9 Months Old

Mama’s Sweet Little Boy,

You turned 9 months old yesterday, and it seems as if you’ve changed quite a bit in the past month. You’re still a baby, but I’m seeing a lot more personality and activity from you. You are starting to show signs of becoming your own little person these days!

(in Alex’s tent with a keyboard & a dictionary…which, I’m sure, were placed there by your big brother)

You’re really rolling to get where you want. You still mainly roll in one direction, so when you roll into something (like the couch) you just lay there, seemingly unaware that you could just roll the other direction.

You get up on your hands and knees, but you still haven’t figured out that you can crawl. Sometimes you’ll scoot backwards just a bit. That’s all. (I’m kind of glad, as your big brother leaves quite a few not-so-baby-friendly items on the floor!)

Your top teeth are starting to poke through. I know it’s hurting you. You’ve been chewing on your hands a lot, and you’re just a bit whiny – a big change from your usual smiling self!

You are babbling like crazy! Ba-ba-ba-ba. Ma-ma-ma-ma. Da-ba-ma-da. You make lots of happy squeals, too. You’re talkative, cheerful, and noisy!

You still just love to smile at people. We’ll be standing in the checkout at a store, and you’ll just stare at the person in line behind us, waiting for them to look at you. As soon as they look, your little face just lights up in a great big grin! You attract a LOT of attention from strangers when we’re shopping!

You’re eating SO MUCH better now! It’s as if it suddenly occurred to you that food is pretty tasty. You’ve gone from the “stop poisoning me” attitude to the “get that in my mouth – pronto!” squeals! :)

You love Puffs of all kinds, even the Meijer toddler puffs that are veggie flavored. I break the toddler puffs in half for you, as they’re kind of big.

You’re trying all sorts of table foods these days. Surprisingly, you even ate taco meat the other night. I expected a funny reaction from you, but you seemed to really like it. (This picture is sloppy joe meat.)

You like to stand, but only with assistance. You won’t pull yourself up. I can’t trust you to stand unless I have a hand on you. You are still way too wobbly. You refuse to sit in the tub, and it’s making bathtime a little crazy right now. It’s very difficult to bathe a wobbly, slippery baby who’s sharing a tub with an active big brother!

(To compare, at this age, Alex was just starting to pull himself to stand in his crib. He was also just starting to stand by his toys without help.)

You’re just over 17 pounds. We’ll find out the exact number tomorrow at the pediatrician. (At this age, Alex was 17 3/4 lbs and 28.5 inches long.) Editing on Wednesday to add: We visited Dr. Brewer this morning, and Max weighs 17.5 lbs and is 28 inches long. He's definitely growing just like his big brother - tall and skinny!

Since I was just making comparisons, Alex was starting to really get around in the walker at this age. You sit in the walker in the bedroom now when Mama’s taking a shower, but that’s all you do – sit. Maybe I should pull out the old walker that Alex used at this age and put it in the kitchen for you?

You and your big brother are starting to play together a little bit. He sometimes steals your toys, sometimes shares toy with you. Sometimes you scream when he takes away your toys, but other times you let him get away with it. Alex likes to include you when he can, but he doesn’t understand that you’re still too little for much of his play.

(In these pictures, Alex is pulling you into the tent by your toes. Oddly, you really seemed to like being dragged on your belly!)

In the past few weeks, you’ve started sleeping a longer stretch at night. (Hallelujah!) You go to bed around 8/8:15 PM, and you’re often sleeping until around 5 AM before waking to nurse. (Sometimes it’s around 3:30 AM, but more and more often, it’s 5ish.) It’s hard getting you back to sleep at 5 AM, as it’s starting to get light outside, and you’d like to stay awake. Usually, if I rock you for a bit, you’ll go back to sleep until around 7 AM.

You’re still napping at around 9:30 AM for 1 – 1.5 hours. You’re napping in the afternoon from 1:30(ish) until 3:30 or 4. (It’s 3:59 PM as I type this, and you’re sleeping still…)

You could probably to bed a little earlier at night, but by the time we manage to eat dinner, clean up, have a little playtime with Daddy, get baths, etc…well…it’s 7:30 already! So, 8 PM bedtime is what you get!

You’ve had double ear infections twice in the past month. My poor kiddo. The second time around, you are also miserably sick with a barking cough, stuffed up nose, and hoarse voice. You sound pathetic, and there’s not much we can do for you. Top that off with new teeth poking through, and you’ve got yourself a lot of reasons to be grumpy. I braced myself for some long nights, but through it all, you continue to be a good sleeper. You still smile a lot (although there were some moments of fussiness…). I think you are at the tail end of it now, and I’m hopeful that you’ll feel pretty well again in a few days.

You love to sit and play with your Sillytown these days. It’s the current favorite, I think. (Either that, or your favorite is eating impossibly small bits of paper, grass, and other “stuff” that’s hiding in the carpet!)

I blogged Alex’s baby days a little different than I’m blogging yours. He had more everyday posts, but not such a long monthly update. I wonder if I miss some of those every day moments when I blog about you.

I do know that my days are very busy with chasing, organizing, playing, cleaning, go-go-going…and sometimes I don’t take those moments to just sit and snuggle with you. Those are the BEST moments, though – snuggling with you when you’re sleepy, sitting to sing a nursery rhyme with you or tickle your toes for a bit when Daddy is busy with Alex, cuddling you in the rocking chair at 5 AM. I love those precious little moments with you, my little buddy! I have to remember to cherish these baby days, as they are passing all too quickly.

I love you, sweet baby boy! (And I’m quite glad that you’re taking your time to reach your “getting big” milestones…good job!)