Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day — and Baby Champuru’s 9th month birthday!

There weren’t many changes since her 8th month birthday, although she is getting better at what she started a month ago: standing, cruising, and waving bye-bye.  She has added clapping to her repertoire now and she is so thrilled when we clap along with her.  She also likes to grab our hands and clap our hands for us, too.

With her increased mobility, she isn’t content to stay in one place for very long.  She will play in a seated position for a period of time, but prefers to stand and cruise.  I have a feeling that she will be taking her first wobbly steps soon.

Thankfully, she has outgrown her aversion to changing her diaper. There was a phase when diaper changes were traumatic for both baby and parents.  In fact, it was often a two-person job, especially when poop was involved.  She would throw fits and attempt to roll over and crawl away, bare bum and all.  It took creative diversionary tactics to keep her still long enough to do the diaper change (singing, sound effects, toys, etc.), but recently, she has been extremely good about staying still without having to hire a big, scary clown for the event.  This is good news, especially since Hubby and I both hate clowns.

Baby Champuru’s 9 month well-baby checkup is scheduled for next Friday, so we’ll get her current height and weight at that time.  I’m guessing that she must be around 18 pounds by now. Yes, she’s heavier than a bowling ball now!