Noel at Nine Months

Remember Bardo's dog phase? Well Noel is in a dog phase of her own. Fortunately she is a little more particular than Bardo. I haven't caught her shoving handfuls of dirt into her mouth. She's much more delicate with her pincer grasp, going for the mulch piece by piece. If allowed, however, she will explore that piece--examining it in her hands with her eyes, moving it into her mouth, working it around her mouth with her tongue. And she doesn't fuss too much when I have to pull it out. In fact, she usually gives me a silly grin and then pulls herself to standing and then falls into my arms as if to say, "While your down here Mom, why don't you give me a lift. I like the aerial view."

Noel is obsessed with the dishwasher. She always goes for the knives with their dark handles. She also has discovered that she can climb on to the door. Lovely. Luckily, I can keep it under control since that seems to be the one item in my house that is reserved for my exclusive use.

Noel does not like to allow me to workout. She screams in the stroller and she screams at the gym. She does like sitting in the carrier while I push Bardo in the stroller. And she likes the single stroller.

Noel does not like to go to bed. She protests big time. But she's the 4th baby, so we don't care. She goes to bed anyway. She has even started taking a lengthy nap in the afternoon. Sleep consolidation is good.

Noel says "Eeeeeee" when we push her on the swings.

Noel has a tenth percentile head. She's average for weight, but she looks small because she's a lanky 29 inches long, putting her in the 90th percentile for height.

Noel likes Legos, cars, and balls, anything that pushes her brother's buttons.