9 Months

9 Months seems so old!  I can't believe the time that Penny lived inside of me, and the time that she has lived outside of me, are the same now.  She is growing so fast, and developing so well, and we are so thankful to be her parents.

She weighs 20lbs 10oz and is 28 inches long.  Her growth has slowed down- she is now in the 75th percentile (she has been in the 95th since about 1 month old).

Penny loves trying to talk and says "dada" and "daddy" all the time even though she doesn't know what they mean, I am trying hard to teach her.  She said "Genna" twice (ch-na)- before even "mama" or a real "dada".  I think her first official word or phrase was "all done" (a-da).  She says it when she is done eating or when she doesn't want to go to bed and we are letting her cry it out.  She even tries to sign it by putting her hands over her head.

 

One of her favorite things is brushing her teeth.  When she sees me bring over her toothbrush before bedtime, she smiles, opens her mouth for me, and sits still while I brush them.  Then she steals the toothbrush from me and chews on it.  She loves to brush her teeth while Scott and I are brushing ours.

 She still can't get enough of other kids.  I love this one of her with her 2nd cousin Zach, he is playing with the purse, and she is playing with the remote.

Penny has been crawling for a few weeks now and there is no slowing this girl down!  She is ALL OVER THE PLACE.  She follows me around and will just crawl into other rooms to explore on her own.  She is learning to stand on her own, but seems to care less about trying to walk now that she found another way to get around.

She is still as happy and can be- she loves to play, loves people and laughing- but has learned what strangers are.  She is definitely in the middle of that 9-month-old separation anxiety thing and freaks out when mommy or daddy leave.  She is less friendly to people she doesn't know, but everyone still loves her!  When Scott and I voted all of the poll workers had the time of their lives playing with her, and they insisted she get her own sticker.

 She is a good eater, and a good sleeper.  We have had a few small bumps regarding both, but not much to complain about.

She is Daddy's girl through and through.

A few days ago, Scott came home and as soon as she heard his voice, she booked it to the door, grabbed onto his pant legs, pulled herself up and held her arms out for him to pick her up.  And of course she has Scott wrapped around her little finger too: he dropped everything in his arms right in the doorway and picked her up.  This has now become a daily ritual.

I'm so lucky to have these two.

Batman & Batgirl

Last year for Father's Day I got Scott matching Batman shirts for him and our baby (who was still in my belly).  So this year I surprised him on Father's Day morning with Penny wearing her shirt, and of course Scott had to put his on too.

In case you can't tell, Penny absolutely loves her daddy.  She thinks he is so much fun, and so do I.  I always knew Scott would be a great dad but he has really impressed me with just how great he has been.  We are both so lucky to have him.  Happy Father's Day, "Boy"!

Run for Life

This weekend we had the opportunity to attend the Miller Children's Hospital Run for Life.  Scott was diagnosed with cancer when he was 14 years old, and after going through chemo and many surgeries, finally beat it.  Many wonderful doctors, nurses, family members, and friends were there to help him battle through it.  During and after this time, he participated in the Run for Life that Miller Children's Hospital puts on to raise funds for children who are going through this.  This was the first time he had gone in a few years, and we were all so glad we went. 

Nancy joined us for our fun day.

What is that baby doing?

We saw Dr. Finklestein, Scott's oncologist, there.  He is a wonderful man who came to our wedding and visited us in the hospital when Penny was born.

It was really fun to see him, especially when he told Scott that he was going to join him in the run Dr. F. was doing with one of his patients.

There were lots of local celebrities there, we looked through the program real quick and didn't see any we recognized, but then we saw this guy getting ready to run:

 

Lucas Neff!  From Raising Hope, one of our favorite shows right now.  He was SUPER nice and down-to-Earth.  I think he didn't even know he was a celebrity.

He really hit if off with Penny.

We had a great time and saw so many sweet, strong little fighters running their hearts out.  We plan on going next year, and getting a sponsorship together in Scott's name- stayed tuned for details!

One of the highlights of the day:

Books Worth Reading

I am an avid reader, and I am always looking for a good book! (or 3)  I know a lot of you are too, so I decided to start sharing some of my favorite reads with you, and hopefully you will share some of your favorites with me!

First though, a tip for any of you who love E-books but don't like spilling your savings on them (and want to keep it legal): LA County libraries (and probably most other libraries) have E-books!  You have to go in to a branch to sign up for a library card, but once you do you can just go online and check out E-books all day long!  They are available in Kindle format and/or E-pub, which is compatible on iPhones, you just have to download their free reader.

OK, onto the books:

 

I realize that I am behind the game on a lot of these books, but maybe some of you are, too.  Either way, if you need a good book to read, check out one of these.  I put them in order of my favorites.  Good reading, and please share your favorites with me!!