Seeing as how my last blog post was the last monthly update, it’s become apparent that I’ve unconsciously taken a little break from blogging. Life has settled into a very good but full rhythm, and even though I am always learning so much about being a parent and there’s so much I want to record about life, I find that I’m way too busy doing things. And later on at night, when I have a free minute, I’m too exhausted to open my laptop and write it all down. I’ve even been less active on the Hellobee message boards and my precious instagram. I’m hoping this little hiatus is a phase, because I really do love blogging.

But of course I can’t miss a monthly update…!! That would be madness. So here goes.

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Lil Miss Wagon

9 MONTH STATS
Weight: 23.19 lbs (97%)
Length: 29.25 in (95%)
Head Circumference: 18.25 in (97%)

Just before turning 9 months old, LMW finally began crawling with her belly off of the ground. She was doing the belly / army crawl until then, and getting places very quickly, but just recently will pop up onto her hands and knees. It’s a little surreal to see! She’s still not pushing up into a sitting position on her own yet, and when we sit her down, she slumps over and ends up back on her belly in no time. But I think she just prefers to be on her belly rather than sitting up.

LMW is a babbling machine. In fact, at her 9 month checkup our pediatrician told me that he was impressed with her social interaction with people as well as how much she “talks.” Right now her favorite syllable is da, so we get a lot of dadas as well as anything that sounds similar.. doh doh, djoh djoh, deuh, and even some di dis. She definitely thinks she’s talking. Her babbling is often very serious and has all sorts of ups and downs.

Eating

LMW is still doing well with purees three times a day and loves her puffs and mum mum rice crackers. She STARES at us eating food and loves to feed herself, but I tried some table food for the first time (bits of boiled sweet potato and chicken) and she gagged with almost every bite, so she’s not quite there yet. As long as she’s not cranky, she likes almost all flavors of baby food, but since her skin is pretty sensitive we are trying to stay away from acidic foods like tomato, apricot, and mango.

LMW is still drinking just a bit more than I pump every day, so I’ve dipped quite deeply into my frozen stash with a thawed bag about every other day. I’m still undecided as to whether or not I will quit pumping before she turns one, but since we’ve hit the 9 month mark and I only have 3 months to go, I might just stick with it until she transitions to cow’s milk. Plus, I got another pump for free through insurance, so not having to carry my pump to and from work really helps.

Sleeping

My baby girl is still doing great with sleep. She’s sleeping about 3 hours total during the day and between 10-12 hours at night. It’s rare that she ever has a nap under an hour, and she falls asleep on her own just fine. I happen to be writing this on a day when she’s had horrible naps because she’s waking herself up coughing, but her sleep is usually very consistent. She does wake crying every now and then, but the second she finds her blankie lovey she rubs her face in it and falls back asleep.

Here’s a typical day for LMW.

7:00am – wake up, 4 oz baby food
8:00am – 6 oz bottle
10:00am – first nap (1-2.5 hrs)
12:00pm – 4 oz baby food
1:00pm – 6 oz bottle
3:00pm – second nap (1-2 hrs)
4:00pm – 6 oz bottle
5:00pm – 4 oz baby food
6:00pm – bath, 8 oz bottle, bedtime

Wagon Jr.

Life with WJ is coasting along as usual. He has his moments of rebellion and willfulness, but time outs still work great for us, and he’s maturing so much and so quickly. It gets easier every day to talk to him and reason with him, so even though discipline can be challenging, the rewards are that much more fulfilling. Playing with him is so much fun, since he’s so imaginative and we can see real preferences coming out in him. Lately it’s been all about spaceships, superheroes, and of course his instruments, especially his drums.

His love for his stuffed animals remains constant, and he’s definitely adopted his favorite — Bear. But of course his Banky will always be #1.

Food is still a struggle, but he’s definitely come leaps and bounds from where he has been for about a year now. In fact, just the other day he ate his first real serving of actual vegetables in a long time — some steamed broccoli that his grandma made for him. He has also been trying carrot sticks with some success. In general, it’s become easier to get him to try new things, and he discovers that he likes them. Some favorites are still french toast, eggs, chicken nuggets, and pizza.

Sibling Love

WJ and LMW’s relationship remains on a steady course. They love having each other around and are starting to interact more and more. LMW loves to reach for him and play with his toys (of course) and WJ loves doing things to make her laugh. The look on his face when he realizes that she’s laughing because of some goofy thing he did is priceless. It’s like a dream come true for our little jokester. And lucky for him, he has a great audience, because she just loves to laugh.

WJ is still learning how to deal with having her around and does have his moments (i.e. throwing a chair at her because he wants her to sit in it…) but has a very good attitude about learning how to be gentle and not forcing her to do things.

That’s it from me this month. Life is busy. Oh so busy. But amazing. Oh so amazing!!