This sweet baby is nine months old. And this last month brought more physical changes in his little life than any month before (probably combined). He went from not even rolling to rolling, crawling, standing and cruising! More on that below, but to say that it's been an explosion of mobility would be an understatement. Not only that, but he's just so cute. I can't say enough how much I love this stage. He's funny, sweet-tempered, independent, affectionate, and the list goes on and on. I'll admit there is something sweet about a newborn baby, but if babies arrived at this stage - I wouldn't be able to stop myself from having a hundred of them!
I'm already sad because I know that I won't be able to record everything that I've loved so much about this last month, but I'll try to capture the best parts.
*Stats*
{official stats are yet to come}
Size two diapers, although we'll be moving up to size three as soon as we are through this package. Nine month clothes. Size 2 shoes (he fits perfectly in size 2, but we bought size three because we wanted him to grow into them). No teeth yet. A little bit more hair growing in on top. His blue eyes are getting darker and in some of the pictures below, they look almost brown. In real life, they are a steel-blue, but I'm wondering if they'll continue to darken.
--In his 8 month blog post I said "We went from barely rolling to practically mobile!" Which was true. We were pretty sure that Austin could roll. He just didn't do it, almost ever. He was starting to scoot around a little bit, but wasn't really "mobile" yet. This month, and really- over the course of only about two weeks, Austin went from contentedly sitting and playing and occasionally trying to stand up to crawling, rolling, pulling himself up, cruising furniture, and standing unassisted for several seconds at a time. It's like he flipped a switch and decided that he wanted to do all of those things and he wanted to do them now!
One month is a long time. If I had written this blog post halfway through the month, it would have been completely different. Some of the little notes I've made in my planner to remind myself to include are completely outdated because he's grown so much so fast. But...
*He started by standing, then pre-crawling (rocking forward onto his hands and feet and back to a sitting position, then getting to his knees, then scooting his knees), then crawling, then rolling, then cruising. Such a funny order, but he does what he wants.
--He only rolls from his back to his front. If he's on his tummy he just pushes up to his knees then to sitting or crawling.
*He consistently pulls himself to a standing position. Nothing is safe. Chairs, toys, legs, Lydia, cabinets. He loves to stand and will pull himself up on anything he can find. He's now an expert at leaning down and picking things up, and even transferring from standing by one thing to standing by another (couch to table, toy to entertainment center, etc...)
*He's gotten so good at crawling in such a short time that I'm often surprised at how quickly he can get places. He crawls all around the room that we are playing in, stopping to pull himself up on something, or pausing to inspect something that he found in the carpet. Sometimes if we are in the family room, he'll sneak out and go explore the living room or kitchen. If we are upstairs and I move to a different room, he'll immediately follow me. There isn't much in the world that is more darling than a baby peeking around a doorframe to find where you've gone. (Our baby-gates have gone up and have to be shut all the time, he's so fast!) Also, he started crawling normal with both knees but then he realized that he could move even faster if he used one knee and one foot and used his foot to push him forward even faster. He only does it when he's trying to go really fast and it's funny.
*He'll sometimes let go of whatever he's using to help hold himself up and just stand on his own. I was half convinced that he was going to take his first steps before he was officially nine months old.
--One of the sweetest memories I want to remember from the last couple of months (that I think I've neglected to record in previous months) is that when I go in to get him from his crib he clings to my neck with one hand and reaches his other arm around my shoulder and pats my back. He does this especially when he's upset. It melts my heart.
--Also, he has the saddest sad faces!
--Now that he's mobile, if I want to keep him contained - I have to really work at it. We set up Lydia's old crib in the sewing room for my sister Jenna to use when they came to visit us. It's acted as a pretty perfect jail for Austin while I'm doing laundry. He liked it because he could practice pulling himself to a stand while he watched me.
--We've spent a lot of time outside this month, and we just noticed that Austin has little tan lines on all of his baby fat rolls where the sun hasn't been able to get into the creases. It's so cute.
--This boy is a champ eater. He loves pretty much everything that we give to him. Because he wouldn't eat pureed food, he basically started with table foods (thank you baby-led-weaning). I'm relieved now that he officially can have all types of food, because he liked wheat products and dairy products from the start. I basically just cut up whatever we are having into small pieces and he feeds himself. He also does great with larger pieces, like halved strawberries and strips of pancake or french toast. He just gnaws on them until he breaks them up enough to eat. At this point, some of his favorite foods are: avocado, cheerios, cooked zucchini, pasta, melon/cantelope, cherries, tomatoes, and any other fruit.
--He falls asleep sitting up in his crib (I haven't been brave enough to take a picture for fear of waking him up) and sleeps folded up with his head between his legs. It's so sad and so sweet at the same time. Also, when I go in to get him when he wakes up - he's always at least sitting up and most of the time he's standing at the edge of his crib.
