Emily is really growing up fast. I can't believe that her first birthday is just around the corner! This month she has learned to stand on her own, but she still is not walking on her own. She can only walk while I hold her arms or when she is behind her walker, but she really enjoys doing both! She has also learned to clap and wave and she does one or the other all day long. She will mimic someone who is waving at her, but I am not sure that she fully understands the context of a hello or goodbye wave yet. She has also started dancing when she hears music. She usually bounces up and down to the music, but sometimes she will sway or move her arms around to the beat. It is a lot of fun to watch! At her 9 month check up she weighed 17 lbs and 15 ounces and was 27 & 1/2 inches long. This puts her in the 30% for weight and the 50% for height. We joined the MAC gym earlier this month, which means Emily has been going to the nursery while I work out. I was a little nervous about it at first since she had never been in a day care type setting before, but she didn't skip a beat. We go every day now (the gym has never looked so good) and she is always smiling and playing when I go to pick her up. I am so glad that she does well on her own! In February I am going to attempt to register Emily for mother's day out at MDUMC. If we are able to get a spot then she will start in September. She really enjoys the gym nursery, so I can only imagine how much she will love mother's day out! Here are a few pictures of Emily and Mella over the past month...

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My dad sent a few pictures of me when I was about Emily's age. I was about 8 months in the first pic and the next 2 pics are of me and Will on my first birthday. I can definitely see a little bit of Emily in my baby pictures!

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Emily is letting go and standing up on her own now!

Mella was groomed today and they put little pink bows in her hair. I couldn't resist the photo op!

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I put Emily's activity table in the kitchen so she could play while I cook. She figured out that it slides on the kitchen floor and now she is playing with the table while using it as a walker. Once the table bumps into something, she walks around the table and uses it to walk in a new direction - all while I cook uninterrupted. Hooray!

Emily has started eating table food and loves it. She is now refusing spoon fed baby food and only wants food she can eat on her own. Here she is enjoying some carrots.