The Spies Family: Makenzie is 9 months old!

It is hard to believe that another month has gone by. This was a busy month for the family and Makenzie was just as active and busy learning and growing as ever.

Nine Months:

Each month it becomes harder and harder to capture Makenzie's picture as she no longer wants to sit still. EVER.

Nine Month Stats:
*Height: 26.4 inches (13th percentile)
*Weight: 16 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile)
*Teeth: 4 the bottom two and top two. She also has two more on the top that are just starting to show and two more on the bottom that you can tell will be coming through any time.
*Diapers: size 3
*Clothes: mostly 9 months
*Shoe Size: 2

Eating:

Makenzie is now eating solids three times a day. She is very hit or miss with them though. Some days she loves her solids and eats like a champ and other days she could care less. She still loves her puffs though and will always gladly eat them or Chee.rios. I worry that she has already taken on her mom's eating habits. Her favorite solids are still prunes and sweet potatoes. We are also still working on the sippy cup. She is getting better with this every day. I am hoping by the time she hits a year we can be done with bottles.

Sleeping:

Makenzie continues to do well at night with her sleep. She goes to bed most nights between 6:00 and 6:30. She will then sleep most nights until about 3:30 and wake for a quick feeding. She then goes back to sleep until 5:00 or 6:00. Makenzie still hates to nap during the day and this is still a constant struggle for us. I asked her doctor about it and he said that as long as she is getting a total of about 14 hours a day it is fine for her to take her power naps. The problem is even with three 20 minute power naps I don't think she is getting 14 hours. I am hoping that as we transition to one nap a day in a few months she will finally start napping for a longer amount of time.

Likes:

* Anything Morgan has. Makenzie loves to be around her big sis and to copy everything Morgan is doing.

*Her mommy. Makenzie is definitely a mommy's girl right now. She is constantly glued to my legs. Whether I am drying my hair in the morning or cooking dinner in the evening you can find Makenzie pulled up on my legs.

*Cruising. Makenzie is all over the place cruising along the furniture and pushing her shopping cart. She also loves to grab on to Morgan's walker and wheelchair to walk.

*Sticking out her tongue. Makenzie constantly is making funny faces sticking out her tongue and curling it.

Dislikes:

* Napping

*Going too fast or being tossed too high

Torticollis:

Makenzie is still receiving PT services once a week to work on her torticollis. Although she has nearly full range of motion in all directions she still tends to tilt her head to the right. She is now wearing a neck brace at least 6 hours a day to try to improve this head tilt. Her PT has also suggested that we bring her to an orthopedic surgeon to get checked out. She wants us to make sure there isn't anything structural going on that is causing her neck to still be titled. We are hoping that with continuing to wear the brace and doing PT will help her improve. In the meantime it isn't slowing her down one bit.

Nicknames:

*Kenzie

*Kenz

*Kenzinator

*Kenzie Bear

*TROUBLE

Some highlights of this month:

1. We had a few days of very beautiful weather and got to play outside. Makenzie loves her little car (this was Morgan's old car).

Morgan pulled up next to Kenzie and asked her if she wanted to race.

2. This month Makenzie learned how to walk with her shopping cart. She is now all over the house with it and gaining speed each day.

3.Makenzie saw her first snow fall. And her second, and third. That's right, it snowed three times in a month here in Tucson. Crazy!

4. Makenzie and Morgan started a new game. They love to 'race' each other through the house. Most of the time Makenzie ends up running into the back of Morgan's walker and getting her shopping cart caught on the back wheel. The girls love this game and it is great exercise for both of them.

5. Makenzie now pulls up constantly in her crib. Everytime I go in to get her up I find her smiling little face peeking above the rail. It is the best!