Well, I regret not keep a better journal of Capri the last few months, because she has changed so much, and this has been a truly enjoyable age. She and I both aided in her weaning (very slowly in the end). She quit nursing completely right at 14 months, and all of the sudden she became the sweetest little snuggler. She was not a snuggly baby, but I suppose it’s because she got a lot of cuddle time while she nursed. The day I quit nursing her, she just wanted to lye on my chest. She never tried asking to be nursed; she just wanted to sit on my lap, facing me, with her head on my chest, typically with me leaning back, sometimes rocking her, sometimes not, and always with a pacifier. She could lye there for an hour if Ellery would let her. She is still doing this, usually about two times a day. I am grateful for it because in so many ways, she is growing up and such a little toddler, but those moments of cuddling with a pacifier keep her as my baby for now. She is mastering her skills of walking (now running), climbing (I even found her on top of our kitchen table the other day! Yikes!), steering (she loves to push the doll stroller and use the toy vacuum), and getting down from chairs and the couch, etc. She still does’t really have any words besides “Dada,” but she can kind of mimic sounds from words. For example, when I say, “Do you want to get out?” She will sometimes reply, “Ouw!” or when I say, “It’s hot!,” she says, “Ha.” She is very pleasant, happy, and busy. She is also determined, and knows what she wants! She likes to do what she knows we don’t want her to. “Come here” means “Run away. This is a game.” and diaper changes are still the worst. She thinks it’s hilarious to bolt and hide when she sees me grab a diaper and wipes, but the moment I actually get her pinned, she whines like crazy. She’s pretty good at whining when she doesn’t get what she wants. Ha. She loves to be outside. She is very good (happy and quiet), but also extremely busy (won’t sit still) during church. She loves treats (and gets too many…) but can also down a very green smoothie in a half a minute. She loves to play with Ellery, and they do fight...but they also play really well together a lot. Capri just switched to a convertible carseat (although we should have done it sooner…), she’s good with strangers, she does not love the pool, she does love waterslides (any slides!) though, she loves our cell phones, but doesn’t care at all about tv or movies, she typically naps once a day, but sometimes twice. She usually wakes up around 6:30am and goes to bed around 6:45pm. She uses her pacifier more now than she used to (it used to only be while she was sleeping). She has all of her teeth besides her two year old molars (except the four eye teeth aren’t completely grown in yet, but they have all four popped through now). She LOVES to color (but cannot be trusted with a marker on her own haha), and she now lets us read entire books to her (as long as they are geared toward babies). We just love our little busy, baby Capri.

Happy Birthday, Capri! Can’t believe you are one already! You have been such a blessing to our little family. You are so mild and sweet natured. You are also independent and know what you want! This month you have gotten really good at standing on your own for several seconds. You can easily walk with us holding even just one of your hands. AND you even took your first steps a couple of days ago. Just 1-3 steps at a time, but it won’t be long! You definitely WANT to walk! You like to direct us where to go. You also point to things you want or where you want to go. You went from nursing 5 times a day to randomly weaning yourself about a week and a half ago down to only twice a day (around 6am and around 2:30pm). You eat so much for dinner that I guess you realized you didn’t need nursed in the evening or in the night any more (wahoo!!). So you are officially sleeping through the night. I never thought I’d see the day. You don’t eat much for breakfast, you like lunch, and you LOVE dinner. You will eat most things I give you, but not everything. You love sitting in our laps, but typically want down if we are standing and holding you. You are not a very snuggly baby. When you wake up the mornings, I take you into the bathroom and I hold you close while we look in the mirror. You always start waving to us in the mirror and I wave back. You generally wake up sleepy looking, but very pleasant. Not giggly with big smiles, but pleasant and calm (unlike your sister who has always struggled waking up). You are easy to put down and you only take a pacifier while you are sleeping. Still no words. Just “dada dada” and “ya ya ya” all the time. You love babies, the park, climbing, milk, being thrown in the air, dancing, and playing on the bed. Love you so much, Capri!

Capri, I feel like you’ve gone from baby to toddler just in the last week! You have a new found love of walking (with us holding your hands…and even with just one hand!), you can stand on your own for a few seconds, and you LOVE to climb!! You climb onto Ellery’s little toddler bed every chance you get. You love playing on it. You also climb into your little chair that we do your monthly photos in. You climb on top of the footstools every day, and can even pull yourself up to standing on them, so you can reach the countertops (what?! yikes!). And you’ll climb on anything else I leave lying around (like a box of diapers, etc). You always look proud of yourself too : ) You wave hello. You love to shake your head yes (and your Daddy says it looks like you’re having a seizure because you get pretty into it ha), and you do it often (especially when a stranger is giving you attention). You shake your head no when you don’t want anymore food, or things like that. You still don’t really have any words. You still put everything in your mouth. You don’t pull mine or Ellery’s hair very often anymore, which is nice! You love to play with Ellery. People still comment all the time on what a happy, easy going baby you are. You have been sleeping better, and even went 13 hours without eating one night. You typically nurse 4 times a day and love it. Love you, sweetest girl!

Miss Capri, you had your 9 month check up a little late, so here are the stats (at 9.5 months): 20 lbs 13 oz (75th percentile), and 27.5 inches (just under 50th percentile). You are getting so big! We have all been sick lately, so we haven’t been out of the house much at all this month, which has been hard on all of us except you. You are finally on a perfect schedule and sleeping super well and a lot. Apparently your lack of a schedule and your poor sleeping was all because I had you out of the house at random times all day long every day. Lately, you sleep from 9-noon (ish) and again from 2-4 (ish) and then you go to bed around 6:30pm and get up around 6:30am. This is WAY WAY more sleep than you used to get and WAY more consistent. In fact, last night you slept through the night for the very first time ever (I fed you at 6:30pm and you slept until 7am!). You had “slept through the night” a few times before, but that was with me feeding you once right before I went to bed around 11pm and then you slept through the night. So I’m not sure what to do now, because I’m loving the current sleep habits, but I want to get back into our routine of the gym, play school, library, park, play dates, grocery shopping, etc. And Ellery needs it. But you need sleep…ugh. We’ll just have to compromise. By the way, you love the park and the gym and all those things as well. You just need sleep too! You have another tooth now, on the bottom. So that makes seven (four on top, three on bottom). You now say “mama” sometimes, but not actually calling ME mama. You mostly say “ohhh” and “yayaya.” We have lots of conversations like that : ) Probably the most exciting thing about this month is that you learned how to give kisses! They are my absolute favorite thing you do. Big open mouthed kisses always accompanied by lots of smiles and giggles. They are very clearly kisses, not just something random you do. You give them to me when we are snuggling and playing together and after I kiss you. I love you so much, sweet girl.