Meet the Bowens: seven Eight NINE

E is 9 months old!

Here are her stats:

Length: 27.25 in (50%)

Weight: 19 lbs 3 oz (50%)

Head Circumference: 17.25 in (50%)

Her ninth month started with a day in the Adirondacks with our friends Anthony and Laura who were visiting from SLC. And then a visit to Pittsburgh to see my cousin Justin and Aunt Kristi.

This month is one of my favorites because it included Fall which is my favorite season and Halloween which is my favorite holiday and having E around made it even better. This month I spent much of my time making E's first halloween costume! And the rest of the month included taking lots of pictures with E and the essence of Fall (leaves and pumpkins)!

Playing in the pack n' play while mommy finished the costumes

E was definitely more interested in the stems, vines and leaves on the ground than the actual pumpkins. And I couldn't get her to smile for anything, but there was a kind man who she kept smiling at in the store and his wife saw that I was struggling and sent him out to get a smile from E and she lit right up!

E learned a few more fun things this month including clapping her hands, banging toys together and scrunching up her face while breathing loudly in and out of her nose.

Clapping her hands and sitting in a chair attached to a wall at Wegman's

She has also started transitioning from sitting to her tummy. Because of this, and the fact that her Army scooting is getting so fast, we decided it was time to put up a gate at the stairs to prevent any accidents.

Sometimes she crawls 'til her pants fall off!

E loves playing with her toys especially her bean bag ball and the cups and link toys that the Taylors gave us.

She sat in a shopping cart for the first time and did well, but I still feel like she will somehow fall out because she is so small.

E now has four teeth and is chomping down on all sorts of foods including cut-up grapes, raisins, carrots, peas, cheese, peaches, pears, broccoli, animal cookies, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cauliflower and all sorts of other fruits and veggies we can chunk up. She loves to feed herself! She even tried her very first donut! At her 9 month appointment her doctor said to give her anything we are eating so I'm excited for all the meals she'll be trying soon!

When she's eating and doesn't want any more food she will shake her head no and stick her arms out in front of her and wave them back and forth. It's like she's saying, "Stop! No more! I'm done!" I love to see her learn to communicate.

She still loves bath time and sits up so good in her bathing seat! We definitely have to make sure she is buckled in because she now tries to lean forward and touch the water.

E also continues to love music and will dance to anything even slightly resembling a song. Some of the moms from church meet together for a music group once and week and E loves it!

She's pretty curious and loves to be in the middle of everything. I would say that she can even be a little mischievous at times. Sometimes I will call out her name when she is starting to go for stuff in Daddy's corner and she'll turn and look at me, give me a sideways grin and go back about her business. We are definitely going to have to move things higher up or find a new spot for them if we don't want her getting into it! She has a few other favorite things to get into including the camera bag, a box of videos and playing with the knobs on the cabinet in the living room. I know one day soon she'll be able to open that door. She also loves shoes! She will go after any and all shoes in sight whether they're on someone's feet or not. She also figured out how to untie shoes and even almost caused Anthony to trip once because she had untied his shoes without him noticing.

E started making the "mamamamamama" noise this month and I got so excited even though I know she doesn't know what it means.

She loves to stick her fingers in our mouths and even Daddy's nose. We also play a game where I will crouch down so she can't see me and then pop up and scare her. She usually jumps and then laughs and yells back at me like she is scaring me back and laughs when I pretend her yell scares me. Matthew says I'm a monster for teaching her to scare others so young, but I think he is worried that we will team up and scare him one day.

E loves mirrors and looking at herself in them. If we bring her close enough to the mirror she will even lean her forehead and nose into her reflection which we think is her sign of affection and kissing.

She still sucks her thumb to fall asleep and sometimes starts to suck it when she gets hungry. We've told her she doesn't have to resort to eating herself because we would always feed her, but I think she likes the taste!