she's on the move!

So the big news of the week--Rhia started crawling! She can't go very fast or get very far yet, but she's up on her knees and on the move. We are terrified. She's quite pleased with herself--she was getting pretty frustrated about the non-mobility thing.

It's been a pretty busy week. Last Saturday we went to the zoo with Maggie, Dustin, and Elke. It was so great to see them! (and, forgive me Maggie, but I'm putting up a picture--at least we look good!) It had been awhile. Rhia was a bit more aware of what was going on than she was the last time we went to the zoo. (notice the bear in the background)


Rhia has started swimming lessons, which she's a big fan of. The first lesson she was a bit unsure, but now she's kicking her feet and splashing around like crazy. The splashing has also been generalized to bathtime, so that's a bit more wet than it used to be. We're still doing music class, which she just loves. She's getting really into other babies, which is pretty neat.

Today we had her 9 month well-child appointment, and all was well. She thankfully didn't have an ear infection again--she's had a nasty cold all week, so I was a bit worried. She's almost 19 pounds (again, not much weight gain in the last month, but she's more mobile/has been sick) and 27 inches long (that's almost a whole foot longer than when she was born)! Still about 50th percentile for everything. My guess is she'll be a short little kid like her mom and dad. The doctor was impressed with her language skills and said everything looks to be right on track. So her next appointment is after her first birthday--I didn't want to get her shots right before/on her bday.

We're also having some crazy separation anxiety issues, so I can't leave the room without a meltdown. I will be happy when this phase goes away. Mamma needs a breather once in awhile.

Because I'm really into videos lately, a couple for your entertainment. Rhia loves the animals, so here's one of her tormenting Natty at the glass door:


And one of her playing a new game--we've always said "yay Rhia!" when she does something, but now we've taught her to put her arms in the air for it. She did it for the doctor today, it was pretty cute.

piano playing sort-of walker

Rhia's been busy! Her and Daddy decided to spend the 3-day weekend working on her pulling up and walking--with much success! Yesterday Al was holding onto her hands and she was standing, and she just let go and stood there by herself! She was there long enough for me to get in from my batch of cookies to see it, and then some! She's also walking right along, so long as she's holding onto something--she's started cruising the coffee table a bit, and she loooves standing up at her jungle toy. Today she pulled herself all the way up to her feet by herself for the first time, too! She'd just been getting to her knees, and we'd been helping her out a bit the rest of the way, but she was trying to get into her toy basket today and pulled right up.

So now she wants to stand ALL of the time, and complains if she's not. It's a bit exhausting. Still no interest in crawling whatsoever--it seems that we may have a horrible speller on our hands. :)

Some new pictures and a couple of videos for everyone's Rhia-fix:


Hanging out with her piano


I found her like this. She was pleased.


check out that grin--and her teeth!


hanging out in her cool Hello Kitty hat.

And some videos of her trying out this walking thing and playing her piano. She loves her piano.

quick shoutout

Just a quick shout-out to Ms. Sander's reading class in Mattawa--she told me that she'd shown you guys the blog and pictures of Rhia, so I wanted to say hello! :-) I miss seeing your smiling faces every morning. Don't give Ms. Sander too much trouble. Well, maybe a little bit, but make it from me. And nice trouble. Like giving her Red Vines.

Big hugs to you all.

-Mrs. Miller

Some pictures just for you! The purple blob isn't such a blob anymore! Nor is she purple, for that matter. :)





Hello from me and Rhia!