Month 8 & 9!

Age: 8 months, November 11, 2013.  

Fun & Exciting Events:  I STARTED CRAWLING (November 24th, 2013 8:30pm!)  We drove to Buffalo to stay with my Grandma and Grandpa for Thanksgiving.  While we were visiting my Uncle Nate's house I crawled for the 1st time!  I really really wanted to play with a computer cord that Mommy was waving around on the floor to make it look like a snake.  I rocked back and forth a few times on my hands and knees and then just went for it!  It was great.  I was still a little wobbly but after a few days I got the hang of it and was a master by the time we arrived back in Nashville.  I had so much fun visiting my family in Buffalo.  I have a lot of cousins up there and my Grandma and Grandpa pay attention to me every single second!  Grandpa bounces me on his knee while making funny noises and I love it so much.  And he wears glasses that I like to look at and pull on.  Grandma always whispers to me how much she loves me and misses me being so far away.  

 Meal Times:  I love sitting in my high chair and being a part of family dinners each night.  I "drink" water from my sippy cup and throw my plastic bowls on the floor for Mommy to pick up!  I eat all the pureed food that Mommy and Daddy give me.  I am pretty picky when it comes to texture and Mommy has to make sure that my food is perfectly pureed.  Mom is somewhat worried about my texture issues and I have overheard her asking our neighbor who is a pediatric occupational therapist about my sensory issues! She reassured Mom that I was fine and to just keep offering different choices at mealtimes. 

Sleep Times:  I am giving my parents a real hard time at bedtime!  I am making them work to get me to sleep.  They get frustrated sometimes.  But, Mom read an article that was written by another mother explaining that the 8-13 months that some parents have to snuggle a few hours extra each night with their child isn't that long in the grand scheme of their time with you.  Mom was so glad that she read the article and was a little more patient with me at bedtime.  Right now, I am waking up about 3-4 times between 8:30-12:30am.  Mom and Dad take turns snuggling with me.  If it's Mom's turn, she nurses because I will not just lay with her.  Dad rocks me and hums be back to sleep and then gently lays me back in the crib.  I sleep until about 7:30am each morning so they do get about 7-8 hours of good sleep each night.  Mom was telling a friend how weird it is that you really can function only running on 3-4 hour sleep blocks.  Dad acts like he is never tired and is always doing things around the house.  I still take about an hour and a half nap when I get home from school so sometimes Mom lays down for about 30 minutes after she finishes cleaning all of the bottles and pump parts and washing my diapers.  She keeps reminding herself that I won't be this little forever and then she doesn't get as stressed out about being tired or doing some extra chores!

Age: 9 Months.  December 11, 2013.

Fun & Exciting Events: Mom and I have already posted about my awesome 1st Christmas which occurred during my 9th month of life.  

Mom and I like to have "Target Time" together.  Aunt Suzy mentioned this fun activity  to my Mom and she thought it was the greatest.  The two of us go to Target and Mommy treats herself to a tall decaf  coffee with a pump of caramel.  We walk around the store for about an hour.  It's very hard for Mommy not to buy everything that she sees! She usually leaves buy at least one item (usually it's something for me or Daddy!) 

Another activity that I enjoy in the house is playing on my alphabet mat that Mimi bought me.  I love ripping all of the edges off and chewing on them while crawling around the house! Mom and Dad have made me a little play nook between the green couch and piano, right under the window that looks into the backyard.  I have a few toys that I play with everyday, a musical egg shaker, plastic water bottles filled with items (jingle bells, buttons, puff balls, & beads), plastic shape sorters, and duplo legos.

Mom and Dad are having a lot of fun with me during this stage.  Everyone said, you don't want him to crawl, you think you're busy now just wait until he crawls, ugh, just wait until they start crawling;  well, guess what, Mom and Dad have LOVED watching me crawl and explore and discover all sorts of things in our house.  It makes evenings more entertaining and weekend mornings a lot more fun!  

Cheers to month 10!