9 months old

Gizmo celebrated her 9 month birthday by cutting a tooth overnight, keeping us up most of the night. When we woke in the morning, I looked in her mouth and sure enough, there was a tiny slit in her gums where the tooth will soon be. Here she is chewing on her hand. I could not get her hand out of her mouth.

She is my wild woman. She is no longer Maddie but Madeline Sarah 90 percent of the time because I'm chiding her for getting into something, putting something in her mouth and generally wreaking havoc in her cute little baby way.

She is cruising, people. Cruising. As in walking with the assistance of a table or couch or window sill. The other day, she let go of the table like she thought she could stand there unassisted. When she fell over, she was Not Happy. I'm guessing that is going to fuel her to learn to stand on her own faster.

She's been waving. Kind of. I think. She puts her hand up high in the air and just holds it there. She's gotten close to clapping but mainly because her hands connect while she excitedly flaps her arms.

Gizmo will eat anything you put in front of her. The other day she ate some of my stuffed pepper. She would prefer to feed herself, even if it takes 45 minutes.

Dressing her has become difficult to say the least. She goes into an alligator death roll the minute I put her in on her back and reacts like an angry badger when trying to shove her arms into her 12 month clothes that she easily fits into. I feel I deserve a medal or at the least applause each morning after dressing her.

She doesn't have any words really. She's been known to let off a string of "ma-ma-ma-ma" or "da-da-da-da." She loves to give raspberries, showering the person holding her with cute baby spit.

She's still not sleeping through the night. For awhile, we were down to one feeding a night but she's back to two. Those are the only feedings that I can get her to focus and concentrate. Nursing during the day is not easy but she's quick, mainly because she wants to get down and play with her sister.

I'm going to save this picture for when they are screaming at each other in 10 years over clothes or the bathroom or whatever else will cause the husband to lock himself in a room and drink.