Life with Holden: 9.5 Months

Stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 7.4 ounces. Oh my Lord, child, you have just officially fallen off the growth chart. =(

Length: 28.75 inches (55%)

Head: 45cm (44%)

Diaper: Size 3 in disposables (Huggies Little Movers), Size small in Little Swimmers, & third snap, lowest rise in our cloth.Yep, I tried snapping it down to the second snap setting...nope, still not ready yet. =)

Clothing: He's still tiny! He can wear his 6 month stuff, 9 month stuff & a very few 6-12 month items from Gap/Old Navy. I have a feeling he is not going to be in 12 month sized stuff for some time *maybe* by winter. Which will mean he will get a whole new wardrobe AGAIN since all of C's 12 month sized stuff was Summer. Oi!

Shoes: He's pretty firmly in a size 3 right now, but he usually only wears shoes (usually his sandals) when we are out & about somewhere. I tried to put a pair of shoes on him last week that I JUST got him from the GAP (size 6-12 months) & they are too small. I think I better pull out some of Carter's old shoes now or H may miss his chance to wear them. Yikes!

Milestones:

07/16: First trip to Crater Lake. It was beautiful! We even found our own little spot along the side of the road to have a picnic. We've visited before, but we will likely continue to go back again & again. It is a view that can NEVER get old.

07/20: First night sleeping in his crib overnight. THE WHOLE NIGHT. Yep, I miss having my baby in our bed, but he is sleeping so much better in his own bed then he was in ours & we are sleeping better too. It's a whole new world when a small child is not kicking you in the head or ribs all night long! Not to mention, he is so busy & can move so quickly that I was afraid he would fall off our bed again.

07/24: First time pulling up. Granted it was just on my legs, but that still counts, right?

07/28: First time swimming in a lake. He LOVED it. I bought him a little baby boat floaty & the kid was just chilling like a villain. And as an aside can I just say how much I love our nice clean sandy lake beaches here?! So much different then swimming in our home town. And semi-warm water? Yes, please!! 

07/31: 9 month WCC. Uh...it did not go so well. Other then his weight (tiny peanut child!), he screamed anytime someone besides me tried to hold him or touch him. I think he remembers getting his cast removed. =( He wouldn't even let any of my old co-workers hold him, who he has previously had no problem with.

Nursing: I am at a total loss here...I absolutely NEVER saw our nursing story going this way since things had been so great since the beginning. I guess it just goes to show that problems can arise at any point in time during a person's nursing journey. H is pretty much on a daytime nursing strike & has been for more then 2 weeks. I don't really know what the problem is, but it is insanely frustrating. He is all about instant gratification right now & there in lies part of the problem. Obviously, in order to get milk from the breast he has to work for it a little bit which he doesn't like to do right now. =( I've had to pump pretty much EVERY day, multiple times to keep my supply up & to have some milk to give him in bottles. He still doesn't really like taking a bottle either so getting milk into him during the day is pretty much an all day effort. We offer him milk CONSTANTLY, but I am lucky if I can get 7-8 ounces into him during the day bottle-wise. Fortunately, he has been nursing around 10:30PM or around 2-3AM & then again around 6-7AM. I can also usually get him to nurse around 9AM & again at 11:30AM (his first nap) if I am lucky. I am also 100% positive that his teeth (or lack there of) are bugging him more then they ever have before. I hope that is the main contributing factor to the strike & that he gets his teeth (or a tooth) soon as I may go bonkers if he doesn't. I just pray that he doesn't lose weight in this process since he's already tiny enough as it is. **And a bit of an addendum to this since I wrote most of this last week.The strike is officially over!! Thank you, God! He's back to nursing on a semi-normal schedule of every 3-4 hours during the day. I just hope it keeps up since he did, in fact, lose weight in the last couple of weeks. =(

Solids: He still loves his solids, for sure, but he has been eating a little bit less this last few days or so. Again, probably because of the pain he's in. I just HOPE against hope that he actually has his first pearly white at the end of this deal. He will still let us feed him, but he does seem to prefer to want to feed himself. The desperation for food is definitely still there & if you put him in his highchair without having any food on his tray first, he freaks out! Then when you give him a piece/pieces of food he shoves as many in his mouth as he possibly can, as fast as he can. His pincher grasp is very good, but he also prefers to grab food in his fist & shove it in his mouth. He loves drinking from a cup & really, really loves ice water. We won't let him drink a ton of water since we want him to be drinking milk, but I will let him sneak a few sips from my cup every once in a while. His favorite foods currently are Cheerios, Yogurt, & Mexican food (burrito bowls). He LOVES mexican food, just like his momma. =) When he has taken a bottle this last few weeks we have discovered that he prefers his milk to be ice cold. Such a strange kid, but maybe it helps with the oral pain?

