9 months

Yesterday was Nora's 9 month birthday. This past month has brought her most dramatic developmental changes so far. Here's the recap:

• As you might have heard, Nora has started pulling herself up to standing. It's now all she wants to do. Ever—even when she's nursing, and that's as comfortable as it sounds. She squirms even more than normal now, because whatever position she's in, she's trying to figure out how she can transition to standing. Like the other day, when we were outside and I put Nora in her stroller while I swept up all the shredded garbage in the yard (thanks Saffron). I looked down for about a second and then looked up to find Nora standing in the stroller, leaning over the back, smiling at me. And yes, she was strapped in. Scary.
• A few weeks ago, she started saying Dada. Dadadadadadadadadadada. Over and over and over. All day long. And I think it's possible she knows what it means. She's taking after her brother in finding ways to torture me (see here), but I'm happy to report that a few days ago, she started saying mama, too. And I'm pretty sure she knows what that means, too. Maybe.
• Sleeping is still difficult. We are still working on the crib training, and it's been horrible and awful and painful for everyone involved, but mostly for poor Nora. She still takes hours to fall asleep most nights; on the odd nights that she falls asleep quickly, she makes up for it by waking up repeatedly and for long stretches during the night. But on the odd occasions we've had to go back to cosleeping (last night, for instance, when we were up in the mountains for the night and had to share a bed), we're reminded of why she needs to sleep in her crib: When she doesn't, she nurses all night long and screams bloody murder if her mouth and my boob lose contact. Neither of us sleeps for more than 20 minutes at a stretch without waking up, and we're both totally miserable the next day. So on we push with the crib training.
  
• Still no teeth. Greg's mom was 18 months before getting her first tooth, and she has a mouthful now, so we're not too worried.
• Nora is becoming more and more of a mama's girl. She wants me to hold her all the time, and if I'm in view she absolutely will not be held by anyone else. Not even Greg. It's wonderful to feel so loved and needed, and I'm trying to remind myself that the dishes (and laundry, and taxes—right?) will wait.