9 months old!

Kathryn turned 9 months yesterday! I can hardly believe it! She's growing up so fast, and is getting sweeter by the day. She goes to the doctor for her checkup on Monday, so I will post her latest stats then. But for now, here are her day-to-day doings.
The biggest news is that she can now crawl! She started just yesterday! We assume she decided that since she was 9 months old, it was time to get moving. We've been waiting for this day, as she's been so close to crawling for about a month now! She's still really slow and tentative with it, and only does it occasionally when she really wants something (like a piece of paper), but I'm sure as she catches on the next few days, she's really gonna take off.

This picture was taken of her last night around 9:00. It was after her bedtime, of course, but she can't resist when she sees the camera to smile! Prior to her crawling feat yesterday, she had gotten quite proficient at scooting all around the floor. In fact, she often cries if she's being held too much because she wants to be down and moving. This picture is from the other day. She was in the kitchen, and scooted herself until she was laying on her belly under this chair. Then she sat back up, and this was the result. I promise this was not staged at all...we just watched her, and then grabbed the camera to capture the moment. (After she smiled for the camera, she of course started crying because she had no idea how to get herself out of the mess she was in. Even if I walk out of a room for a moment, I often come back in to her fussing to discover she's gotten herself stuck under a chair, bed, or sofa, and can't get out.)
Me with my baby, getting so big now. We had spent the evening with our friends the Minters, and that's why we were out so late for Kathryn. The Minters have a daughter who turned 2 in August, and her and Kathryn love each other so much. They love exchanging hugs and kisses, and did so all night long. It's fun to spend time with them and see a friendship develop between the girls.
Our last picture from last night. She was just being too cute, we couldn't stop taking pictures (our camera was full, though, so we only got a few).
Some of the other things Kathryn's been up to:
-she now waves bye bye all the time, and we think she can say it too (her first word), in that she'll sometimes accompany the waving with "Baaaa baaaaa, Baaaa baaaaa." She never says anything else when waving, although she babbles other stuff all the time at different times. What do you think? Is it her first word?
-she continues to give kisses and hugs all the time, to people (even random people she's never met), to stuffed animals, to babies in books... She is quite loving.
-she cried again last weekend when we were visiting the Lookabills and their new baby, Jude, because he started crying. She looked up at me and started a pitiful little cry. I do think God is growing a compassionate heart in our little girl.
-she has stopped nursing on her own accord. About 3 1/2 weeks ago, she suddenly refused to nurse one day. I had planned on breastfeeding her for 12 months at least, so I called all around to anybody and everybody I could think of for help and advice. After realizing I was trying everything they told me to do, I continued trying for the past 3 1/2 weeks. Finally, yesterday, with much sadness and tears, I conceded to the fact that it looks like Kathryn will not return to nursing, and I finally released it to God. It has been quite the emotional time for me, but I trust God to take care of my little girl and do what's best for her and our family.

In the interest of keeping this from getting too long, and because that's all I can think of off the top of my head, I'll stop here. Thanks for keeping up with our family, especially this little one, and for all the prayers that I know get prayed to God on her behalf. We truly are blessed with such a wonderful family, and wonderful friends and extended family.