...And I cannot believe it. I started missing him as a small and sweet little baby when he was about 4 months old, and now here he is at 9 months! Oh my. We've had quite a journey over the past 9 months, and I grow to love him more and more everyday. I thank God often for such a wonderful blessing. I look forward to coming home every day to my family.
Milestones:
We found a second tooth on January 5th. Now, both of his bottom middle teeth are coming in strong. In fact, the second one we found seems to be coming in faster than the first one. He still has a hard time with the pain, and I know it's only going to get worse because my parenting advice books all point to molars being the most difficult. Something to NOT look forward to!
He is eating more solids every day. I finally learned how to use my Baby Cook machine, and I love it! His very first taste of Mommy's homemade food was bananas and cherries, which he loved! Since then, we have also made other items in the machine: carrots, sweet potatoes, apples & pears with cinnamon, and corn with a little butter. He seems to gravitate towards fruits. Maybe he has a severe sweet tooth just like his Mom and Dad. Mark can eat candy like it's going out of style, and I can eat chocolate non-stop if you'd let me. The Baby Cook is so rewarding - I feel so good knowing that he is getting wholesome food with no preservatives. It was difficult to use at first, but now I've got the hang of it, no problem. I dice up all of his food, fill the water reservoir up to the 2 or 3 mark depending on the type of food, put the food in the little steamer basket, wait 7-10 minutes, keep some of the water for nutrients/flavor, and pour the steamed food into the processor to puree. Sometimes we'll add a little of his formula into the mixture or butter (fat is good for babies -- wouldn't you know?) Yay me! I'm so proud of myself.
He had his 9-month Well Baby visit last Friday. He weighs 19 lbs and 13 oz, and he is 29 3/4 inches long (so that 20 lb estimate from last month was wrong!) His head is 18 inches. Must have a big brain. No shots this visit because he was sick, but he does have to catch up on one shot that he missed from his 6-month visit (she was out of the vaccine), so we have to go back in a few weeks for another Prevnor. We discussed 2 things that she recommended we stay away from: Shoes and 1st Birthday Party blow-out bashes. She said that babies outgrow shoes every few weeks, and we'd be better off putting the money towards a dinner out to eat for me & Mark (ha! yeah right). And I guess there is some sort of 1st Birthday blow-out bash trends that's been pretty popular that she doesn't quite understand. I'm in agreement with her thoughts. As long as Alex gets to shove his face full of icing sugar goodness on his 1st Birthday, that's all that matters to me. She also recommended to try and ween him off of the 4th bottle he takes per day by eating solid foods in combination with his first 3 bottles of the day. Another wonderful idea because his formula cans are about to make me go broke. At (4) 7-8 oz bottles per day, and a can is 23.4 oz of power, I feel like we're always buying formula. Not to mention after using the Baby Cook, I realize how cheap an organic bag of carrots is compared to us supporting Mead Johnson Nutritionals' business conglomerate.
Learning:
It is so sweet to watch him learn about his world and immediate surroundings. He has so many toys, and he just looks fascinated when he plays. I like to lay on the floor and look up at him while he watches his toys make noise, rattle, and shake.
I think that he knows his name because he turns his head when you say "Alex".
We also witnessed him clap his hands 2-3 times after we said: "Alex, clap your hands". So adorable.
We also enjoy listening to him babble non-stop. Before we go to sleep, sometimes we take him to our bed and listen to him while he rolls around and says "Da-da-da-da-da-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-ahhhh-" and of course the high-pitched shrieking. He really makes us laugh now, so I cannot imagine how cute it will be when he actually starts talking.
And he has realized how to bite ME! We have been victims of his little nipping "vampire attacks". I don't know when or why he started this, but he likes to nibble on my chin and nose, and I've seen him also do this to Mark and Grandma Candi. Hope this is a habit that we can break before he starts playing with other children. I've read that it is quite common for pre-schoolers to bite their friends.
Development:
Alex has settled into a rather predictable napping routine. He usually takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap. If we can avoid it, we try not to let him sleep after 5-6 pm in the evenings, but sometimes he gets so grouchy, and all he wants to do is sleep.
He isn't quite crawling yet, but rather he will guide you until you realize that he wants you to stand him up so he can practice walking down the hallway. I have a feeling he is going to completely skip crawling and go straight to walking. He likes to lay on his belly, and instead of crawling to something, he rotates himself around in a 360-degree circle using his hands to move himself. He looks like a fish-out-of-water when he does this. And finally, he can sit-up about 99% unassisted.
He is getting so long that I am relishing these last few months when I rock him to sleep in our glider. When I sit down, I always realize how quickly this time is going to pass and that someday I will not be able to hold him and rock him to sleep anymore. I love to put my hand on his forehead, kiss his cheek, listen to him breathe, and yes -- even the times when he fights me against going to sleep. I'll never get these days back again until he has a little brother or little sister someday. For now, I will savor every last moment and enjoy my time while he is still small enough to slumber in my arms.
Nana and Pepaw are supposed to be coming up for a visit next weekend. I know they want to get together with Grandpa Greg and Grandma Candi too, so I am looking forward to next weekend. Let's just pray for good weather and no snow!!
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