Our littlest turned 9 months old last Sunday! (Yes, I'm posting this a week late. We had a busy week. :) )
Here's his 9-month picture!
(For some reason he wasn't in a smiley mood this night.) And the roundup:
1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months
Dearest Greyden,
Nine months, wow! I can't believe that in less than 3 months you'll be a year old. I'm pretty sure time flies faster with every child you add to your life.
You've made some awesome strides in your development over the last month! You rolled over from your back to your stomach for the first time on Sunday April 21st (one week before turning 9 months old) and holy camoly was your momma here excited! Since then, you've been getting better and better at it, and now you roll all over the floor, back to front and front to back. I realize this is something that most children do about 3 months earlier, but no mattter to me, I'm still so thrilled inside to see it happening. And of course you're happier because you can actually get to your toys that are out of reach! You've also started picking your belly up off the floor a bit. Still not fully onto your hands and knees, but it's progress, and I will take it. :)
Your favorite "word" right now is "mamamama" which you seem to use mostly to get my attention but also to ask for "more" when you want more food. You love to roll and click your tongue and blow air out of your mouth to make your lips vibrate (and spit fly everywhere). You started clapping your hands together at 8 1/2 months, and you started playing peek a boo all by yourself and waving on Monday April 29th during my Bible study (one day after turning 9 months old). The peek a boo and waving are absolutely adorable. For peek a boo, you hold a blanket up over your face and then throw your arms down fast with a grin on your face, waiting for us to exclaim "Peek a boo!!" And when you wave you get both little chubby hands going in every direction, so as to make sure everyone in the room gets a little wave love.
You love to pull up to your feet to stand, but only when you're using someone's fingers. And then while you're standing, you dance the whole time. You shake your little body here, there, and everywhere, very rarely standing still. At first I thought you had poor balance, but then I realized that you were doing it on purpose. Silly child.
Although you love to stand, and it's probably your favorite position, you have yet to move your feet or take any steps, even with prompting. While holding your hands, I will try to lean your forward so you'll take a step, but you just lock your legs and hang out at a slant. I'll try to rotate your body to move your feet for you, but it's an awkward struggle. It's just not your thing yet!
You've started really annoying your brother at times, which I can't lie, really entertains me. You take things from him, squeal at him, and turn off the app on the iPad while he's trying to watch cartoons. He gets so mad and whines, "MOM!! Greyden keeps turning it OFF!!!!" and I can't help but giggle inside.
You're still breastfeeding, and you're very picky about what I do while you're eating. If I try to read a book you'll slap your hand on it and detach from nursing to try to push it away or play with it. Half of the time if I'm playing on my phone you do the same thing. If I talk to anyone, you detach to watch and listen to the conversation. Even when I just sit there in silence staring at you, sometimes you'll still detach every 30 seconds to throw your head back and look around to make sure you're not missing anything. Or sometimes you'll detach several times in a row just to pause to look at me and smile. (Yes, as annoying as they are, those moments do make my heart melt.) It makes our nursing sessions...entertaining, to put it nicely...but we're getting through. Just three more months and we'll have reached my goal!
Oh, and all of a sudden recently you've decided you hate bottles, from everyone including Grandma Eileen. When I picked you up this past Thursday, she informed me that she's really been struggling to get you to drink your milk, and that that day you barely drank anything at all. So now we're trying every type of sippy cup under the blazing sun trying to get you to drink. After about 50 million tries and a bagillion bucks, I think we may have finally found one that you'll use (kudos go to my friend Jess for showing me her daughter's cups!) and so we'll see how you do this coming week at daycare.
In terms of solid foods, you LOVE to eat, and have recently started wanting to eat the same foods that we're eating for dinner. Every day you eat 4 to 6 containers of pureed food, some rice cereal, baby puffs or mum mum bars, and then small bits of our regular family meals. You are definitely an eater! Oh and your lower lip oftentimes sits crooked, like it's half sucked into your mouth. Your daddy and I think it's the cutest thing ever.
We had your 9-month checkup a couple days ago, and you were a healthy growing boy. You scored very well in the fine motor and problem solving areas of the ASQ, but you were behind in the gross motor as we expected. You were 20 lb 15 oz (55th percentile), 30 inches long (92nd percentile), and your head was 18 inches around (61st percentile). I talked to the doctor about your recent refusal to drink from a botttle, and she suggested some possible remedies and said we'll need to watch your weight to make sure you're getting enough milk. She said your weight is fine as it is, but she doesn't want to see it drop off a whole lot.
You are such a happy boy, and so chill when I take you out in public. I think it's because you love being outside and people watching. And you are an awesome napper, much better than your brother ever was. I know I will get a solid nap out of you every morning and afternoon, and then sometimes you'll even play in your crib for a while after you wake up. Overall you've been a super easy baby to raise!
Love you little man! 'Till next month!
Love,
Your Mommy
