Nine Months Old! (October 21, 2010)

It's hard to believe, but Scarlett is nine months old! It's been another big month for our girl. She's mastered many impressive feats, including ...

Crawling! (And she's so lightening fast her leg is blurry! Ok, not really. Truth be told she's pretty slow and deliberate.)



Pulling up and standing!



Reading!



(Not really of course, but it looks like she is, right? And if you think Winnie looks beaten down in these photos, just wait until you see what she had to endure for Halloween, bless her heart.)

Scarlett sprouted her first teeth this month -- the two bottom front teeth came in first, with a top tooth close behind for a grand total of three chompers. She's using them to eat new and exciting things like chicken and pork loin and eating continues to be one of her favorite activities.

Scarlett waves "bye bye" now, but it doesn't meant "goodbye" or "see ya' later" in Scarlett's world. It means "get me out of here." So if she waves "bye bye" while in her car seat or high chair, she wants out. If she does it while someone is holding her, it means "give me back to my Mom!" She continues to babble ma-ma-ma, ba-ba-ba, and such, and I could be imagining it, but I think she might be working on "hi."

She had another check-up with doctor Curry, and her measurements are 22 pounds 5 ounces (92%), 29 inches (92%), and I can't recall the head measurement at the moment but it is greater than 97%. And without further ado, here are Scarlett's official 9 month photos.

Scarlett's Movin' On Up ...

... to her big girl car seat! Here she is inspecting it to make sure it was installed correctly.



Her Daddy buckles her in.



And -- despite the skeptical look on her face -- she's ready for her first ride! (We're looking forward to being able to move the seat to the forward-facing position when she turns one so she can see what's going on instead of staring at the backseat, which has to be really boring. Plus, when she's facing forward she can start backseat driving just like her Daddy.)

First Day versus Last Day

Here is Miss Scarlett at two days old on her very first day in her infant carseat getting ready to go home from the hospital. So small and sweet!



And here she is 8 1/2 months later on her last day in the carseat before switching it out for her big girl carseat (she has exceeded the weight limit so it's time to move up to the next size). Still sweet, but definitely no longer small!



(Well ... truth be told, Scarlett was a little more grumpy than sweet. Maybe it was because I had just broken the news to her that despite the fact that we were at a delicious taqueria in our neighborhood, she was getting yogurt for lunch. Sorry, Scarlett. No tacos al pastor for you. She was also probably a little ticked because half of the people at the Oak Cliff Home Tour told her what a cute baby boy she was. That's pretty much what happens when you're a really big baby, you don't have much hair, and your mom dresses you in brown. But it's fall, and there's only so much pink a girl can wear, you know?)

Pumpkin Patch and Carnival

We took our little pumpkin down the street to the Kessler School pumpkin patch and carnival this weekend. It was a beautiful day to be outside.

Some cute shots of Scarlett checking out the pumpkins.







Enjoying some live music.





Checking out the petting zoo goats and pot bellied pig.



Maybe next year she'll get to ride a pony, play in the baby bounce house, and get her face painted!

Texas Fight!

Scarlett went to her first Texas-OU football game this weekend! I was worried about the noise and the heat and the crowds. As it turns out, my fears were misplaced and I should have been worried about the Texas offense. Despite the score, we had a great time cheering on the Longhorns.

As we made our way to the Cotton Bowl, Scarlett pondered scalping and/or eating her ticket.



Once inside the fair grounds, Scarlett took in the fashion phenomenon that has taken over college football games (or at least Texas college football games): tube dresses and cowboy boots. You couldn't shake a sausage-on-a-stick without hitting a college girl in this oh-so-interesting get-up. Scarlett, don't get any ideas.



Scarlett and Candace waited patiently for their corn dogs. Except Scarlett's corn dog never arrived and she had to settle for pureed pear-mango. Maybe next year, Scarlett.



We finally made it into the stadium and Scarlett was ready for some Longhorn football! Chris and Kevin vamped it up for the camera, while Scarlett preferred to keep her eye on the game.



It got ugly pretty quickly. Even poor Bevo had to look away.



Scarlett in a sea of burnt orange.



Despite the noise, Scarlett decided not to pass on her afternoon nap.



After the game we gathered back at the house to celebrate a big milestone for Jim Sanders (also known as Susannah's dad, Finley's grandfather, and the minister at our wedding). The game on Saturday was his 50th Texas-OU football game. Pretty impressive! Here's a picture of Jim on his 50th and Scarlett on her 1st. As you can see, Scarlett was still pretty upset about the loss. Note Jim's shirt commemorating the event.



Hard to tell, but the cupcakes are in the shape of a "50."



Cousin Jennifer (and John) joined us for after-game festivities.



Here are all the little Longhorns posing for a group photo. (It may have been easier to get four actual Longhorn steers to sit still and look at the camera.) Even Winnie tried to get in on the action with Naomi (18 months), Evan (3), Scarlett (8 months), and Finley (3).







We'll get 'em next year!