Nine months old!

11/13/2012 - 9 months old!

Judah William you are 9 months old! 3/4's of a year. The big ONE is getting too close for comfort! It seems these monthly updates are the only blog posts I have time to do these days, and that's fine by me - I'd much rather spend time with you that be on the computer :) I will try to get some of my favorite pictures of you over the past few months posted, though, and if I find the time I'll post about my favorite baby products for you from 3-6 months and 6-9 months.

This month you have amazed me to a new level with how clever you are - literally every day you wake up and you seem to be smarter and more aware and able to do more things. When I pictured you before you were born, I could only imagine you as a little squishy baby - this is so brand new to me, this almost toddler-ish stage that you are going through. I'm very comfortable with little babies - I know how to care for them and comfort them and keep them happy (and you were such an easy little baby!) - but this 9-month old little boy-ness often has me baffled! And you are ALL BOY, child. Busy, active, go-go-go, must-get-into-everything. And yet you are also studious and take the time to discover and thoroughly explore new things. Thankfully, you will still snuggle up and nurse or rock to sleep when you are tired... because goodness knows momma needs that time to rest and snuggle with you, too!

Nine months old, with an attitude :)

Trying to escape over the back of the chair.

Staring in awe at the ceiling fan...

We got one little smile eventually!

How big you are:

At your 9-month appointment on 11/13/2012 you weighed 22lbs 6oz (73rd percentile). You were 28 inches long (32nd percentile - shorty!), and your head circumference was 47.5 cm (94th percentile! - big head to harbor that smarty pants big brain of yours :)). You are starting to "thin out" a tiny bit now that you're moving around constantly, but you've still got plenty of lovable chubbiness :) I'm going to be so sad when all your little rolls disappear!
You are wearing 9 and 12 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 3 shoes.


What you LOVE:

You're still my little water baby, and bath time is probably your favorite time of day. You get so excited when we get you undressed and take you into the bathroom. We turn the taps on and wait for the water to be the right temperature, and you stand holding onto the edge of the bath squealing and bouncing and cruising up and down until we put you in the tub. We got you some nesting bath toy cups recently and you LOVE playing with them - filling them up with water and pouring it out, and putting the smaller ones in the big ones, watching the water sprinkle out of the pinholes in the bottoms of the cups.

Music - we always listen to a classical music radio station when we're in the car and it keeps you calm. You can be screaming but as soon as I put classical music on you calm right down and listen intently. I try to put music on at home as often as possible and you like pretty much anything - with or without vocals. You seem to get more excited about female vocalists at the moment - you like the higher pitch, maybe? Over the past couple of months you've started dancing to music, and oh my goodness, it is SO CUTE. If you're sitting you will start to wave your arms up and down and try to bounce on your bottom. If your standing you bounce on you little legs and wave your hands up and down at the same time. I put Christmas music on for the first time the other day and you went crazy dancing to it... you just about killed me with the cuteness.

Doors - you love doors of any kind... closet doors, kitchen cupboard doors, the front door, your baby gate, the media center doors... you will stand there for a long time just opening and closing the doors!

Bouncing - you love to stand up in your crib and bounce while holding onto the side. You also love to bounce on our bed. You try to bounce on anything that feels soft!

Any kind of furry animal - you're obsessed with animals, you squeal whenever we see a dog or a squirrel on our walks. You love to chase the ducks down by the lakes. You love your soft toys too. You have one round ball-shaped monkey that you are particularly fond of. You'll grab it by the arm and drag it around everywhere with you.

BOOKS - your books are your all time favorite toys... which makes me SO happy. Your Daddy and I both love books and reading. It was my favorite activity as a child. You will sit and look at your books for long stretches of time, flipping through them and studying them.

Other loves - Playing peekaboo in your crib, watching Pingu, exploring new things, getting into things you're not allowed, your musical learning/play table, snuggling with mama at nap time and night time, when Daddy comes home, when you see another  baby or small child (you get so excited!).


What you don't like:

- Diaper changes and getting dressed.

- Keeping still in general.

- You are wary of new people, and you like to keep momma close by. You like to be in momma's (or Daddy's) arms until you warm up to people!


What you've been up to this month:

Mimicking things - Like your squeaky Sophie Giraffe - every time she squeaks you let out a squeaky squeal! And you mimic us as well - if I say "mama" you say "mama"... if I say "ga-goo" you say "ga-goo". You've started trying to say "peekaboo" when we play it, too... it comes out "ah-boo"... so cute!


