Update

I know, I know. It's been weeks since I blogged, again! I'm sorry. So here's an overall update, and there'll be a couple separate posts for the things that are exciting/interesting enough to need their own.

Eating:
Judith has (finally!) started to eat chunks of things. I've periodically been trying to give her little pieces, but up until last Monday, she'd either spit out or gag on whatever I tried to give her. This Monday, at lunchtime, I tried small pieces of cheddar cheese - and she gobbled them right up! Thursday I cooked a carrot and gave her pieces of that with pieces of cheese. And last night she ate three slices of avocado (chopped up into bite size pieces, of course). I'm so happy about this - and hopeful that she'll soon progress to the point where I don't have to puree everything in sight. She's also been extraordinarily hungry the last few days - eating at least half-again as much as normal. I'm assuming that's a growth spurt, and I'm sure the last of the 9-month clothes will no longer fit. Fortunately, most of the 12-month stuff is still a little big.

Sleeping/Napping:
During the last few weeks Judith has gradually begun to consistently nap 1 1/2 hours instead of just 45 minutes. And she seems to also have transitioned to just one morning and one afternoon nap, instead of three throughout the day. It's very nice to have the longer period of time to get stuff done (or to nap myself!), and she's much happier getting up from a longer nap as well.

Standing:
Judith is more and more confident in her balance, and she will frequently now let go of things and just stand for a few seconds - and she doesn't hang on as tightly when she cruises around the furniture either. She still doesn't stand up on her own in the middle of the room, but she does frequently get up on one knee. She sit like that or sort-of bounce up and down like she's trying to stand.

Coordination:
She's recently discovered that she can put things together - for example, she got two Little People with cars from her Grandma Sjoerdsma. After a day of discovering each piece, she began putting the people in the cars (lining up the hole in the right place). She can't push hard enough to make them stick, but she certainly knows where they're supposed to go! And she has a plastic egg in the bathtub that splits into two pieces (I think it's an old easter egg). She tries to put the two pieces together; she can't quite get it, but she knows what's supposed to happen. It's very fun to watch her figure out things like that.

Moving:
Not walking yet...but that's just fine with me! Instead, she's extremely quick in her crawling, and I often have to move her to the other room so that I can get to the oven before she does. She also has discovered that she can hold things in her mouth while she crawls, since it's so difficult to crawl with something in her hand...notice the little person hanging out of her mouth in this picture.

Talking?:
Judith spends all day talking. No, she doesn't say any recognizable words, although some of the sounds she makes come close. She just jabbers on and on and on, occasionally pausing for whomever is near to say something, but usually just talking to herself. She also sings along if the stereo is on, or if I'm singing. Again, no words, but definitely a tone that's different from when she's talking, accompanied by changes in pitch. And she will growl when a motorcycle goes by outside, and screech if she hears a siren.

Hair:
Judith's getting curls! As you can see in the picture, the hair at the back of her head is getting long enough that it's starting to wave.