Grab and Go

Dear Mackenzie,

*sigh* You have reached the stage where you want to grab everything and anything that you see, so nothing is safe! When we went out last week, you kept grabbing at my face mask and trying to take it off my face. When I was looking at my phone the other day, you swatted at it and knocked it out of my hand. If JieJie is wearing her glasses, you try to pull them off her face. This morning, I had a cup of coffee on the kitchen counter and you grabbed the top of it, splashing the entire contents on the counter, my legs and the floor. Fun!

Love,

Mom

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Dear Mackenzie,

You learned how to do three new behaviors in the past two days:

1) You can turn yourself in a complete circle while seated.

2) You pulled yourself up to a STANDING position! So exciting! And nerve-wracking because here come the falls!

3) Today, you clapped for the first time! You were sitting in the playard while the rest of the family was hanging on the couch. One minute you were rubbing at your wrist and the next, you were clapping your hands together!

I love watching you grow, Kenziebear!

Love,
Mom

Motor Skilled

Dear Mackenzie,

So much news to share! This past month was a big one because you learned so many new things! At the beginning of the month, you were getting ready to crawl--you could get into crawl position but didn't move anywhere. During the last week of July, you began going from a crawl position to a sitting position and by July 30th, you started crawling across the floor! It's really fun to see what objects catch your interest enough for you to crawl over to them--you are particularly fond of your older siblings' paperback books (but barely give the time of day to any of your baby board books--unless you want to chew on them), the heating vent near the floor with a little brass tassel on it and . . . me! When I come into your room and sit down on the play mat, you always smile, make your way over to me and try to climb into my lap. It is so sweet!

As if the crawling alone wasn't enough, you also acquired a number of other new motor skills this month:

-You can drink water from a cup (and went through a brief stage where you actually pushed your baby bottle away and refused to drink water from it, as if that was so June 2020).

-When I'm playing around with you and put a washcloth on top of your head, you know how to reach up and pull it off.

-In your crib, you can go from laying on your back, to rolling over onto your tummy, to pushing up into crawl position, to sitting back on your butt to grabbing the top of the crib and pulling yourself up onto your knees. Wow! We had to lower your crib the day you learned how to kneel.

-You started reaching your arms out toward me when you want me to pick you up (which is a lot!).

In other news, you started eating blueberries, broccoli, carrots and chicken (and are a fan of all of them). Your top two center teeth are also growing in and you've already bit me--sometimes quite sharply!--with them a few times!

I can't believe how many changes there were these past four weeks. You even look significantly bigger in your 9-month photo in comparison to your 8-month photo:

Taking your 9-month photo was also significantly harder because you barely sat still. You kept lunging forward and trying to crawl off the bed!

You are so cute! I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Love,

Mom