9 month appt

Today Justin had his 9 month appt. He is meeting/exceeding all his milestones so I, of course, was beaming with pride. He had to get 3 more vaccines. The good news is that many vaccines come in series of 3 so this was the end of those. He also got his blood tested for iron and lead. He is in the 95th percentile for height at 30inches and the 75th percentile for weight at 22.1 lbs. Once we got home his Godmother was waiting with presents for him b/c he has so many shots. Lots of super cute fall clothes. Speaking of Jess, I was just telling her today that I would keep Justin this age forever if I could. He cracks me up all day long. Justin is just motoring all over the house, "talking" away- he has the sweetest little personality. Yeah, he's still a little needy but I see a light at the end of that tunnel. He'll get there.

There have been some other big changes. We're officially weaning. Right now he only nurses before bed and when he first wakes up.Justin is doing great taking to the formula. I, am not taking it as well. It's been very depressing but I'm just time for the both of us to give it up, I know in my gut. Also, we decided to let Justin cry it out before bed. This was something I was very, very, very against. I still don't think it's a good idea for babies under 6 mths but he was ready. He was a fantastic sleeper...til he learned to stand in the crib. We were doing a Ferber approach where you go in every few minutes, soothe the baby and then let him cry but it was a huge fail. Every time I walked away he was standing up screaming, shaking the crib before I could get out the door. One night this went on for 1 hour and 45 mins on the muggiest night of the year. We were both so sweaty and frustrated. Thanks to good advice from a friend we decided to skip the soothing. Before you judge me as a meanie- know that I did peak in on him every few mins to make sure he was alright. I just couldn't let him see me. The 1st day he cried about 30 mins and then slumped over asleep sitting up. The next nap, about 20 mins. The time kept decreasing and decreasing. Now, I swear it's changed my life as a mom. At night I read him a story, give him a kiss and lay him down. He grabs his teddy bear, rolls over and falls asleep. It's like a miracle. He has also outgrown his ninny (that's a paci to you non-White family ppl). He hasn't used it in 2 weeks.

I say it all the time, my little boy is growing up...and I love every second.

3/4

9 months... that's 3/4 of a year. Holy crap. Our sweet little guy turned 9 months old today. I did attempt this usual photo shoot but it's almost impossible these days. Not only does he want to destroy the paper but he can crawl after it if I move it. Yes, he's exhausting but he is so, so, so much fun. He eats everything in sight and always wants what we're eating; lasagna, burgers, ribs, steamed broccoli... seriously, everything. His bi-coastal trip went okay. I'm not gonna lie. Infants adjusting to a time change is quite a challenge. He has 6 teeth now. 2 on bottom, 4 on top. He calls everyone and everything "da da". He also "says" mama, baba, gaga, ah da (sounds like all done) and tika tika. He knows how to pull himself to standing and he crawls SO fast now. His current hobbies include; chasing the cat around the house, climbing the furniture/cabinets, swimming in Grandma Linda's pool, biting mom, watching Handy Manny, laughing at dad and reading upside down books.