9 months old! and also what 4 year olds talk about

Caroline turned 9 months old yesterday. Unbelievable, and yet she totally seems like a 9 month old to us. She loves to laugh and smile and "talk." She even started waving last week! She is on the verge of taking off crawling but can get around pretty well by scooting backwards or maneuvering while sitting. Her favorite food is broccoli (and Cheerios of course), but you should watch this girl go after the little florets we give her! She also is developing quite the little attitude: she is a very happy baby most of the time and plays by herself very well, but if you take a toy away from her...watch out! She's also very clear about when she's done eating and has quite the swat to tell you.

Here are the stats from her check up today: 18 pounds (50th), 27 inches (25-50th). Her weight percentile is down a bit because she hasn't been too interested in nursing. She may be weaning herself which is kind of a bummer--not only because I had hoped to nurse her until she was a year, but also since I'm not sure she can drink as much out of a cup as she needs to in order to get her daily requirements. So, please pray for CG when she comes to mind, that she will be getting enough liquid nutrition.

Katie also had her 4 year check-up today. She's been pretty nervous about the shots, even though at her 3 year old check up she cried because she didn't get any shots (oh, the power of band-aids). Today she got 7 shots, and wow, what a brave girl she was. She is now 35 pounds and 40 inches tall (a gain of 5 pounds and 4 inches since last year).

As for what Katie's been up to these days, she's really into jokes and riddles. She loves this great blonde joke (one of my favorites) and laughs hysterically at the end, even though I am quite certain that she has no idea why it's so funny (even after I've tried to explain the humor to her). She especially likes knock knock jokes and has finally nailed the timing on the "interrupting cow." When she was first starting out with them though, her rendition would go something like this:

KJ: Knock, knock.

Me: Who's there?

KJ: Orange.

Me: Orange who?

KJ: Banana.

Me: Banana who?

KJ: Don't cry it's only a joke.

As with most 4 year olds, Katie is still very much into imaginary play. It gets a little out of control though when she wants to play "the Boxcar Children pretending to be Peter Pan and Wendy." Really, Katie?

She also says incredibly funny things by accident all the time. The other day she was playing "magic wand" but at one point reported that her wand wasn't working. I told her that she should try saying the magic words, thinking she would say something like "Bibbity-bobbity-boo." Instead, she points her chopstick (I mean, wand) at a toy frog and said, "Oh, little frog, won't you please turn into a horse?" At least she's learned something from Barney!

Finally, the other day when she was exhibiting her usual cuteness, I grabbed her by her shoulders, looked her square in the eye and said, "Katie McCulloch, I just love you. You are so much fun and so smart and so creative." To which she replied with a great big smile, "Aren't you glad you had me?" Yes, Katie, I am.