Talking - you say "mama" for me, and "dada" for Daddy. You are starting to try to really talk, and say more complex multiple syllable sounds like "gabagoo" or "ahboomaga"... it sounds like you are chattering away in your own little language :)

Standing alone - you've been working on it all month, but you would only stand alone if you thought you were being held up or holding onto something. We would sometimes "trick" you into standing alone by giving you a toy to hold in each hand and then letting go of you slowly while you stood there and played with your toys until you realized no one was holding you and you would plonk down on your bottom :) You didn't actually realize you were completely able to do it yourself until a few days before your 9-month birthday. Now you will pull up and just let go and stand! I think you'll be taking your first solo steps pretty soon!

Nesting things - you've become really good at nesting smaller cups into bigger cups. You also LOVE to put lids on things. We have some cardboard nesting blocks that you love to nest the smaller ones in the bigger ones. You also love for us to build towers with the blocks and then you knock them down one block at a time - it's really funny! You do the same with your wooden blocks when we build towers for you. Sometimes you'll grab the top block and then use it to knock the rest of the blocks off, one by one!

You understand so much now! It's incredible. You know simple commands like "come here", "no, don't touch that", "sit on your bottom, please" (in the bathtub), "turn the light switch off" (you love to "help" me by doing that). You know what "it's bath time" and "night-night time" mean. You know "mama", "dada", "outside", and "Pingu!" ( you get so excited when I say "let's watch some Pingu!" or "let's go outside!").

Your hand-eye coordination and fine motor control has improved drastically - you can pick up tiny things like your little puffs with your thumb and first finger and manipulate them very well.

You got your FIRST TOOTH! Your bottom middle left one. It popped through on 10/30/2012, when you were 8 and a half months old - and Nana was the one who noticed it had come through! Then I noticed your SECOND TOOTH - top middle left one had come through on 11/10/2012. I think it may have come in a few days earlier, but I only noticed it on the 10th. You like to click them together! Also, you have bitten me a few times while nursing, OUCH! I don't think you meant to, you just don't realize that you have teeth now. But I always firmly say "NO, Judah, do not bite Momma" and you haven't done it recently.

Your little brain is making so many connections every day. You are SO curious about everything. You've developed some fears - mostly the loud noises made by things like the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, or the washing machine etc. You start whimpering as soon as you see the vacuum cleaner, poor baby! The funny thing about you, though, is that even if you are afraid of something you STILL have to investigate it. You could be shaking and whimpering, but you still have to go up to the vacuum cleaner and study it and gingerly touch it.

Sleeping - very hit and miss this month. I think because you've been teething, the daylight savings time change, and some 9-month-old sleep regression = bad sleep. You've been waking up anywhere from twice a night, to every. single. hour. We're a little tired, needless to say. You have been taking generally good naps though - twice a day anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours each.

Eating - You're still not terribly interested in solid foods. You'll eat them, especially fresh fruit, and you like your cereal mixed with yogurt. But you have to be in a good mood, and not tired at all, in order to eat any solid food. Your favorite ( by far ) source of food is momma's milk, so we're still going strong with nursing. Usually you nurse every 3-4 hours during the day, and you nurse when you wake up at night which could be any number of times this month! Fortunately "food is for fun until age one" as the saying goes, so I'm not worried, especially since you are growing and very healthy.

This month was an exciting one because Grandad and Nana came to visit. Grandad arrived on 10/16/2012, three days after your 8 month birthday - it was your first time time to meet! You warmed up to him right away. Grandad took you on at least three walks a day to see the ducks, which you LOVED. Nana got here on 10/20/2012 after her meetings and we had a wonderful week all together. We took you to the Texas State Fair - we went last year when I was 22 weeks pregnant with you, so it was so fun to take you there as an 8 month old. We also went to the Dallas Arboretum and saw the pumpkin village, and you LOVED playing in the frog fountains. You soaked up all the attention from Grandad and Nana. When you would wake up in the morning and see Grandad you got so excited because you knew you were about to go on a walk to see the duckies with him! You two were great buddies. You loved your Nana, too - as soon as she arrived it was like you already knew her - I think you subconsciously remembered her from your first month of life, as well as talking to her on Skype all the time. She was very familiar to you and you settled right in with her. She was a pro at getting you to eat your food and putting you to sleep :) It was so wonderful to watch you play and explore together, marveling at your antics, and just sharing in the joy of YOU. And it was wonderful for us to see you with Nana and Grandad and watch how much you love them (and all the attention they gave you!). Our times with your grandparents are few and far between, but that makes them all the more special.

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Oh, what a month! It is so fun to watch you grow and learn in leaps and bounds. As I type you are chattering away to yourself as you pull out your books and flip through them one by one. It's so hard to believe that in nine months you have gone from a tiny, squishy, helpless newborn to playing and exploring independently, standing alone, and "reading" your books. Nine short months! Mind blowing. Slow down, baby boy!

We love you Judah William - from the tips of your wispy strawberry blonde hair to the ends of your chubby sausage toes.