Oh me, oh my...how quickly 9 months has gone by!
Our biggest feat to date...we officially have a baby on the move! Yep, Ty boy is crawling! Babies are such persistent little creatures. He has worked and worked on this skill for months. In the meantime he learned to roll across a room in record time. He also perfected the "booty scoot" in order to get his chubby hands on whatever peaked his interest. I guess Ty finally got ready to go and the entire crawling process happened in a span of two days. He went from crawling a couple of steps to crawling across the living room! And oh, how my world has already changed... Within the first few hours of crawling, he discovered the fireplace, Laila's water bowl, and her crate...all places he has no business being. What a mess! I had been trying to remind myself the past few weeks that the simplicity of sitting him down with a toy while I run to the restroom, do laundry, or grabbing something from the kitchen were seriously numbered. Its funny though...as it has been with each passing milestone, you are more in awe and excited at the fact that they learned that all by themselves.
The days of rolling...
"No pictures, Mom. I'm on the go!"
Here's Tyler's stats from his 9 month check-up last week... He weighs 18lbs 13oz (34th percentile), is 26.5 inches long (1st percentile), and his head is 18 inches around (71st percentile). I was quite surprised by his weight. I was sure he was almost 20lbs by now! Maybe he just
feels heavier... I felt a bit nervous when I saw his weight because he's been a bit of a picky eater at times and his nursing sessions are shorter by the day. I've breastfed for 9 months and I really didn't want to supplement now! Alas, the doctor wasn't concerned and he actually went from the 28th to the 34th percentile in his weight class. But he is SO short! Yeah, that wasn't a typo...he is in the 1st percentile for his length. Cooter asked me a million questions about his length (he didn't get to go to the appt), but again, the doctor wasn't too concerned. He has a long time to grow. Plus his momma isn't so tall... So, he is still just a lil peanut compared to other babies his age! Don't worry, his head continues to grow in epic proportions. LOL, maybe not epic...
Despite Ty's continuing peanut status, a growth spurt snuck in on us sometime in the last month. It seemed like within a week's time he was wearing 9 month clothes and finally moved up to size 3 diapers. For the most part he still wears 6 month pants though. I didn't even realize it until I decided to clean out the remaining 3 and 3-6 month clothes that were still in his drawers. I washed all of his 9 month clothes, held them up and thought they looked way too big, and put them away until he could wear them. Well over that week it seemed like every 6 month outfit I put on him no longer fit, so I gave in and tried on a 9 month onesie. Fit like a glove! Somehow, I am always in denial that he has grown into the next size. That means the 12 month clothes are lurking in his closet to be worn next. Twelve months...that's ONE year! My momma heart isn't ready for that!
Ty still has NO teeth! He does bite though. As a nursing mom, I can tell you his gums are very hard...and I am very thankful he has not gone through the teething process yet! We thought for sure that he was about to pop a tooth a couple weeks ago. He woke up at 4:30am burning up. At the time he was still sleeping in footy pajamas and a fleece sleep sack (he doesn't not sleep well when he is cold), so I thought he was just overheated from all of the layers. I undressed him and went to feed him. When we laid back down and he snuggled his face up to mine I realized that he was seriously radiating. By then I already had his legs out of his jammies. I figured that had been plenty of time to cool off if he was just over dressed. We took his temp and he had a 102.1 fever. I gave him some Tylenol and we went back to bed. When he woke up he was all sweaty so I hoped the fever had broken. I checked and he was down to 100.0. Throughout the day his fever went up and down...as high as 102.6 and never under 100. Outside of being a little fussy, he was acting just fine. That night I kept him with me and he slept in a diaper only. I gave him a dose of Tylenol around midnight and by 5am he was fever free. No fever since. Totally weird.
Ty LOVES to eat. We are actually down to only 4 nursing sessions a day (and that makes me kind of sad, despite remembering the days that I felt like I did nothing but breastfeed). Any time we eat, Ty thinks he needs to eat. We have added a variety of foods to his diet, new combinations, and puffs and baby mum-mums. He is efficient enough to eat lunch and dinner out and about now, which has allowed us more dinner dates lately (w/ baby of course). I was given the okay from his pediatrician to feed him pretty much anything we eat, except nuts and honey. We have tackled almost all fruits and veggies...still waiting on strawberries and kiwis. He had his first grapes the other day in a mesh feeder. He mostly sucks the juice out of them, but that's the safest way for him to have grapes right now. Those suckers are so slippery, they can be swallowed whole and become a choking hazard. I fed him noodles from my Mongolian food the other day and he ate them up. He still has a texture issue though. He prefers purees. I finally broke down and bought myself this amazing baby food maker. It steams the food and blends it in the same container. It steams it perfectly too, and is pureed in 10 seconds. Simply amazing. Right now we have frozen pureed chicken, pears, apples, peaches, plums, mangoes, blueberries, carrots, spinach, and broccoli. So proud to be putting such healthy foods in my baby's belly!
I can officially say we have a super sleeper on our hands now! Knock on wood... We have had our sleeping ups and downs from day one, but the last month has been pretty solid! The biggest difference is Ty's naps too. The boy requires some definite sleep, but when we're home in our routine, he sleeps like a champ now. He's bathed, fed and in bed by about 8:30pm and he sleeps until 7-8am. I'm usually up before him, which allows me to start a few chores and eat my breakfast. This past week he has been taking amazing 2-3hr morning naps and a good 1-2hr afternoon naps. He could really use a cat nap around 4:30ish, but unless I get him down and out before Cooter gets home, that nap goes out the window. He's too excited to see Daddy!
Ty is not talking yet, but he babbles with the best of them. I swear he says Laila, he says it loud and clear. Go figure...he laughs the hardest at her, says her name, and she does none of the work! He keeps making a sound like "huh" but we're trying to encourage him with "Momma" or "Dada" instead. I know he'll talk when he's good and ready. For now, I love listening to him babble over his toys.
Right now Ty's favorite toys are things he shouldn't be playing with. I change up his toys every day to provide him variety, but he'd seriously rather play with Laila's bowl or some tupperware. A favorite past time of his is also emptying his book baskets and refilling them over and over again. He loves when we go for a jog. He is so content in his stroller. He kicks his legs up on the tray in front of him and chills out. Speaking of jogging...pushing him is such a workout! He's almost 19lbs, plus the weight of the stroller...when I finish running, my arms are as tired as my legs!
We don't go back to the doctor until his 12 month check-up. ONE year...seriously, its on the horizon. How did it all happen so fast?!? I'm beyond loving every minute...every second takes my breath away. I wouldn't trade my days with him for anything...
Here's a few shots taken during Jordyn's photo shoot the other day...