Sleep: He slept pretty crappy the last few nights we were on vacation & the first night we were home, but it has been a ton better since then. He's now only waking once nightly (if at all) & is sleeping in his crib overnight. He is also taking two regular naps a day (usually at about 11AM & then again around 3PM) without a fuss MOST days. We're still working on getting him to take longer naps, but they tend to average about an hour & a half, but can range anywhere between 45 mins-2 hours. He still takes a pacifier at nap & bedtime & we don't exactly have plans to take it away anytime soon since his sleep just finally started normalizing. He still goes down fairly early most nights, but has been staying up a little bit later while we've been traveling so much. He likely won't go back to his regular bedtime schedule until we return home again on Monday. 

Health: He's obviously still been having a LOT of issues with his teeth the last couple of weeks, but he is STILL a toothless wonder. =( He caught a cold from his brother while we were in Sunriver & had a bit of a cough & runny nose going on, but has otherwise been healthy. He also has had some diarrhea going on the last day or so, but that could be teeth related as well, I just wish they would poke through already. I am so done with all this will he, won't he stuff. 

Social: He has been such a Momma's boy lately. And I can't really complain too much because he is my baby & this time really is fleeting. He's going to be one in less then 3 months & he's already trying to walk so I will suck up all of the extra loves & cuddles I can get since I see his independent spirit growing by the day. He wants to try to do everything himself & actually seems to enjoy free play a lot more then C did at this age. He is so funny & has started doing this thing lately where he gives us a huge "cheese" grin while scrunching up his face & closing his eyes. It is too cute! He will also give high fives if requested now about 50% of the time. He still loves our immediate family more then anyone else in the world, but he definitely appreciates a pretty girl. He will smile & flirt shamelessly if he sees one while we are out in public, especially waitresses. =) He still loves animals, but thinks that our dog, Jack especially is the best thing ever. He has been babbling a TON more this last few weeks, but still really doesn't have a lot of new sounds just yet. He says mama all of the time & a few times I think it was even with some recognition. He also says baba & yaya & nee a lot. Other then that he shakes his head no, A LOT. Still no dada thus far or anything else that even sounds remotely like a real word. He loves to make crazy noises still including screaming (which he has done for a long time), clicking his tongue, making kissy noises & blowing raspberries. He still definitely isn't the most cuddly baby ever, but he has been getting a lot better about it. He will lay his head down on our shoulders now when he's tired & will actually keep it there for more then a few seconds at a time. He still likes to have things his way & when he wants something he wants it NOW. He's getting a tad less serious all of the time, but he still has to analyze everything thoroughly before he can decide whether he likes it or not.

Physical: He is so busy that it is literally exhausting for both of us. He has discovered that he can crawl all over the house now & especially loves going in the kitchen. Every time I leave him alone for even a few seconds he is immediately trying to crawl into the kitchen to mess with the dog or his food or his water bowl, basically anything that he can get his hands on. I've had to put the play yard in the playroom to keep him from leaving the room if I even go to bathroom. He has started trying to pull up a lot more & can occasionally get himself up on things, but prefers to pull up on people mostly at the moment. He loves to be in a standing position & when we walk him around holding onto his hands. He is convinced that he can walk on his own though & will try to let go of the couch, table, his toys, me, whatever & try to take off. Unfortunately for him his balance isn't quite there yet & he usually ends up falling over. He doesn't even seem to mind when he falls down & often wants back up to try at it again. He is definitely one tough cookie when it comes to the physical aspects of the world. Speaking of tough, he LOVES to wrestle with his brother & it is both super cute & super funny. C is such a sport & lets Holden crawl all over him & grab his face, hair, whatever. They both think it is hilarious & now C yells "WRESTLE" all of the time. He is still my face grabber & hand holder (which I love), but he hasn't been as bad about the hair pulling lately (thankfully). He also still enjoys giving kisses & will literally try to put his whole wide open mouth on yours, it's kind of gross, but totally endearing at the same time.

 Likes: Swimming, bath time, being nakey, swinging, Jack, Momma, nursing (yay!), drinking from a cup (Ice Water), chewing on everything, trying to walk, Daddy, his brother, giraffes, wrestling!





Dislikes: Diaper changes, being unable to do things by himself, having to wait for ANYTHING, going to the doctor, the sun in his eyes, wearing socks or shoes, having to get dressed