Holden

I feel like a lot of posts are about Davis- and while I know that's because he's 3 and a lot is physically, verbally, and emotionally happening with him- I also want to keep adequate track of Miss Holden. So let me share a few things about my sweet girl today.

She is still tiny. Tiny. Neither of us are very petite so I don't know where that came from, but it's pretty sweet. She turned 9 months last week and is still about 18 pounds. Again, Davis was 20+ pounds at 6 months, and he was a bigger baby, but not huge. She sometimes still wears 3-6 months clothes.

She is getting louder. She was so quiet for so long and now she definitely gets frustrated more easily and is more vocal about it. Forget that stupid jungle (exersaucer) she was hanging out in for the last couple months. She hates being put in there. She wants to MOVE. And she crawls, but not as much on her knees as on her belly. I think she'll skip to walking. Frankly, I think she is frustrated that she can't walk.

She likes the little walker- but not like Davis loved it. You could leave him in there for hours and he would zip around the house like he was at a skating rink. She now gets around more easily in it, but she'd rather be on the floor, rolling around, crawling, and lately, pulling up.

She loves to pull up. And she's still in that iffy phase where you don't always know if she's going to be able to get herself positioned to successfully pull up or if she's going to bust her face. She sometimes busts her face- but no major falls yet.

Back to being louder...last night was the first time I've seen Davis and Holden verbally interact with each other. He laughed in her face, like "heh heh heh"...she looked at him and did it back. They did this for at least two minutes, and when Davis moved on to bigger and better things (building a tow truck with tinker toys) she desperately continued, trying to get his attention again. It was adorable.

She has started going after everything he is doing. She pulls on him and goes after his toys, and for the most part, he loves the attention and laughs, but sometimes he tells her "that's not for you Holden...it's too sark."

She loves Pico. Like loves it when he comes in the room and loves it even more when he covers her face with kisses. Which, of course, he loves, so we have to pull them apart.

She has a bottle in the morning, a jar of baby food mid-morning (doesn't like anything too sour like peaches- or anything with chunks- but likes most everything else), a bottle before nap, more baby food in the afternoon and then a bottle at night. She a) demands baby food throughout the day and b) likes a bottle to go to sleep.

She is sort of a cruddy napper. I can get her to take long naps on the weekend if I make her wait till midday in an effort to lay her down when Davis naps...but if she sleeps in the morning, even for an hour, the rest of her naps are no more than 15 minutes.

She loves playing in Davis' room, with all his construction trucks and toys. She looks and acts so dainty, but maybe she'll also be a tomboy.

Her hair is brown with hints of red. Her eyes are so blue. She has fair, and very sensitive, skin. We're almost always fighting a little rash on her neck from drooling and milk.

She uses her binky at night, but isn't dependent on it like Davis was. I should probably just take it away now before she becomes dependent on it.

She likes to sleep in footie jammies. She hasn't really gotten attached to any lovies or dolls or stuffed animals. She finds any piece of tiny trash or lint or whatever on the ground and it gets to her mouth in .2 seconds.

She dodges kisses. You try to kiss her and she turns her head so fast- especially with Davis- but he really leans in for a long and heavy smooch. She doesn't lay down against you or on you unless she's literally about to pass out for the night. She has to see everything that is going on.

She will be one in January already. I cannot believe it. Where has the year gone? I keep telling people I just had a baby, and while that is true to me- in every sense, I imagine everyone else is like "Ummm...almost a year ago."

I can't imagine life without her. And I didn't even know her 10 months ago. She is the perfect completion (I think) of our family in every way. I hope she and Davis are best, best friends. I have no doubt he will look out for her and she will keep him in line.