ashford is 9 months

ashford, sunday marked 9 months since the day you were born! holy cow! you are now 3/4 of the way through your first year. that blows my mind! it was another fun and fast month with you, we are loving watching you grow and develop. it all seems to be happening so fast now. i know, i sound like a broken record (you won't even know what a record is), but it's true!

here's what you were up to this month:

in the past 1-2 weeks you've started crawling up on your knees and pulling up (mostly to your knees), you are a master at sitting now and will happily sit and play with toys without needing to put your arm(s) down for support, you also go from laying down to crawling to sitting quite easily, you got 2 more teeth on the bottom (you are up to 8 now! wow), you tried more solid foods, you went to the state fair, you celebrated your uncle anders' birthday, and spent some special time with mama while azalea attends school 2 mornings a week. 

stats:

i went into this appointment thinking we would see the big 2-0 on the scale, so imagine my surprise when you only weighed in at 17 lbs, 6 oz (13%) and 28'' tall (34%). you used to be tall and skinny and now you are short and skinny. haha. the doctor said not to worry, that weight levels off around the time babies become more mobile. you certainly eat a lot, so we'll just keep working on chunking you up a bit. 

hair and eye color:

your blonde whispy hair is growing in a little more, but still hard to see from afar. your eyes are still super blue and i don't see that changing at this point. this brown eyed mama still can't believe she has 2 blue eyed babies.  

clothing:

you are still in size 3 diapers. you are wearing all 9 month clothes (i fear they won't fit you for very long!). you wear a mix of 9 and 12 month jammies, but i think we'll be retiring the 9 month ones soon! 

 

sleep:

not a whole lot of (new) news in the area of sleep. your naps are decent these days. you are sort of in between needing 2 and 3 naps during the day. it depends on how long they last. you sleep longer for your grandparents (usually 1-1.5 hrs at a time) than you do for me (usually 30-60 mins). what's that about? i make sure you nap in your crib at least once a day, but i still sneak in some naps with you on the couch, because they are too precious and i know these days will be gone in the blink of an eye. you are still waking at least 2 times at night after going to bed between 7:30 and 8pm. you usually demand that i nurse you back to sleep...and i do because you have me wrapped around your little finger (and i'm too tired to do anything else), the good news is, you are usually back down in about 5 minutes. you still sleep in the pack n play in our room (never imagined i would still be saying that at this point, but that's ok). it's hit or miss whether you will take a pacifier in the night. for a while this month you were waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 for the day (and then napping by 7am) which was really rough, but you seem to have gotten past that. the sleep saga continues....:)

feeding:

another month of breastfeeding accomplished! i'm so proud of us. it's one of my greatest accomplishments in life. you nurse about every 2.5-3 hours during the day. we should probably start nursing a little less and doing solids more, but it works. you still drink 20oz. of bottled milk when i work. this month we started moving away from the mesh feeder and almost all of your meals were little chunks of food on your tray. you are pretty picky with food and i'm not sure what to do about that, but we'll keep trying. i have to watch you closely with the stuff you do like as you will continue to add pieces to your mouth without swallowing in between! one night we ate at grandma jan and grandpa wayne's and we had beef stew and you ate the carrots and potatoes like they were candy! it was so funny! you eat solids twice a day on average, i think we'll need to up it to 3 just so it becomes habit. some of your favorite foods are peas, broccoli,apples, cantaloupe, and grapes. 

 

most used gear:

you are still using your car seat carrier, but you are getting super heavy to lug around, so a big boy car seat is right around the corner. you still use the johnny jump up a lot (you jump around and swing like craaazy in that thing - it's hilarious). the bath seat is still working well (although you try to escape it and dive into the water). we are still getting lots of use out of the double stroller as well. 

daycare:

grandma(s) and grandpa(s) care is still going well. you take good naps for them, love to go on walks in the stroller, and play with the toys they have for you. next up, eating solid foods at their houses! :) 

likes:

being held (especially by mama), making a beeline for cords in the living room, pulling mama's hair and putting it in your mouth, sleeping on your side or your tummy, "talking" (lots of ehhhhh and ahhhhh) i'm working on "mama" and "dada" with you - could be a while, ha! being outside, splashing in the bathtub and trying to "catch" the water when it comes out of the spout, big boy toys like duplos, sitting in the play tunnel, following your sister around

dislikes:

getting put down when tired, getting strapped into your car seat (and riding in the car-sometimes), having your diaper or clothes changed, when mama leaves your sight, strangers (not all, but some) 

ashford,

i cannot believe you are 9 months old already. you are so mobile now and such a little character. every one comments on how smiley you are, and you are! i love being the one person who can always soothe you when you cry. i love you so much it's crazy! :) 

love, mama

see azalea's 9 month post