9 Months (and Stats)

Aspen is nine months old! Where did that time go? She continues to be a sweet baby, who is more and more interested in walking, she's pulling up to stand by herself, now, and loves walking around on our fingers. She says "hot dog" fairly clearly, and babbles a lot the rest of the time. She loves her stuffed goat while she's nursing (mommy has found the goat doesn't mind getting pinched as much with bored little fingers!) and Aspen adores her big sister and anything her big sister shows an interest in. Aspen naps twice a day, usually about an hour and a half around 9:00 AM and then a short, 30 minute nap around 3:00 PM. (Always subject to change. Always.)

Aspen eats three meals a day, more or less, and really likes her Puffs and Baby Mum-Mums. They are our favorite go-to snack. She's tried various jarred baby foods, she doesn't seem very keen on meat yet, and I think her favorite is still avocado. She also managed to snag a piece of Sabine's syrup-drenched pancake the other day...and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, since it was G-O-N-E by the time I was able to get her mouth open. She's wearing 6-9 month clothing and has two teeth on the bottom.

Aspen is also engaging more and more with us, and the world around her. She's a little shy in new situations, but warms up to people fairly quickly. For months, she does this cute thing where she leans way over to the side, to try and get your attention.



Hello!

She has also developed a Stern Face, and breaks it out all the time. Sometimes it gets a laugh, and she enjoys that, sometimes it's to express displeasure that someone told her no, or took something away that she wanted. What's funny is that Sabine did something similar, at just about the same age.





She currently does NOT like hats, having her diaper changed, or being told not to put something in her mouth.

Aspen's also big into dancing/swaying when she hears music, especially if it's daddy or Sabine singing. She's also figured out how to wave bye-bye, but it's hit or miss if she does it before the person actually leaves.

Both girls recently went to the doctor, Sabine for her five-year-old visit, Aspen for her nine month. They both checked out healthy, both had to get shots, and both were pretty brave. (Sabine didn't cry at all, even though she had to get two!)

Sabine's stats:

Height: 43.75" (73 percentile)
Weight: 42 lbs (64 percentile)

Aspen's stats:

Height: 27" (28percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs 8.5 oz (10 percentile)
Head circumference: 44.5 cm (70 percentile)
(Very similar to big sister's stats at 9 months, HERE)

Sabine also has some teeth-related news! She lost her first tooth last Monday, Nov. 10. It had been loose for about two weeks. So Sabine and Aspen are both currently growing new teeth in the same place. Sabine put her tooth under her pillow, and the tooth fairy left her a gold dollar coin. There was even still a little pixie dust on it, which was pretty exciting.





All in all, it's been a good fall. The girls are starting to play together, Sabine is still a very attentive big sister, even babysitting for a couple minutes while mommy took a quick shower, once. She made Aspen laugh, wiped her nose when she had a booger, and kept her from putting anything in her mouth except toys. She is a wonderful help! Sabine has even recently helped wash dishes, can get dressed by herself, and buckle herself into her booster seat. So far, five has been pretty great.

Look at these sweet faces!

Western Slope

Wer had a fun weekend last weekend. One of mommy and daddy's college friends got married in Montrose, in southwest Colorado, so we took a little road trip with the girls and some other college friends. On Friday, we stopped to see Grandmom and Grandpa on our way up into the mountains. This was Aspen's first time at their house!



She figured it out quickly, and had a great time climbing in and out of the ladybug tent with big sister.





We had lunch, and then Aspen and I got back on the road, just in time for Aspen to take a nice, long nap. (Thank you, little one!) Sabine had opted to stay with Grandmom and Grandpa for the weekend, so she stayed there and had spent many glorious hours playing at the park and with Blueberry Girl, who came along for the trip.



Aspen and I made it to Montrose, and met friends there, who were more than happy to help both of us recover from the car trip.



Daddy joined us Saturday morning, and we all went to the wedding together. Aspen did beautifully, and spent much of the reception doing this:









We came back to the hotel, and Aspen got a big bath all to herself. All in all, a very successful weekend!





We even stopped for a quick lunch in Summit County, on the way back down. Aspen's first trip to the mountains!



The drive home was long, but at least we were all together for the last hour, after we picked Sabine up, and she helped keep Aspen entertained. We thought that Aspen's first word was "cat," but it has come and gone...meanwhile on the ride home Sabine was singing the song "Hot Dog" from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show on Disney Jr. After a while, Aspen suddenly screeched "HAAT DAAAAGH!" It was hilarious. So now we are unsure whether to count her first word as "cat" or "hot dog"! We didn't think to get a video of it until both girls had moved on to something else, so the following is not the best version, but it's something. Can you hear the "hot dog" from Aspen? (It's not the first screech, but the second.) As I said, not her best, but we were too busy laughing to capture it.



