed (makes travel SO much easier for us!). However, I also agree with the findings that TV watching before the age of two is actually dangerous for our children. So I haven’t introduced YBCR to Brittlynn. However, now that she’s not taking that evening nap I have some evenings where it is TOUGH for me. Zach may work late and I have to cook dinner but can’t do it with a baby in the kitchen crying to be held. So one afternoon (8/23) I decided to give it a try…she literally lasted 10 minutes haha I haven’t tried it again since then but I might. I’m honestly not sure?!?! I like the idea of her learning to sit still, keep focus on something (even if it is the tv), and me being able to cook dinner. So I may try it again, we shall see!
This is how I found her 😉
Independent Playtime: I’m still only at 15 min with her (twice a day). This month with the teething and her starting to cruise and such it made for some rough independent playtime. She spent a decent amount of time just standing and waiting for the timer to go off so I’d come get her! You can see her pitiful screaming cry here.
Climber: I remember when Kye was a baby people would often talk about their kids climbing all over the place…I never experienced that with him! He was just never a climber. His sister however, totally is. She LOVES to try to climb up the stairs. Now she will climb up to where we have the baby gate and pull on it. Not a good idea especially since we have tile flooring below…I’ve started to use my extendable gate around the bottom of the stairs to prevent her from her climbing ways! She also likes to try to climb up on the fire place (one decent scratch on her tummy from the stone and she seems to have stopped that). If we are playing in her room or Kye’s room and she manages to escape typically the first place she’ll go is in their bathroom where she will try to climb up on Kye’s stool.
Here’s a video of her!
Gate: I have pulled out our big gate. I’m so glad we bought this thing before Kye was born!!! It’s super handy! I am trying to use it during times when I can’t be right near Brittlynn. I believe strongly in age appropriate boundaries and while I love the open floor plan of our home it’s not best for a crawling baby! She needs a smaller space to have her freedom in so I try to limit that space by using the gate. It’s tough because Kye’s boundaries are wider than hers and I feel like I have to find a balance between the two. I’m still working on figuring it out!
Most often he ends up in there with her 😉
Since I only have the one gate (I’m actually considering looking into another one…I mean we do plan to have at least two more babies in this house someday…it’d def be useful to have!) I have to rig stuff up to keep Brittlynn in the kitchen with me while I’m cooking and such. I tried a dining room chair but miss mighty muscles figured out how to move that junk real quick! I need to find her a push toy so she can start cruising around 🙂 Good birthday gift!
Sleep: Brittlynn is such a wonderful sleeper. Seriously. Many people said I got “lucky” with Kye and I think having Brittlynn proves that it’s not luck. Both of our children slept through the night at young ages. Both sleep roughly 12 hours solid a night. Both sleep perfectly for their naps. Both rarely wake or cry out while in their beds. That’s all thanks to hard work and Babywise if you ask me!!! Brittlynn adores her crib and is so happy all of the time. She wakes up happy and chats and laughs and plays until I come get her! Now that she’s cruising and standing all the time I most often find her like this!
Brittlynn is not, however, an easy baby to soothe. I’m thankful we did cry it out
with her and followed babywise so closely, but the ONE negative is when
she IS upset, I can’t help her. If she gets hurt I can’t soothe her. She
is a complete and total self-soother.With the teething I felt SO bad
that I couldn’t help her pain. It was because of this that on 8/20 I
started letting her have her lamb in her crib with her. I do feel like
it’s an okay time for her to have it (hello…she is close to walking) and I LOVE that her lamb is breathable. Plus we still use her angel care monitor!
“Wild Child” We always called Kye “Crazy Boy Kye” well Brittlynn is our “Wild Child.” She cracks us up allll the time. She crawls SO fast and is all over the place. Between crawling, climbing, and doing her hilarious dances whenever we sing or she hears music she IS wild!!! It’s no wonder she’s so petite…she burns off every calorie she takes in for sure 😉 Here’s some pics of her wildness this month”
She LOVES getting into Kye’s stuff when he’s not looking!
Attack of the baby!
She’ll stand up and beat on this chest
Bath time: Brittlynn very much so loves bath time. She enjoys splashing and playing with her toys (especially her toy duck). She also enjoys having her teeth brushed. Zach uses a finger brush and baby toothpaste to brush them, I think it feels good on her sore gums!
Swinging: Kye’s favorite thing to do outside is swing…and now Brittlynn is starting to really enjoy it too. Typically she’d be super cautious about it but now she wears a big grin the whole time! Here’s a video of her swinging.
Music Table: This is FOR SURE the favorite toy!!! She plays with it constantly and I’m so, so thankful I purchased it for Kye. This is actually a WONDERFUL gift to buy an expecting mother. The baby can’t use it until they are older but it will be a fun thing to pull down when the time comes and they will totally thank you for it!!! Here’s a video of her playing at her table and a video of her and Kye playing together at it!
Big GRIN!
Playing with Kye
These are probably the last of the jumperoo pics. I think she’s just done with it!
Here’s a video of her!
