out = in

It's December, which means Adelaide is 9 months old. This is quite a milestone, as she has now been "out" as long as she was "in". And both of us have changed as much in these past nine months as we did in the first nine. For the first nine months, we were becoming more and more each other - I was getting used to her being a part of my life, and a part of me, and for these past nine, we've both been growing into our independence. I now feel like myself again (mostly), and she has become very much her own person - likes, dislikes, opinions, character. She is so interactive and plays lots of games: finding objects that we "hide", and hiding herself in peek-a-boo, 'grunting' responses to Joe's grunted questions, takes things "out" and now puts them back "in" as well! She gestures toward things she wants and pushes my hand when I offer her something gross. And I have an increasingly hard time convincing her that it's a good idea to do something she doesn't like. Quite a strong will in her mature little character. At our 9 month check up last week, Adelaide weighed in at 17 lbs 2 oz and 27 in tall. It's incredible that she has sprouted up from nothing in such a short time, and equally amazing the physical and emotional (hormonal?) train ride that I've experienced. So here I am, officially joining the legions of parents who say "having a baby will change your life forever"!

aaahhh!! a snowman!

I am leaving tomorrow to do the first of my residency interviews in Minneapolis (where the temp is -1F in the daytime!). Perhaps Portland felt inclined to help me prepare by delivering our first (possibly only) snowfall of the year the day before I go.

Joe and I were excited to bundle Adelaide up and take her out to romp around. As you can see, she didn't enjoy our little snowman nearly as much as we did, despite the fact that we made it exactly her size. Oh well - maybe playing in the snow isn't fun until it means you get a day off.

I am thankful for one tiny girl.

I am happy to report that Adelaide is getting over her (very healthy and normal, but still annoying) fear of strangers. For her first Thanksgiving day, we went to her Great Uncle Ken's house, along with about 30 other family members, and Adelaide did just great - she even sat with "strangers" (to her) during dinner and smiled at everyone. Hurray!!

Of course, the highlight of her day was the three dogs - a pug and two wieners - and we got a lot of laughs watching her try to chase them around. She crawls pretty fast these days, squealing and giggling and navigating obstacles in a desperate attempt to catch some fur. Fortunately for the dogs, she was unsuccessful, but a good time was had by all. :)