9 Months Old!

Dear Michael,

 

Today you are 9 months old!   You are growing up right in front of our eyes!  You are still the happiest baby I know and I couldn’t be more proud to be your Mommy!  Your Daddy and I laugh every day at the silly things you do and we rejoice when you achieve new milestones. 

 

Here are some of the high-lights from this month:

 

 

Sizes: 

 

·       Clothes: You comfortably wear size 12 month and 18 month clothes.  I can still snap a 9-month onesie, but we’re cutting it pretty close.    For PJs now, we’ve moved beyond the typical “jammie” footie sets and now I pretty much dress you in a t-shirt and loose pants.  It’s warm enough down here now that it’s ok if your arms are bare at nighttime.  You wear a Halo brand sleep sack to bed (size X-large for growing room!) and this is a 100% cotton sleeve-less wearable blanket that keeps you just warm enough. 

·       Diapers:  During the day, you wear Kirkland Signature size 4 diapers, and at nighttime you wear size 4 Huggies Overnights—this is a fabulous diaper and it does a phenomenal job!

 

Milestones:

·       Furniture cruising

·       Rapid crawler (you are so very fast!)

·       Super-fast speed racer in the walker!

·       You can easily pull yourself to stand

·       Your bottom two teeth are officially in & gleaming and are very noticeable to others!

·       You can say “Buh-buh” and wave “bye-bye”

 

Eating:

 

·       You eat three meals a day:  Oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, and a meat/veggie combo for dinner.  Your snacks include Puffs broken into teeny-tiny pieces (we’ve had a couple choking incidents and your poor Mommy’s heart can’t take it.  So, we break the star-shaped Puffs into 5 or 6 pieces so that choking is a non-issue.  I still think you might end up being the only kid in kindergarten who brings a lunch consisting of baby food!)  We also give you ice cubes and fruit chunks in your mesh teether. 

·       You are able to drink water and diluted juice from a sippy cup.  You find it easiest to get water and juice out of the travel sippy cups (without all the fancy valves). 

 

Favorite Foods: Banana and mixed berry  or apple/pear/banana combo.

 

Least Favorite Food:  Baby food chicken by itself.  We pair this with a veggie in order to get you to eat it without making a terrible face!  

 

Favorite Toys (that you’re supposed to have): 

·       Steering wheel/dashboard toy:  You LOVE LOVE LOVE to press the horn.  This toy says “Beep! Beep! Out of the way!” when the horn is pressed.  I’m not sure I’m too fond of it.  I believe it’s teaching road rage at an early age.

·       Green car at Grandma Chip’s house:  Once again, you’re a horn honker!  You will lean with one arm out of the car, and honk the horn with your other hand.  Somebody’s been watching Daddy drive.

·       Winnie the Pooh laptop at Grandma Dana’s house: This toy has remained a favorite for months!  You especially like to pull the butterfly button to hear the whooshing sound.

·       Walk-behind Musical Station from Grandpa Mike:  Although you can’t walk behind this yet, you stand in front of it and mash all of the musical buttons.  You treat us to beautiful music every day.

 

Favorite Toys (that you’re not supposed to have):

·       Remote controls

·       Cell Phones

 

Favorite Toys (that you think you’re not supposed to have):

·       Wireless Computer Keyboard

·       Random plastic plates, and measuring cups, and dishtowels

·       Shallow cardboard box that we placed in the living room.  You crawl in and out of it and put your toys in it! 

 

Favorite Things that are not Toys:

·       Your pup-pup Akuna.  You love to feel his soft fur!

·       Grandma Chips’ dog, Delilah.  You practice saying her name “Wi-wuh!” over and over and over.  I remind you that “Delilah lives at Grandma Chips’ house.” 

·       Burp cloths.  You choose to snuggle with these soft little blankets during your naptimes and at bedtime.  We call them the “Mommy blankies” because we use them during feedings, so they smell like Mommy.

You recently started throwing back your head when you laugh and it's SO funny!  It totally cracks me up! 

You get a little over-zealous sometimes when you practice waving "bye-bye" and you rapidly swoosh your arm while your eyes get really big!  I say "fastfastfastfastfast!" when you do this and you laugh.

You are quite the charmer!  You will give "googly-eyes" at cashiers, and my co-workers, and to family members!  You give a little coy smile when I see you giving "googly-eyes" and it's so cute!


I love you so very much!  You are such a sweet baby and it's an absolute joy to be your Mommy!  Your Daddy and I just LOVE being your parents! 

I love you forever, Little One.  Love, your Mommy


*Pictures to come!  (My phone has reached it's full capacity on picture storage, so I have to rearrange some pictures and move some pictures to the computer so that I can take more pictures and put them on here!)