We went to the doctor on Baby Boy's actual nine month birthday and found out that he's been decreasing in percentile both for height and weight, much like his sister did around this age. His statistics:
Height: 27 1/4" (11th percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs 9 oz (27th percentile)
Head: 87th percentile
At nine months, Baby Boy is:
- Wearing 6-9/9 month size clothing and doesn't seem to be in a hurry to outgrow any of it
- Wearing size 3 diapers (and has been for months)
- Pulling up on EVERYTHING
- Cruising some
- Crawling VERY quickly
- Signing "more"
- Clapping
- Playing with his sister
- Babbling with lots of "g" sounds. I actually heard him say "goo goo gah gah" the other day, which made me laugh. "Guck" is his favorite noise right now.
- Loving most foods. His favorite is avocado and also love beans, pancakes, whole green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, Cheerios (although not as much as his sister), Puffs, applesauce, peaches, and pears. He's even enjoyed the bits of shredded chicken that I've given him. He liked the bite of banana that I gave him, but then had a painful poop and I don't know if they're related, so I'm nervous about giving him more banana.
- Hating peas. That's the only food that he's shown a true distaste for.
- Idolizing his big sister. He wants to be doing anything that she's doing and be anywhere that she is. He giggles when he sees her and loves all of the attention that she gives him.
- Working on cutting tooth #6. Tooth #5 broke through January 19th (upper right) and we thought that the upper left would be close behind, but his teething symptoms have all but disappeared.
- Still sleeping like crap. Last night was a really good night and he was up 4 times. Most nights it's closer to 8--3 times before we go to bed and then up every 1 to 1 1/2 hours unless we let him sleep in our bed after nursing. He demands to nurse each time that he wakes after about 10:00, too, so that's fun. (Yes, that was sarcasm)
- Curious about everything. He loves to get into a basket that I keep on the bottom shelf of a bookcase that holds some loose recipes. He starts to crawl toward it, then looks up at me, knowing he shouldn't get it. Or he'll crawl toward it and I'll say his name and he immediately looks at me and grins. Sometimes I can distract him, but most of the time the basket just gets moved.
- Still nursing 4-5 times during the day and then many times overnight. If he's distracted enough or enjoying his table food enough (which he does), he doesn't demand three daytime feedings, which used to be at 10, 1, and 4 with a morning and bedtime nursing session as well.
- Giving KISSES. He will grab your face and lean in with a wide open, drooly mouth and put it inside your lips. If you cut it off too early for him, he'll lean around to try to get you again!
- Growling when he's frustrated. It's hilarious, honestly. If he's out of food and really wants more, he'll growl at you. He also growls when he gets frustrated, especially because he can't move quickly enough to do what he wants to do.
I'm trying to get him more interested in looking at books, rather than just chewing on them or throwing them around. It's hard to read to both kids when all he wants to do is chew on it and won't accept a replacement.
In general, Baby Boy is an absolute joy. He is happy and funny already. He is incredibly curious and wants to be involved in anything that's happening around him, but can also be pretty independent and entertain himself. The joy that he brings to my life is more than I ever could have imagined. I enjoy almost every moment with him (I would be lying if I said every moment...) and am actually disappointed when I have to put him to bed for the night or put him down for a nap because I miss him and his big smile.
