CJ at 9 Months: Let There Be Rock!

Ahhh Month 9 - how I love thee! With S I found that this was the month when her little personality really began to develop, and CJ has certainly followed suit! In addition to his continued affinity for getting into s!*t (drawers, stacks of books, S' "contains small parts" toys and the like) he's been developing in lots of other awesome, adorable and occasionally hilarious ways. Love!


Official 9 Month Photo:

"C'mon, take the dern thing already - I've got cupboard doors to manipulate!"

Physical Development:  

Weight: We'll assume about 16 lb, since he clocked 16 lb 4 oz at his 9 month check-up 11 days later. So he continues to follow his own curve at around the 3rd-4th percentile, and no one's worrying nor throwing negative labels at him anymore. Amen to that.
Height: About 28" (50th percentile)

Quite a few notables this month!

• Two more teeth popped - bottom and top left central incisors. The top one seemed like it wasn't too fun and bled a bit when it came in, poor guy. :(
• Army crawl's been "upgraded" to the real thing! Thankfully my Norwex mop system will be arriving soon to replace the swiffering action we'd been taking advantage of - woot woot!
• He's now pulling up on stuff like a pro! We first caught him standing in his crib at around 8 1/2 months, and shortly thereafter snapped this shot. Show off!! :)

• His pincer grip has been coming along much better. Approximately 73.6% of food bits placed on his tray now end up where they're supposed to go. *nods*

• He can basically climb stairs on his own now, however he occasionally still loses his footing and/or attempts to sit down so spotting diligence is still a necessity!
• He's started seriously rocking out. I'm thinking Baby's First Metallica Concert is on deck - who's with me?!

Overall, due to his recent movement, agility and strength advancements, I'm amending my earlier assumption that he'd be a later walker (i.e. one year+) and now going with 11 mths, 1 week. Any other guesses???

Cognitive, Social & Emotional Development:

CJ's interactions with objects are becoming much more varied and meaningful. While he still enjoys mouthing and mauling stuff, he often stops to focus on an object more intently and he's loving sensory experiences like touch & feel books (that is, when he's not repeatedly opening and closing the cover), running water, flowers, etc. He's also exhibiting the same infatuation that S had with this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star YouTube vid. Baby crack, I'm tellin' ya.

His babbling seemed to tone down this month, presumably because he's been working hard at so many other things! Though he continues to bust out his patented battle cry (both happy and frustrated/grumpy variants) on a regular basis.

Lots of emotions this month! He goes from big smiles & giggles to instant indignation when you move him away from something he wants, put him on his back for a change, etc. Although he's still (mostly) OK being with other people, he's showing a distinct preference for his parents. Especially me, I have to say! When someone unfamiliar picks him up, he'll often look over at me for a sign of approval. And he's loving the little dances and lullabies we share before naps and bedtime, which brings me to...


Sleep:

Naps somehow got all out of whack early in the month, with CJ either refusing to go down in the first place, or waking after 15-20 minutes in a total tizzy. Mid-month, I broke down and ferber'd a bit (using a variation of the interval thing) and thankfully it didn't take long before he was back in a solid 2 nap schedule. And, indeed, the 2-3-4 approach has worked like a charm; he's napping (approximately) 10 to 11:30 and 2:30 to 4, and then going down between 8 and 8:30. I'll have to adjust things soon as I just signed him up for a library program taking place on Fridays at 10:30. The downside is I'll have to wake him at 7 which dips into my morning time, but the upside is that this should result in better afternoon nap overlap with his sister.

Overnight sleep continues to be blissful. Knock on wood.


Food:

CJ continues to eat with gusto, and we're now feeding him what we eat much more often (vs. his purees). He can handle quite chunky food, and as I mentioned earlier, his pincer grip is getting much more reliable. Each day we try to give him a combination of spoon-fed and finger-fed foods so his motor skills and sensory experiences with food continue to develop. He's had so many foods that I no longer think about whether something in particular is new; I simply confirm that a dish I'm about to feed him doesn't contain peanuts, strawberries or honey.

The above said, his nursing has held steady since the previous month - still at 5-6 sessions per day. I'm going to be back at work in less than 2 months, so I'll have to figure out how to gently ween him down to 2-3 sessions. I don't want to before he's ready, but at the same time a) I can't be running out to feed him during my work day, and pumping daily is less than ideal as well, and b) I've lost a ridiculous amount of weight since his birth. More than I did with S, and that was bad. :-/ Cutting out a few sessions per day'll hopefully help me put a few pounds back on!!

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And finally, the 9 Month Cuteness Reel! I had to post the earlier head banging vid separately 'cause it was made of too much win to be "relegated" to a compilation, but I assure you these moments are well worth checking out too! 

More CJ updates: 8 months
View what big sis was up to at 9 months! (Note - pretty much the same thing. Getting into everything and being utterly adorable!)