*When we went to the doctor for his 9 month check up, he was 20 lbs (57th percentile), 29 1/2 in long (91st percentile), and had a head circumference of 17.5 in (34th percentile). Our boy is long and lean. He had rolls until he started crawling and now since he never stops moving all of that baby fat is gone!
*He is wearing size 12 clothes and size 3 diapers.
*His top two teeth have been fighting through for a couple of weeks now and I don't think we are far from them popping through.
*He is crawling ALL over the place and is a quick sucker. He is pulling up and can go from one thing to the other while standing up. Leslie came over with her kids and was holding him so he could stand up and she let him go and he stood there for a few solid seconds. I told her I was about to knock him over if he stood there for much longer! I am not ready for him to walk yet! It won't be long!
*He is an eating machine. I tried to give him pureed baby food a couple of weeks ago and he slung a fit!! He didn't want any part of it. He completely feeds himself and there isn't much he won't eat (depending on his mood). I was standing there the other day and I put a few grapes on his tray so that I could quarter them and when I looked up he had popped two whole grapes in his mouth, chipmunked them, and chewed each of them up and swallowed them. Then he looked at me like he was wondering who I was cutting those grapes for! He will eat wheat bread (really any bread), grapes, blueberries, turkey, cheese, carrots, peas, green beans, chickpeas, black beans, strawberries, bananas, pears, etc. He has eaten all of those things at one point and liked them, but he can be quiet moody and what he likes one day he may pitch a fit about the next day. He usually does a pretty good job of getting everything in his mouth until he is full or over the food that is on the tray and then he starts swiping his hands side to side and throwing his food on the floor. I have been working on sign language and I will be glad when he can do the 'all done' sign and not throw his food! He also loves to get his hands as full of food as he possible can and just eat what is on top. Such a mess!
*He is still saying all kinds of syllables put together. He says 'mamama' and 'dadadada' and 'buhbuhbuhbuh' and the other day he said his first 'sssss', so Caroline knows that is getting ready to say Sissy!
*He is all boy. All boy. He climbs, he pulls things down, he dumps things out, he gets into EVERYTHING and he is just SO dag on cute it is hard to get mad at him! We had to put the gate back up that separates the kitchen and the living room because the dog bowls were becoming a HUGE source of entertainment! It is also nice to be able to get something done in the kitchen for 4 1/2 seconds without him trying to climb up your leg. He will pull up on the gate and it looks like he is in little baby jail.
*He LOVES taking baths. He has started the stand up/sit down game and thinks it is hilarious. He also likes dropping the toys over the side of the bathtub and sitting up to see where they went.
*We got him some medicine for this eczema that has been great. We are still using eczema bath wash and lotion, but his spots on his arms and two on his back crop up every once in a while and this medicine calms it right down.
*We were going home to Wilmington and around Raleigh Jason said, 'You got his zippy, right?' I froze and felt like I was going to throw up. I remembered the entire dag on house, but the one thing I (thought I) needed to grab I did not. He had been in a ZippityZip since he was out of the swaddle and slept great. I knew that we were going to ruin his sleep and ruin our weekend and felt terrible. I texted Mom and asked her if she could run out and get him a sleep sack (because ZippityZips are online only). She ran all over the city of Wilmington and finally found one. I warned everyone that the sleep would be terrible. We laid him down in his sleep sack and within 5 minutes he was out. 7am the next morning, he woke up perfectly rested. Naps went great and the nights were great. He did not even bat an eye and that transition was one I was dreading. So, the Zippity Zips have been packed up and he is in full sleep sack mode.
*When we lay him down, the first thing he does is pulls himself up to standing and stays that way for a little while. Then he will sit down and finally lay down and go to sleep. THANK YOU BABY WISE! Even though I didn't follow the schedule nearly like I did with Caroline, I completely understood the importance of a schedule and letting him get himself to sleep and both of those have paid off tremendously. We now have two kids that we give a kiss before they go to sleep and we walk out of the room. Cam may fuss for a few minutes and Caroline may talk and play for a little bit, but they are able to put themselves to sleep without any assistance from us. This is great for them as they get older and great for Jason and me because we have our time together once they kids are in bed.
*He is a MAMA'S BOY and I love it. For a little while, Jason would go in and get him up from a nap and change his diaper and he would fuss and fuss until he saw me and I came and got him. He has started wanted Jason a little bit lately, but for the most part if he sees me, he wants to be with me. It is hard to get things done some times, but I know that it won't be long before he won't ever want to be held, so I try to enjoy it while I can.
*His favorite toys right now are anything that goes in his mouth. His favorites right now are a stick of sunscreen, the Lego Cinderella, the dog bones, his activity table, the alphabet train and the letters that come out of it, and anything else he is not supposed to have!
*When he is in a sweet, snuggly mood he gives kisses - aka, eats your face! I'll take it!
*He can be pretty aggressive. Caroline used to play with us and sit and touch and feel and learn and Cam smacks and grabs and rips. Boys will be boys!
He is the absolute cutest little boy I have ever seen and I know I am completely biased! His smile lights up my life and his little attitude and personality bring a smile to my face. I can't wait to see the type of boy he grows up to be, but right now I love that he loves to be with me. I love that he is into everything, because for a long time I wasn't so sure he would be. Every time he crawls and stands up and throws his food on the floor, I say a little prayer thanking God that he is ok and doing everything he is supposed to be! Love our sweet boy!
