9 months old!

So, I knew Harper was 9 months old. But it really hit me when her pediatrician says "I'll see you again in 3 months...when she's a year old." WHAT!?!? How is that only 3 months away? But back to Harper at 9 months. She is 17.2 lbs, 28 inches long, with a head circumference of 49 cm (Jason thought they said 42 though, so..maybe that one is not accurate). She is in the 63rd percentile for height and the 15th for weight. I was worried maybe they thought she needed to gain more weight but Dr. Freeman looked at Jason and I and said "children usually take after their parents, she's just tall and thin". She is still on the same growth curve she has been on since last September so she is healthy, happy, and 'a beautiful, perfect baby' as Dr. Freeman says. She just got her first tooth last Saturday! Harper babbles all the time. Her favorite thing to say currently is /dada/ but sometimes she even says /dad/ or /dadi/. She uses this in reference to quite a lot, though, so unfortunately for Jason she isn't saying daddy just yet. She also says /baebaebae/ which sounds like bad bad bad and she says it to Toby a lot! She also loves making silly noises too and will either blow raspberries with her tongue to make us laugh OR will bubble her lips (we call it the motorboat sound). She also copies us when we make sounds! She does really well following directions with or without gestural cues (if we hold out our arms she will crawl to us to have us pick her up or if we say "Harper, come here" she will crawl to us as well). She also will give us kisses if we say 'give me a kiss' and thinks it is funny to attack us with repeated kisses. She also shares really well (thank you daycare). She puts her paci in your mouth if you say "give me your paci" and we pretend to suck on it for a minute then she takes it back. Just this week she's started sharing her food with us offering us the food on her fingers after she's stuffed her fingers in her mouth. She likes it when we pretend to eat it and then say "thank you!". Speaking of food, this child LOVES to eat real food. If you don't get the food in her mouth fast enough she makes this horrible growling noise that sounds like a wild animal. Her daycare actually videotaped it because they thought it was so funny. I have been trying to get her to use baby signs so she'll quit growling! She is busy crawling as fast as I can walk just about all over the house. She loves exploring things and banging them against the floor to see if they pass 'the baby test'. She is very close to walking and transfers from one piece of furniture to another and stands without holding onto anything (sometimes even with toys in her hand). She has actually taken a few steps (not at the same time) but we don't count that as walking because it is one small shuffle step and then she sits down. Toby is her best friend and she loves playing with him, taking his toys away, giving him her toys, snuggling with him. She smiles so big at him and laughs and talks to him more than anyone! She has days where she is a mommy's girl and days where she is a daddy's girl. She does really well when I drop her off at daycare and just goes straight to the toys to play but she is also always so happy to see me. She is starting to need to be told 'no' but doesn't understand what that means- maybe because she has heard us yell this at Toby her whole life. Overall- the past 9 months have been SUCH a joy and she has been an amazing tiny blessing!