One year ago from now, I was half way through a pregnancy that would ultimately change my world forever! And here we are ... approaching Carissa's 9th month of life outside of the womb. I cannot believe how much she has changed, grown, and turned into a little person in these last 9 months!
She once upon a time laid helpless in my arms and relied on me to do everything for her. Now, she is determined to do everything herself!
She insists on feeding herself ... she wants to go where she wants to go when she wants to go there and she wants to be the one to go there (if I help her, she decides that's not what she wanted!).
Carissa is working on learning to pull herself up to a standing position. We don't have many things the right height in our house for her, but she has managed to pull herself up in the bathtub - although a bit slippery at times.
I am thinking she may just skip the whole crawling thing all together. She scoots and pushes and pulls and turns .... but no crawling. She'd much rather be standing! In fact ... more and more frequently, she has stood unsupported for like 2 seconds!! That's major progress!! And she loves trying to walk ... holding our hands of course! But she's a pro! Before long I am sure she will be walking!! And she's only 8 1/2 months!!! WOW!
Carissa has SEVEN teeth and I believe she has one on the way!! Definitely a mouthful ... which leads to her love for eating anything - ESPECIALLY mommy and daddy's food! I have officially STOPPED mashing her food. She mostly feeds herself with her fingers. She does like the baby forks, and if we put a piece of food on her fork and hand her the fork, she moves directly to her mouth with the food and eats it off the fork!! Amazing!
And let's not forget that she is going to be a world-class talker! She is working on "bye bye" now. Of course it sounds more like "ba ba ba" ... but she repeats it in response to us saying "bye bye" - which reminds me - She WAVES bye bye! :)
She still doesn't directly call us "ma ma" or "da da" but she definitely tries. Sometimes I think it coincidentally comes out though. And sounds like she says "hi." She babbles up a storm all day long! And she knows what she is saying ... boy I really wish I knew what she was saying. So much personality!!!
She is still nursing ... but only about 3 times a day. I certainly cherish those sessions so much! It saddens me to think that this will one day come to a stop.
My heart swells every time I think about that little girl ... let alone when I get to love on her. I miss her like crazy when I have to be away from her - which reaffirms my decision to work part time at church and stay home with her on a daily basis! God has blessed me so much to allow me to have the job I want while simultaneously having an abundance of time to be the kind of mother I've always dreamed of being!
I have finally gotten things figured out to keep my house in order, while balancing with my weekly church duties, in such a way that I have plenty of time during the day to sit down and play with Carissa without feeling like I am neglecting other duties. It's a wonderful feeling of contentment and accomplishment!
My life has been so blessed over these past 9 months. I have learned a kind of love I never knew before. A kind of love that always brings tears of happiness to my eyes when I think about how much I love my precious Carissa!!
At times it seems like it would be difficult to ever love another child as much as I do her, but then I think about how much joy it will bring me to see Carissa be a big sister. I know with all my heart that God's plan for my life all along was to be a mother and I thank Him everyday for this calling! It's been the best thing that has ever happened to me!!
