The Slyngers: 9 months...

Maya B is 9 months! Where is the time going!?

Taking a picture with Bear was again a struggle. Maya now loves to give Bear hugs, kisses and lots of love these days (it's the first thing she does in the morning), so she wasn't too keen on just sitting right next to him. She preferred to face him and hang out.

Maya is becoming quite the big girl! Her menu of "dining options" is really expanding. She now "chews" lots of food including diced fruit, chunks of cheese, Gerber yogurt melts, puffs, and other random table food. She's also loving cottage cheese in addition to her usual purees.

Not always, but she's starting to feed herself some of these finger foods...particularly her yogurt melts. Whether or not it makes it to her mouth, she definitely enjoys playing with her food and often looks like this at the end of mealtime...

About a week after her 8 month birthday, she started signing for milk! I've been doing a few signs with her for months and it seems like she's finally starting to get it! I think she uses it for milk and solids...it's not fool proof, but it's really exciting that she is actually communicating with us!

Maya has mastered her crawl...aka "drag". She still isn't up on her knees, but she's sure quick to get where she wants by dragging herself around using her arms and right foot (specifically).

She's starting to pull up to standing in the bath, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she figures it out around the furniture...I'm nervous.

Her waving and clapping and pretty consistent and she's now also making a "sound like an Indian" for lack of a better PC description. She'll make the "ahhh" noise while we pat her mouth and then she'll do it herself with the back of her own hand. We think she's pretty smart ;)

She's also a huge fan of peek-a-boo these days and will now hold things over her face to hide. She does it most often with her sippy cup at mealtimes...which is really funny because she can still see us through the clear container :)

We're still dealing with some separation anxiety, but she also plays well independently for periods time during the day. There are a few toys that keep her pretty entertained including her V-tech Discovery Nursery Farm. It plays songs, lights up and is generally annoying, but Maya loves it...

Here's a few pics from the last month...