--I mentioned above that we've put the baby gates up and have started latching them when Austin's around. I'm 100% about latching the upstairs gate when we are upstairs because Austin is SO fast and it scares me to know that he could get down the hall and fall down the stairs before I even realize it. However, I've been lax about the downstairs gate because he hasn't started climbing the stairs. Until one day when I went upstairs to finish getting ready. Lydia and Austin were playing happily downstairs and I didn't latch the gate (because it drives Lydia crazy when I lock her downstairs and I'm upstairs). After a minute, Lydia started yelling and Austin started crying. We found them at the bottom of the stairs. Lydia said that Austin had started climbing the stairs and had fallen, but we couldn't get out of her how high up he was. I wondered if maybe he was just standing at the bottom of the stairs and she got nervous and bumped in and he tipped over, but it sounds like he's now a stair climber. So, now the bottom gate has to be shut when I'm not around, too.
--Austin is slowly getting over his fear of loud noises/other babies touching him. He's making lots of friends. Notably, he met Kennedy for the first time - and they hit it off smashingly. If only they would move back from Washington DC so that we could see them more often! Kennedy is my sweet friend Kayla's daughter, and Landon's (Lydia's age) little sister, we loved playing with them when they were in town!
--We moved him up to a big carseat! I thought that he'd love it because in the baby carseat he was constantly using those stomach muscles to pull his head up so that he wasn't so reclined, like he was sitting up in the seat. But after I transferred him to the bigger seat (thinking that he'd like sitting up more) he has definitely not liked being in the car as much as he used to. I'm realizing that he wasn't sitting up in the baby carseat because he didn't like being reclined, it's because he liked being able to look over the edge of the seat and see what's going on. In this bigger seat he can't see as well and he doesn't like it. I've thought about moving him back down. (I'm not worried about buying the seat early - it's the same seat as Lydia's and I really love it and we got this one on sale so I was buying it anyway. I'm okay if we put it into storage for the next couple months. We'll have to see.)
-He's started sleeping much better this month. For the last several months I've said that I was going to start sleep training him, but it's never really felt right. However, I've been letting him fall asleep on his own most nights (and naps) even if he cries a little bit, because it's the only way that he will fall asleep. But I've still been getting up with him in the night when he needs me (usually 3-4 times, spending at least half the night in the chair). But he's starting to need me less and transferring back to his bed much better, which leaves me able to go back to my own bed instead of sleeping in the chair.
One night, soon after he turned 8 months old - I woke up in a panic at 4 o'clock in the morning. I realized that I had forgotten to check on him when I went to bed and I was almost hysterical thinking that he might have fallen out of his bed and hurt himself before he fell asleep and that something must be wrong because it was 4 and he hadn't woken up. I jumped out of bed and practically ran into his room. I rushed to his crib to find him sleeping peacefully. It took me a minute to realize that I was being ridiculous and that I needed to calm down. I backed out of his room quietly and made my way back to my own bed still trying to calm my racing heart. As I laid down, I heard him stir through the monitor and start fussing. (I'm positive that I woke him up with all my anxious rushing around.) Since then, he's started waking up only once in the night (around that 4 am mark) more and more. I should say that it's been wonderful, but honestly- I'm still exhausted. Hopefully soon I'll be caught back up on my sleep enough to be able to appreciate it! Also, he wakes up usually around 7 - but for a while was waking up even earlier than that (like 6) and it was so sad. I think babies should sleep in until 8, always.
--Austin loves bubbles. He thinks they are so funny and will laugh and laugh at them. I love baby laughs. Especially his. You'd think that because he laughs so much it wouldn't be so cute every single time. But it is. It never gets old. I love how happy and how willing to laugh he is.
After a while of blowing bubbles with Austin, he started trying to blow the bubbles on his own! As soon as I would pull out the jar of bubbles, he'd fill up his cheeks with air and blow out. He's such a smart little boy. I love watching this video. I laugh every time.
Other things:
-He loves playing with doors. He will sit for five minutes and just open and almost-shut the door. It makes him happy.
-He laughs when I wash his face after meal-time. I take him to the sink, wash his hands, then use my hand to rinse off his face as well. He always sticks out his tongue and giggles.
-If he gets stuck under a table he gets mad and cries, but he can almost always get himself back out if I give him just a minute.
-He's so content to come along for the party wherever we go. He's very laid back and easygoing. Obviously, he cries and gets upset but it's usually very short lived. I know that I've pushed him way too far if he gets upset and starts crying for longer than 15 seconds. He'll be fine to do whatever we need him to do, and he doesn't really cry until he reaches his limit and then he definitely tells me that it's time to be done.
-He's always been really happy but he really really loves being mobile. He's so proud of himself as he gets around and does the things that he wants.
-He pulls all the books off the bookshelf/entertainment center multiple times a day. It's probably his favorite thing to do. He'll pull them off and then ignore them, but if I put them back up - he heads over from wherever he is in the room to pull them off again.
Happy 9 months, little man. We are so grateful for your easy-going attitude and happy personality.
We love you!
