Nine Months Old!

Happy Nine Month Birthday, sweetheart!

Considering how the first 6 months draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaged on and on, I can’t believe how fast the last 3 months have gone, especially this past month.  I feel like I just wrote an 8 Month update 20 minutes ago.  Anyway….

Nine months old and my boy is simply delicious right now.  He’s a handful (to say the least), but incredibly happy, sweet, and funny.  His personality has continued to bloom.  He’s still “opinionated” and does not hesitate to keep me in check if I dare to do something he doesn’t like, but we’re working on it.  I think he’s learning that mama can’t do exactly what he wants 24/7.  I continue to be the funniest person he’s ever met and I LOOOOOVE making him laugh.

He does not have the slightest understanding of boundaries…I mean WHY OH WHY won’t my mom let me play with the diaper pail in my room?? She’s SO mean.  And WHY OH WHY can’t I play with my sisters’ water dishes?? I’m just going to cry about it.  And WHY OH WHY do I have to lay on my back when you change my diaper?  Can’t you do it while I’m sitting up?  The good days are really good and the bad days are really bad.

He’s pulling up like a body-builder on everything he can get his hands on all the time.  I think it’s a matter of weeks that he’ll be standing on his own.  There has been several face plants and wipe outs around here lately.  Why can’t 9 month olds just live in a padded bubble?

Sleeping:

Napping is still hit or miss, but he continues to be a great night sleeper.  We can count on 11-12 uninterrupted hours of sleep every night.  Heavenly.  Considering how easy he is to get down, we thought it was WAY over due to hand him over to Gramma so we could go out last weekend (we’ve gone out before, but always after John was asleep).  So my mom came over right before bathtime.  John was totally cool during bath and getting ready for bed, but ho-lee-shitballs…he got MAD when we gave him his Gramma and a bottle.  My mom has given him several bottles before and Bud has put John to sleep with a bottle many times, but he just wasn’t having it.  For a minute, while listening to him wail and my poor mom doing everything she could think of to calm him down I was going to just put him to bed myself, but decided against it.  Thankfully, I know my mom will love him no matter what and I know that he will eventually tire out.  He never took the bottle, but eventually fell asleep in my mom’s arms while she rocked him.  We were worried that’d mean he’d wake up at 3:00am starving, but he slept until 7:00.  It’s a good thing because this mama was drunk and wouldn’t have been able to nurse him anyway.

On a good day, I’ll get two decent naps (decent = hour or more).  It makes SUCH a difference in his mood. 

Here’s John at the end of the day when he’s had two good naps:

Here’s John at the end of the day when he didn’t take two good naps:

Eating:

Great!  He’s really starting to like food.  His favorite BY FAR is Spinach, Mango, Pear.  He goes nuts for it.  I’ve given him a couple small bites of what I’ve eaten (pulled pork, rice, etc).  He looks at me like I’m crazy for sharing, but hasn’t turned anything down.

Oh, and water.  Always water.  The kid still can’t get enough.  You know how some moms nurse their babies when they hurt themselves?  Well, all I have to do is give him a sip of water. 

Size:

Big. Huge. XL.  Yea, he’s a beast, but I think he’s slimming down a little because he’s so active now.  Almost everytime I’m out of the house with him at least one person says something like “he doesn’t miss many meals, huh.” 

He’s wearing 9 and 12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

Teeth: 

FOUR.  Yep, he got two more the past couple weeks.

Mom, there's something in my mouth

Hair:  

Amazing.  It’s actually pretty long, but I don’t think it’s a mullet or a rat tail yet.

getting close?

Favorite Picture:

Why does this adult hat practically fit him?

No wonder I had a c-section.

Others:

Q: Guess who's taking this picture?  

A: Gramma - right before she tortured him by trying to feed him a bottle before bed.

It's hard to get into the fall spirit when you're both sweating, but we tried.

swinging is fun!

be still, my beating heart