Friends: I feel a good bit of guilt over Brittlynn’s lack of friends. When Kye was a baby we had play dates pretty often but I never do that with Brittlynn. It’s tough because majority of my close friends who have babies decently close to her age also have their babies on schedules. With all of our babies on schedules who has time for them to get together and play??? I really think this issue will be better next school year. Kye will be in school 5 days a week (sad…don’t even wanna think about it…) and Britt will drop her morning nap. We’ll have a LOT more free time then for her to have friends and go and do fun things and just spend quality time with HER. It will be great, I’m sure!!! During this month Rachael and her crew stopped through to visit (PLEASE MOVE HERE!!!!). It was cute seeing Britt interact with Brady. Wouldn’t they be a cute couple someday?
Playing with Brother: While Britt may not have lots of friends her age, she does have a live-in playmate and that’s something Kye didn’t get to have when he was little! She ADORES her brother and cracks up at him constantly. I love that they are already playing so well together!!!
He wanted her to be his “hat twin”
Piles and Piles of toys!
Here’s Brittlynn’s Current Schedule at 8 months old:
7:15: Up for the day. Diaper change then nurse
Following nursing: breakfast as a family
Following solids: independent playtime for 15 minutes
8:45-9:00: Down for nap
9:30: Kye goes upstairs for his independent playtime
10:45ish: Kye has movie time
11:00-11:15: Britt up from nap, diaper change then nurses
Following nursing: independent playtime for 15 minutes while I fix lunch
After independent playtime: Lunch as a family
12:45-1:00: Down for nap
3:15: Up from nap, nurses
4:00: Wake Kye up
6:00: Dinner as a family
6:40 (or right after dinner): Bath time, kids bathe together
7:00: Nurse
After nursing: Family story and prayers then bed for the night!
Eating Out: We don’t eat out super often but when we do Britt does great with it! She loves to snack on Gerber Stars and will try anything we have on our plates too. On this night we had a family night and went to get Mexican…sweet girl chowed down on my beans from my burrito!
She did not, however, get to try any of my ice cream 😉
Mommy Love: Brittlynn still adores me. And I still pretty much love it 😉 She wants to be in my arms alll the time. If I put her down in the evenings she will crawl up to me and literally climb up my legs. Her favorite spot in the world to be is on my hip. I’m SO not used to all this attention from anyone haha I’m SO thankful for Babywise…and especially independent playtime. Brittlynn needs a schedule. She needs times to herself and methods to train her to be independent from me. I also need those times away from her…I never thought I’d be tempted to be an attachment type parent but having an attachment style of baby makes me see how easy it would be to parent that way! I know Britt would be perfect content to be carried around all day by me!!!
This month I became more thankful to have a daughter than I’ve ever been. Our trip to Orlando really opened my eyes to the natural bond that Zach and Kye have since they are both boys. They enjoy similar things (being rough, sliding down water slides, football games, etc) and sharing common interests naturally brings people close together. I think if Brittlynn had been a boy I would have been very envious watching Zach and Kye together. Of course Kye and I share our own special things, but I can already see that they will be SO tight as Kye grows up. Instead of being jealous of that bond, I know I have Brittlynn and as she gets older we’ll have more in common than she will with Zach and we will have that similar bond that he and Kye share!
More that Brittlynn was up to this month:
- She clapped for the first time on 8/7 and will do so on command (here’s a video the day she first did it!)
- She can give high-fives
- She loves little toys and is always holding onto one or two of them…she even likes to hold them while nursing
- On 8/13 she waved “bye bye” for the first time, she was playing on her music table! on 8/17 we had dinner at Cheddars and she waved “bye bye” to everyone when we left, and said the words!
- on 8/16 she folded her hands during our prayer at breakfast!
- She has fun playing “chase” with Kye around the house! Here’s a video and another one..and this one of her playing with Zach…too funny!
- On 8/19 she actually sat in her own seat throughout her entire bible class and didn’t fuss at all. HUGE step for her!
- Thanks to being in the car so much more often now that Kye’s back in school Britt has started doing MUCH better with it!!! She used to cry non-stop and now she’ll typically laugh and play the entire time with no issues!
- Britt still HATES laying on her back and diaper changes are no fun 🙁 Lots of wiggles and squirming!
- I adore Britt’s sweet laugh..you can hear it in this video
- Brittlynn is like our third puppy dog. She really does act like a dog! She pants all the time and crawls around with her tongue sticking out! She pretty much always had her mouth open and loves to chew on shoes. She’ll also pull up on things to the standing position and move her hips in a way where it looks like she’s doing the typical dog hump thing. Haha!
- Britt has now developed her own “poop face” where we know she’s doing some business!
It’s been another wonderful month! You can look back at her month 8 summary here. You can also see Kye’s month 9 summary here! I love seeing their similarities: both of them did that panting sound at this age, both squirmed like crazy for diaper changes, both pulled up to standing in their cribs…It’s also fun to see their differences: Britt is SO ahead of where he was in practically every area other than weight haha. One thing I now feel like I need to let her try is going down the slide…I can’t believe we let Kye go down by himself at this age!?!? I have a feeling Britt will HATE it but it’s worth trying to see!!!
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Of course I looooove this post bc Brady is in it! She is SO MUCH MORE ADVANCED than Brady.
I love her chunky little thighs in the pics of her standing up! Both of my kids bit while nursing when they were cutting their teeth. I'm guessing they'd do it to comfort their gums and not out of intent to harm. But man, it HURTS!