And happily, some of our best friends, Pete and Alicia, came back to stay with us for two days on the end of our trip. We all loved having their company! Come back very soon.

Halloween

It was an excellent Halloween this year in the Kitson household!

Sabine helped scoop out her pumpkin,

and while she wasn't keen on the roasted pumpkin seeds this year, she was very intent on the artistic direction of the jack-o-latern. Voila: "slant-y eyes," "zig-zag teeth," "curl of hair" as directed.

Grandmom and Grandpa came down to spend the day (since it was Friday anyway) and help us all get ready. They even brought a special, little Halloween cake that Grandmom's friend decorated.



This year Sabine and Aspen went dressed as Jane Goodall, and her chimpanzee. 

Sabine has always loved the great apes, ever since she was very small. Gorillas are the first thing we have to see at any zoo we go to. She got a book about Jane Goodall last Christmas, and has been fascinated ever since.

Sabine came up with this costume idea herself, and we all agreed it was a stroke of genius.

However, Sabine still ONLY wears dresses, and Jane Goodall did not technically wear dresses in the jungle in Gombe, so this was our solution: a khaki dress. It worked!

And thank you to Nana for finding a monkey costume for Aspen! She stayed nice and cozy, and posed for a couple pictures, before being OVER IT, so Sabine took her stuffed chimpanzee with her for the actual trick-or-treating.

We met up with our next-door-neighbors for our annual pictures

And then our cousins came over to join in the festivities as Buzz Lightyear and Elmo

And then Sabine's good friend A came over, because he wanted Sabine to see his Link (from The Legend of Zelda) costume, and they ended up trick-or-treating with the cousins for the rest of the evening.

Apparently they were quite successful, and all the kiddos gorged on some candy, and got quite giddy before calling it a night.

Happy November!

Documentation

She does crawl!



(And in the last week and a half, she's gotten much more fluid.)

She also loves to do laps around our kitchen island in her walker...and methinks baby-proofing is in our near future.



Aspen also cut another tooth this week, her bottom left, so other than a few rough nights, she making progress!

We also think she has her first word, she seems to say "cat" in context, sometimes it's "ca..." sometimes it's "...at!" and very rarely she gets both consonants.

Milestones and Pumpkins

Aspen has made some huge milestones this week. On Tuesday she both crawled, and popped a tooth! (Bottom right) She's been trying to crawl for a while, and has come very close, but kept pushing backwards. She has finally figured out forward momentum, and while it's not particularly graceful yet, it's happening! Video to come. Sister's toys: watch out.



Unfortunately, she also has come down with another little cold, so we're trying to take it easy. But she's still a very gentle soul, and doesn't complain much at all, unless you try to clear her nose. (And she still sleeps pretty well at night, bless her heart!)

Meanwhile, we made it back to Rock Creek Farms with some of Sabine's preschool friends. Colorado does have decent scenery.

Aspen rode in the BOB stroller for the first time, and tolerated it pretty well, but it was a hot day, so we all got thirsty and decided to head home for something to drink after about an hour or so. Fortunately, we got a shot of most of the group before we left!



We also made it back to Cottonwood, just our family, to get our actual pumpkins.



Sabine took the traditional picture against the measuring tape. To see last year's, click HERE



And then Aspen got her first annual picture at the measuring tape! Thank you for the assistance, big sis!



Then we got a wagon and took off to find a pumpkin.



Pumpkins were found



And kissed!

Much hilarity ensued. But since a certain baby refused to keep her hat on, we had to get out of the sun. We stopped for one last picture, and came home.



And in other news, on Friday we had a partial solar eclipse. I showed Sabine how to make a pinhole in a piece of paper to see the eclipse on the wall. I'm not sure she completely followed what we were talking about, but she willingly took a picture with the eclipse, anyway. (You can see the pinhole light on the wall on the brick next to her cheek--it looks like a half-moon.)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Quick before it passes us by: Happy birthday, Daddy!

We celebrated Sabine AND daddy's birthdays last weekend with Nana and Aunt Dani, getting sushi and opening gifts at their house while the cousins ran around together. (Except for Aspen, who worked hard on crawling!)

And then we celebrated again on Thursday with Grandmom and Grandpa, lamb burgers, and cake. Sabine got to stay up late to have cake. It was worth the struggle to stay (somewhat) composed!





The girls gave daddy a glass block with this picture in it to take to his office:



And it's worth noting because it may never happen again, the Broncos not only played but WON on BOTH Sabine and Dustin's birthdays. (Sabine's birthday happened to be on a Sunday, and the Broncos happened to have their Thursday night game the following Thursday--Dustin's birthday.) Go Broncos!

But more importantly, we love you so much, daddy! Thank you for being so wonderful.