Juno is 9 months old!

Can you believe this little cutie has been out of my belly just as long as she was in it??

Juno's been out of her cast for 3 weeks, and in that time she has learned that she can roll across the room to get to something she wants. She can turn herself in a circle when she's on her tummy, and she pushes herself up so high that I think crawling is right around the corner. She is getting better at sitting, but still needs a lot of support. When I hold her upright in a standing position, she bears weight on her legs for a few seconds at a time, but not constantly. That's normal for HD babies--I'm actually surprised she's bearing any weight at all! She does wear her hip abduction brace at night to stabilize her hip and probably will for a few more months.

Here's a list of things Juno can do now that she's out of her cast:

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  Sit in her bumbo seat


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  Swing in the baby swing outside


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  Ride in a normal carseat


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  Wear pants, leggings, tights, legwarmers, etc


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  Suck on her toes


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  Go swimming (although she hates it)


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  Sit in an umbrella stroller


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  Roll both directions (back to front and front to back)


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  Sit up


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  Ride in the baby basket of a shopping cart


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  Sleep on her tummy (which she prefers)


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  Take a bath!

Juno finally started babbling. I've been starting to worry because she has never babbled "bababa" or "dadada" or anything similar. But this week she started saying "mamama"! Yay! I know she's not talking about me, but I still like that her first consonant sounds were mama.It's crazy how many things the cast affected. You wouldn't think being in a body cast would have an effect on fine motor skills, but it did! Since she couldn't sit in any kind of chair with a tray, she didn't practice using the pincer grip very much. Now that she can sit in a bumbo seat and eat finger foods, her fine motor skills are improving. She's also just learning that flapping only one arm is "waving".
Not sure how much she weighs, but I'm guessing around 12 pounds. She is down to two feedings at night, one before I go to bed, so I only have to wake up with her once. Easy peasy. I've also started gradually weaning her--I alternate nursing and bottles of milk throughout the day.Finally, plans for her birthday party are coming right along. It's going to be absolutely adorable, so stay tuned!