shan & brans: golden's nine months

Golden is nine months. Nine. Months.

I swear it's been only about three...

Golden is:

... a mover and a shaker. She is everywhere! Climbing the stairs, walking around furniture, even starting to be brave and stand for a few seconds on her own. Her preferred method of movement is still her side-winder army crawl - and boy, is she quick! But she wants to ~~walk~~ run pretty badly. She'll pull herself up on anything she can, and whenever we hold her hands while she's standing, she steps forward, leaning the direction she wants to go, and literally runs.

... working on her sixth and seventh teeth. She's a piranha. She moves her tongue across her teeth constantly, and makes this silly "bubb-bubb-bubb" face - like a muppet. I love it!

... dancing all the time. Her dance has evolved to throwing her hands in the air in addition to her little bobble head moves, and it. is. the. best. thing. You can't help but smile when she moves, and everyone seems to find themselves doing the dance right back at her.

... entranced with other babies - both baby dolls and other babies smaller than her is. She loves to snuggle with a doll when she takes a nap, and gets so excited whenever any other baby is around and she just wants to touch them. It's cute.

... figuring out how to self-soothe. She started rubbing her ears a couple months ago, and at first I thought perhaps she had an ear infection, but after the pediatrician said she was just fine, I started to notice a pattern. She rubs her ears for comfort. It's like her security blanket - she rubs her ears when she is sad, or scared, or uncomfortable... and it settles her right down. Sometimes, in her sleep, I'll catch her with a hold on one ear. It's so adorable. She's just the cutest!