Wait for it…wait for it…Da Da!!  Yep, those were her first words.  She’s been babbling a lot lately, but Tuesday night she was scooting on the floor towards the dining room, which is where Van was sitting.  She looks right up at him and clearly says “Da Da”.  It was the cutest thing ever!  No other babbles.  Just Da Da.  I was so excited, yet a little jealous.  Van was obviously elated!  It was really neat too, that she knew what that meant.  She knew Van was Da Da and she was calling for him.  Such sweetness!

She had her 9 month check-up this week and she did good.  Notice I didn’t say “great”.  She hated it actually.  She threw a fit when the nurse tried to weigh her, another fit when the nurse tried to measure her length, and she clearly voiced her opinion as the doctor examined her and gave her a shot.  Not a happy camper.  She’s growing well though.  Our little pumpkin is now 17.05 pounds, 27.25 inches long, and her head circumference is 46.25!  Yes, that is a huge head compared to the rest of her little body.  Her head is in the 96% percentile!  That’s because of her large, intelligent brain of course   The doctor answered all of my questions.  I really really like our doctor.  I had a bad experience with another doctor in that practice, and was thinking about switching practices.  But at her 6 month visit, this doctor had to fill in for ours who was running late, and I absolutely loved him!  So I decided to stay.  It feels nice to have a doctor you feel comfortable with, who is knowledgeable, friendly, and seems to genuinely care about your child.

Here’s a funny tidbit of what Ashley is doing now.  Well, she’s been doing it for about a month actually.  I’m just now getting around to blogging about it.  She puts her hands up in the air, and looks up at them.  Van says she is the Queen calling her subjects.  That’s exactly what it looks like.  It is so funny!  I guess she is fascinated by her hands, so she holds them high up in the air and looks at them.  Sometimes she even babbles to herself or will hold a toy high up in the air and talk to it.  Here are a few shots of her doing it with Van before we went on vacation.