Jan 28

Nine Months with Ivy

SHOP THE POST:

I feel like I’ve probably said this before, and I’m certain I will say it again before long, but this age? It’s my absolute favourite. Our sweet Ivy girl continues to have the most wonderful personality, and she makes us laugh all day long. She now dances – shaking her big ol’ diapered booty – at any given chance (though she is partial to Elmo’s “happy happy dance dance” song), she gives a solid high five, and has the cutest scrunchy-nosed stink face that we can’t get enough of. She loves (LOVES) music, and has now started to quietly hum along with me as I sing her to sleep, which makes my heart explode each and every time. In addition, when you say “how big is Ivy?” she throws her hands above her head with a huge toothy grin on her face as we exclaim “so big!!”. Not only is it the cutest thing ever, but it also happened to be one of my tricks as a baby. My heart can’t handle it all sometimes.

For the first time ever, as I was rocking her to sleep one evening, I had a moment wherein I noticed how big and heavy she’s beginning to feel. It both filled my soul, as watching her grow is the most incredible gift, and also made me want to sob with grief as our baby is changing so damn quickly. My soul is full but not always prepared for these vast and often conflicting emotions that accompany motherhood. While I admit I’ve been surprisingly good at consciously remaining (mostly) fully present and peaceful since her arrival, I have been finding myself forcing myself to stop and really soak in these moments more and more as of late.

In addition to filling the lives and hearts of so many, she’s now rocking eight teeth, she continues to eat like a champion, and has begun to pull herself up to standing – which I am fully unprepared for. She recently let go of the ottoman for a few moments and seeing her standing fully vertical was such a trip.

She is the greatest gift, the best thing we’ve ever done, and I don’t even want to begin to imagine what these last few months would have looked like without her by our side. Following is a peek at what we’ve been up to this month.