9 Months? Seriously?

All of the other months seemed pretty normal, but for some reason reaching the 9 month mark seems like a bigger deal. So much has changed this month. Katy has started crawling, (mostly when motivated by mommy not being right next to her, or seeing someone with food) will wave to people, clap her hands, and is pulling up on stuff. (Mostly on me, since she'd rather not leave my side) The crawling is kind of fun because she doesn't army crawl much at all, which is what Reilly and Jaina did for a month or two before they got upright. Maybe it's because they were so much chubbier than she is. She's at about 18 lbs (I think). She is still nursing, but just barely. She'll nurse about 2 1/2 times a day, for a few minutes each time. I am glad she is still getting little bits of those important nutrients and antibodies, but with as little as it is, sometimes I almost wish we were just done. I'm sure that day is coming soon. We made it so much farther than I did with the other two! (Reilly stopped at 6 months, and Jaina at 4) This month she also did a little more "cry-it-out" (since she wouldn't nurse to sleep anyway) and now goes down really well 95% of the time. SO nice. Her sleep is less stressful for me these days. I recently switched her to 2 naps instead of 3. I can never tell how long she is going to sleep (anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours(!) but she usually averages about 2.5 hours of naps during the day. Kates is also (fingers crossed) sleeping through the night now. This is a recent development, and I really hope it sticks. She's been sleeping 10-12 hours a night this week. It is awesome. Every once in a while she wakes up and needs to be rocked for a few minutes or (if it's near morning) to nurse for a few minutes, but in general she's doing awesome. She has done so much growing and changing this month; maybe that's why it seems like such a milestone for me. She is a little sweetheart, and always makes us laugh. At the same time, she knows -exactly- what she wants (and usually gets it) and is a bit of a tease. Her favorite game is going back and forth from Mom to Grandma and then wanting the other one within 20 seconds... We love our Kathryn Emily so much and we're so glad she's part of our family!(We're also very glad that her Daddy is going to be home in 2 days. Finally! He's been in Iowa for a month, and just took his last set of National Boards...)
Here are some 9-month-pics of Katy, in a cute outfit she got from her cousin, Chloe: