On Cloud Nine

Oh my gosh. Obviously I'm failing at much of life as my child is 9 months AND TWELVE DAYS, but we're just going to move right on along and skip that little fact. The last month has been insane. It's been one of the busiest seasons at work, a busy time for our family, and just all around exhausting. But it's, been glorious too. My baby got to experience his first Halloween (wait for the picture), moved to a new classroom in daycare, graduated from PT and OT. It's just amazing watching him grow and develop into a little person. So though I'm completely exhausted, these are some of the best months.

Nicknames: Bupsie, Bubba, Bubs, Nugs, Nugget

Always on the move. Never sitting still.

Stats: I don't have one hundred percent official stats, but I did take him in to the pediatrician at 9 months (for a yucky cough). With sweatpants, sweatshirt, and a cloth diaper he was 17 lbs 7 oz. Naked at home he was 17 lbs 1 oz, so I split the difference and said 17 lbs 4 oz. This has been a GREAT month of growth which really surprised me as he hasn't been taking bottles well, but we'll take it. As far as height, he GREW!!! Again, not official, and possibly not super accurate, but we think he's about 26.5 inches, which is a whole inch of growth. As far as percentiles, he's about 10-11% for weight, but unfortunately has fallen quite far behind on length…it looks like we might not even be on the growth chart any longer. He has his appointment with the pediatrician this week, so I'm choosing not to panic and wait for official numbers.

My sweet boys all dressed up for Friendsgiving.

Eating: We're still offering 5 ounces about every three hours, but he continues to eat less and less. I guess this is the "weaning" part of baby led weaning…he's far more interested in real food than his bottle. Plus he's working on some teeth. He officially has 4 teeth: the two bottom front, and the two top beside the front. But honestly, I think the front are on their way too, so he's probably working on four at once. As far as solids go, he still loves avocados the best. He's also tried black beans, pasta, rice, hummus, pita, shredded cheese, and apple (not very successful). I'm still a little leery to try eggs and meats due to allergy risks, but I think once those things can be added successfully, he'll officially be able to eat what we eat.

Enjoying a dinner or pasta, jasmine rice, (it's so sticky!) and broccoli

Sleeping: Sleep is still pretty good. It's not as great as it once ways, but it's not awful. He was started waking up more and more at night…not every night, but one to three nights a week. The problem is that he seems to have lost the ability to put himself back to sleep. If he wakes up, I can guarantee that I'll be up the rest of the night. If he doesn't wake up, it's glorious, but if he does, it's awful. I'm hoping there are legitimate excuses for these night time wakings like teeth or a cough, but I'm afraid he might just be loosing some ability to self soothe…or maybe a desire to. He'd rather have mama. He continues to be a bad napper in general at daycare. Typically 30-45 minutes is all they can milk out of him…which is actually pretty decent for him for how much stimulation is in the room. Every now and then he'll record some epic two hour nap, but just as often it's ten or less minutes.

Napping at daycare in a vibrating chair because some days I'm spoiled.

Likes: Garrison is still pretty obsessed with standing. He has very little patience for sitting in one place. He learned to officially crawl a few days after he turned 8 months, so he is on the move all the time. His favorite discovery is that the drawers and cabinets throughout the house open. Now that he knows they open, he is so excited to get loose, crawl to a cabinet, pull up, and then open and close it approximately 2,000 times.

Don't worry: the crib was lowered after this little display.

Garrison also loves bath time, but he's in serious need of some bath toys. He loves to splash around, but he REALLY loves throwing things in the water and fishing them back up. As we don't have any bath toys, he's been playing with the bath thermometer. I've been saving myself from buying a bunch of bath toys since Christmas is coming, but I think he'll really enjoy them.

Get me some toys!

Dislikes: Being separated from Mommy. Oh. My. Gosh. I have to admit this part is exhausting. The mornings and evenings are hard. If I have 100% of my time available to sit and play with him, he's generally pretty happy. But that rarely happens. I have to get ready for work, or wash clothes, or wash diapers, and well, any moment away from mommy is the WORST thing ever.

Mommy, don't leave me. Ever. Not ever. Not even to pee.

He also dislikes being told no. Now that he's on the move, he's into EVERYTHING. Including things that he really shouldn't be in. Like electrical cords. And dog bones. And water bowls. Once upon a time, I could just move him away from the object of his desire and distract him with some other item, but now? Oh no. He. Is. Relentless. I'm not sure if it's too early, but I've been gently telling him no and removing the dangerous/undesirable item from him and redirecting to something more suitable and less deadly. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Mom told me I have to eat these beets but I want her CHICKEN

Looking forward to: Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year, so uhh, yeah, you could say I'm looking forward to Christmas. I'm so excited I can hardly breathe. I spent so many years struggling at Christmas due to infertility and the giant mess of feelings the holidays and family gatherings bring up. I'm excited to experience the joy of seeing Christmas through his eyes this year. He'll be ten months on Christmas day!

As promised: the cutest little Frog Prince you've ever seen

The last few weeks have also been weeks to bring a lot of clarity and perspective to my days. Yes, they are hard. Yes, they are busy. Yes, I'm tired. But this is also the GREATEST year of my life. I have been so blessed with this little bundle of love and and the fact that he's here: happy, and healthy, well that's really the greatest gift of all.