Moments of Mitchell: 3/4 of a year!

9 months. i cannot believe it (the same cliche ALL moms say). at 9 months our girl is still just as sweet as pie. making her fuss takes work, but she's not what i would call laid back per se. she is a constant giggler and now kisser which is oh so sweet. she does preferentially kiss her own reflection more than anything else, but mommy steals a few from time to time. she started crawling and pulling up a few days after she turned 8 months and she is REALLY on the move now! she has started cruising on the furniture and in her crib and doesn't topple nearly as often. although, as expected, she rarely makes a big deal about a fall even if it leaves a red bump on her head. lofton has also started playing peek-a-boo either with Pop Pop's hat or ducking behind furniture and popping up when i say "where's lofton?" she is eating stage 3 baby foods and some finger foods although we're not proficient at the pincer grasp yet. over the past month lofton has become less interested in her bottle and this week it progressed to outright refusal. i am lucky to get 8-10 oz of actual liquid down her. we've tried different bottles, sippy cups, the works. she now gets rice cereal or oatmeal 2-3 times a day and baby yogurt to try and make up the slack. she says "ba ba", "blah blah", and "da da". she also goes "Mmm hmm" when you're feeding her as if to say "that's right! give me the good stuff. no more of that bottle crap" (although i'm quite sure she is too lady like to use such language...). she sleeps about 12 hours a night although she often wakes up around 5 am and plays for a bit in her crib and then falls back to sleep...sometimes still sitting up :) i could go on forever, but in short, she is wonderfully and perfectly made and i'd take a baker's dozen.
the 9 month photo shoot was interesting to say the least. first of all, about 1 day before she turned 9 months she decided that sticking her tongue out was the funniest thing ever and will do it forever and laugh hysterically. secondly, sitting in the chair is a thing of the past. we DO NOT EVER sit still. probably why we're still chilling at the 3rd percentile for length (25.5 in) and weight (14lb 10.5oz we'll hang on to the .5). i made several close catches as she dove off the glider...