Ivy Mae - 9 and 10 months

Oh My Heart. Time just seems to pass faster and faster and I cannot keep up with how quickly all my babies are growing. But the quick passage of time is the most apparent in Ivy. She changes daily. And I am so incredibly busy that my documentation of her fun changes suffers. 

So here is a mash-up of Ivy at 9 months and 10 months! 

9 months: Ivy loves to wave, sometimes with both hands. She became more mobile but in the form of a scoot where she would rock on her hands and then rock back. It was slow so we could leave her with her toys in the living room and she would only travel a couple feet in 30 minutes' time. She started saying Mama but it was typically when she was unhappy and fussing. Or if someone other than her Mama was holding her. I won't lie, I might have enjoyed hearing my name even if it was during a fuss. Ivy doesn't fuss too much, she really continues to be the happiest baby.

10 Months: so, yea. We are only two months from her first birthday. I can't. I have planned nothing, I just don't want to acknowledge that my last baby will be a year old. It really feels like she was just born. Really.

This baby! She is beautiful. Her eyes. Her complexion. Her hair, which has thickened up substantially and even has a little wavy wisp to it! Be still my heart. While we still get a lot of comments on how Ivy is identical to her big sister, we no longer feel like this is so. We do think they favor, but they are sisters. And in reality, all 4 of my kids could be "identical," but we are definitely starting to notice Ivy becoming her own little person in both personality and appearance.

Ivy has been a tad more fussy over the past month. But I am 100% certain she is about to have an explosion of teeth in her mouth. I can actually see the top two right at the gumline so I know those are about to break through. (Josh likes to make fun of me for blaming the kids fussy periods on teething. We laugh...but in reality I have so many little kids that I feel like there is always someone teething over the last 8 years!)

At this point, Ivy is still not consistently sleeping through the night. She generally wakes once but every so often we get a wonderful full night (even better when Mac sleeps through the night - yes, she still wakes up). Ivy is nursing in the morning, then late afternoon and at bedtime. And when she wakes at night. I am trying to get her to ween down but she really doesn't take milk from a sippy cup very well yet (we have invested a small fortune in trying to find one she likes) and is still super finicky with a bottle. She doesn't love baby food anymore either. But she struggles with finger foods and gags and carries on, sometimes to the point of throwing up. This is getting better, but she is certainly my worst eater. And has been this way since the very beginning!! Nothing like stressing over her poor eating habits for the last 10 months. All that to say, she is actually growing and thriving beautifully so I really have no need to worry.

Ivy is still the light of everyone's eyes. Including her siblings. The boys still want to hold her (she is super wiggly and doesn't want to be held anymore) and constantly rub her head or smother her with hugs and kisses. Maclyn loves to play doctor with her or dress her up. One thing that has changed with Mac and Ivy over the last month as Ivy has increased in her mobility is Maclyn gets super mad when Ivy has a toy of hers. So she grabs it out of Ivy's hand then Ivy is fighting mad. On one hand it is funny but on the other it is loud and we realize there is no going back. And so the sister fights begin. We have also had to keep a closer eye on Maclyn with Ivy because she is ROUGH. Like, purposefully rough! This has just started and it is probably an aggression due to her baby sister getting into her stuff so Mac is having to display some dominance. Despite this, Mac still loves her baby and wants to know where she is at all times. 

As you can see from her 10 month pictures she isn't as smiley as her 9-month pictures. I really think her little mouth bothers her. And she still sticks her tongue out a lot!! Despite the mouth/teeth pain, she can be very giggly, and cackles and squeals when you tickle her!

I recently realized that I haven't shared the "professional" amateur pictures I took of Ivy at 6 months. So I will try and post those and her 9 month "professional" amateur pictures soon. And by soon maybe tomorrow! Maybe...