Given my discouragement about Karis’ 9 month checkup today.  I thought I’d finish writing up this post about Karis.  I feel like God is reminding me about the words in Phillipians 4:8,

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Karis is lovely and praiseworthy because she is created by God, loved by God, and a blessing to our family.  I think it is good to write and think about the good things of Karis.  So, let me continue to praise God about Karis.

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Earlier this week when I was at the store, an elderly lady helped Jonas in the cart for me. When we were in the store, Karis was sitting in the front of the cart and smiled at the lady.  The lady asked how old Karis was, and I said 9 months.  She was very surprised and said that Karis was really small.  Yes, Karis is small, but only weight-wise.  It’s deceiving how tiny she is because she is actually quite tall for her age; so she’s not necessarily petite.  She is, however, a cute bundle of sweetness.

Two common comments from people about Karis, 1) She’s beautiful/cute/gorgeous/etc. and 2)  She’s so happy!  I’m not really going to address the first comment, because I completely agree (and yes, I know I’m biased because I’m her mother), and why disagree with the public, right?   As for the second comment, that she’s happy, she totally is.  She is an incredibly happy baby.  By happy, I don’t mean that she’s always content and never cries.  No, she does fuss and cry when she’s frustrated, tired, or hungry.  She let’s you know she’s unhappy.  By happy, I mean that she has a very joyful personality.  She smiles so easily.  She loves to smile at people.  And when she smiles, her whole face lights up, and you can see how happy she is in her eyes.  The girl also loves to laugh.  Ok, let’s be honest here, the girl doesn’t laugh, she cackles.  Yes, that’s what I said, cackles.  When something tickles her, she will just cackle over and over again.  Her brothers are experts at getting her to cackle wildly.  It’s quite infectious when all of the children are laughing together!  Another reason why I say that Karis is happy is because when she’s sick, she’s still happy!  A month ago, I brought Karis in to the doctor because she was wheezing and the doctor was so surprised that she was so happy!  The poor girl had bronciolitis, and she was smiling!  I will say it’s such a blessing to have a happy girl even when she’s sick an teething!

Karis is becoming increasingly social.  Mrs. Jaime said to me today, “She’s so advanced socially!  Soooo advanced.  She’s amazing!”  Part of the reason I think that she’s a social “genius” is because she’s an extrovert.  It’s being ever so apparent that she is.  It doesn’t take her long to figure out that she’s been left in a room by herself.  She lets you know that it definitely not okay for her to be by herself.  She doesn’t need interaction from people, but she loves having people around.  Sometimes, I’ll just sit by her exersaucer and fold laundry, and she’ll be perfectly happy playing by herself knowing that I’m right next to her.  She doesn’t mind other people holding her or being left with strangers; as long it’s people, she’s happy.  She’s quick to smile at others, which prompts the popular comment, “She’s so happy!”.  She loves to grab faces as if to say, “Come closer, I want you near!” which we are happy to oblige most of the time.  She is starting to make more sounds and stringing the sounds together.  One of her more common ones is “dada”, which my husband loves.

Karis is developing quite nicely physically.  She now has four teeth, three of which are coming in at the same time.  She is able to sit for quite a long time, and it is, right now, her favorite positions.  She isn’t crawling yet, but she is gaining mobility.  She is able to spin herself while sitting so that she can reach toys that she wants.  When she is on her belly, I’ve seen her inch ever so slightly forward to get a toy she wants.  Most of the time when she is on her belly, she kicks her legs excitedly  She is getting closer to putting her legs underneath her, but we haven’t actually she her successfully do it.  I’m sure that that in a month or two, she’s going to be even more mobile!  Her fine motor skills are growing as well; she loves to grab things, even things as small as Cheerios.  She can, on occasion, pick up a Cheerio and put it into her mouth.  Most of the time, however, the Cheerio ends up in her palm and she has yet to figure out how to open her hand to insert the food.  I know the day will come, however!

In the past month or so, Karis has given up her third nap.  She usually goes to bed between 6:40 – 7:00PM, depending when she wakes up from her afternoon nap and/or how busy our evening becomes.  The past few weeks, Karis has started sleeping all the way through the night, waking up around 6:30AM-7:00AM.  Can I stop to say that she is amazing?  She did this all by herself; we didn’t have to cut out the 5AM feeding.  There are times, however, she does cry out for a few minutes at night before settling back down.  Even when she’s sick, at most, she’s up fussing for 30 minutes.  It’s been such a blessing to be able to have her sleep so long!  As she’s gotten older, it seems like sickness seems less likely to wake her up, which is such a relief for me.

I saved the best for last.  Karis loves her family.  Loves, loves, loves.  When daddy comes into sight, she has such a big grin on her face and kicks excitedly.  When I come into sight, she does the same, though my husband will claim that she’s much happier to see me than him.  It’s such a sweet thing to be recognized and visibly loved by your child!  Karis’ adoration for her brother’s has not changed one bit.  She loves her brothers, and I have a feeling that she is just itching to join them.  When her brothers are running around the house, she will turn her head to the sounds of her brother, searching for them and eagerly awaiting to when they might run past her.  When her brothers stop and give her some attention, she just lights up.  There is no other way to describe it.  She is in bliss being around them!  I have a feeling in a few months, that there will be a little girl trying her darndest to keep up with the boys!  Won’t that be a sight to see!