Nine Months Old!!!

Excuse the blurry nature of the picture above - this nine month old boy NEVER sits still! He is constantly on the move - army crawling, rolling, pivoting, you name it - the boy can get where he needs to go. His favorite place to visit is where ever the dangerous things are - electrical cords, outlets, laptop, computer mouse, phone - you name it, he wants to eat it. We have quickly gotten on the babyproofing bandwagon.

He loves to make silly faces and stick out his tongue and spit at us. Someday, those qualities will not be so cute, but for now they are just precious. He has two teeth on the bottom and the top two will be here any day. We went to the pediatrician today for his 9 month checkup (and shots :-( ) and he weighs 19.5 pounds (40th percentile), is 29.5 inches long (80th percentile), and has a head circumference of 19 (99th percentile). The doctor said that his weight stabilization is most likely due to the amount of exercise he has been getting! He is wearing size 9-12 month clothes, a size 3 diaper, and is just about to grow out of his infant car seat - the convertible seat has been ordered and will be in the car this week!

He has started to wave at things and people, although never on command! He loves to "read" his books and flip the pages. He really loves his little bath book that has farm animals in it. He also loves to read Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo and likes to pat all of the pages before he turns them. He also loves all of his musical toys like his piano, his microphone, and his drum. He really likes his blocks and enjoys putting things in and out of his toy basket.

One of his favorite summer activities has been to go swimming! We got him a little float and his just loves kicking his legs and waving his arms. We are still going to swimming lessons and his is getting more comfortable with getting his face in the water. We went to Aunt K's yesterday and he spent over an hour in the pool - he would have stayed in all day if we had let him! Aunt K has a fountain that pours into her pool and Luke LOVES watching the fountain and listening to the water.

He is obsessed with Baby Mum Mum crackers - he will eat as many of them as we give him. He also loves bread (like his mama!). He is still nursing 5-7 times a day and has actually taken a bottle once or twice - woo hoo! He likes to drink water out of a straw and is getting much better with his sippy cup. We are still hit or miss with other food - I have been making most of his food, but we have ventured out to some packaged foods - so far, the Happy Baby Chick Chick food has been his favorite. He also loves the Tyler Florence Sprout Apricots and Peaches - he is still not a fan of oatmeal, but we will keep trying. We are going to try yogurt this week and maybe some egg yolks (cooked, of course ;-) He loves peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots, and bananas - he seems to like anything that is on my plate! 

Sleep still continues to be a challenge - he has really gotten better at napping - they are not long naps, but they are consistent! He is still waking up once or twice at night to nurse - lately those nighttime nursing sessions have lasted almost an hour each, so mama has been TIRED! I am hoping that as he eats more solid food, he will sleep a little better. I have implemented a little bit of sleep training at night, as he was waking up an hour into his sleep - a little bit of fussing for a few nights and I think we are almost over that. Although, he got his shots today, so tonight will probably be a rough one - ugh.

This little man continues to delight us beyond our wildest expectations. He is so curious and joyful - we are just so blessed to have such a precious gift!