9 Months Old

Here are nine ways Ian has changed over the past month:

1. Some days he only takes 2 naps. He still has days when he takes three 30 minute naps, but when he takes longer naps I don't put him down a third time. A nap that lasts 45-70 minutes is becoming more frequent although still not anywhere consistent enough to call the norm.

2. His favorite position for playing is sitting. He's still not a big fan of tummy time. He has learned to scoot around the floor (even on carpet!) while seated. He can travel quite a distance and rotate around as well.

3. His head smell has completely disappeared. Boo hoo!

4. He's had cereal and other solid foods in his bottles for a few weeks. He'll eat carrots by spoon, but he throws up if he's given cereal by spoon or any solid food (such as Gerber puffs or Cheerios). He's still not exactly thrilled with eating solid foods although yesterday he finally did enjoy a Biter Biscuit for the first time (see the pic). I'll be bringing this up at his doctor appointment next week.

5. He's nursing only once a day. He nurses 10-20 minutes each morning right after he gets up (the average is 15 minutes). It's still a cause for celebration if he can stay in the same outfit all day between his chucking and poop going up his back.

6. Which toys are his favorite constantly changes with one exception. He LOVES balls and balloons. We don't let him play with balloons without supervision due to the choking hazard.  He squeals with delight. I don't ever remember seeing Nadia be SOOO delighted to see a toy (at any age). He goes nuts at the sight of a balloon or large ball and buries his head in it (like he's going to eat it, lol). One toy he does NOT like is the See and Say. He is scared of it- particularly the mooing sound. HA HA! The swing and the gym have gone down to the basement. One of his favorite toys at the moment is the stethoscope. He will play that while in the stroller all the way to and from the park.

7. He gained a little less than a pound; he weighs 19lb 5oz. On Friday he wore size 12 month clothing for the first time, and it wasn't THAT big on him. He's growing up too fast!

8. He's continued to improve with sleeping at night. He goes down usually between 6-7pm and usually sleeps for 11 hours straight. He used to get up around 5:45am although this past 4 days he's been getting up between 5:00-5:30, which I haven't appreciated especially since Nadia slept until 7am a couple of those mornings. He's never slept 12 hours total no matter how early (6pm) or late (9pm) we've put him down. My goal over the next month is to get him to stay up until 7pm and sleep until 6am.

9. He said his first word - mama!!! So far it seems like Nadia is a Daddy's girl and Ian is a Mommy's boy.