Jackson {9 months}

Dear Munchkin -- I'm a few days late, but you are now 9 months old.

I wanted to wait until the weekend to take your monthly pictures.  You are in constant motion these days, so I knew I would get better pictures if I was able to have your dad's help, but then you were attacked by mosquitoes {they are so bad right now because of the rain}, so I wanted your bites to fade a little first.  Unfortunately though, they're taking much longer to fade than I had hoped, so I figured I better snap some pictures because you'll be 10 months before I know it.

Every month I try to find the perfect words to describe how much I love being your mom so that you will one day know exactly how I feel at this very point in time.  Putting a love like this into words is hard though -- because I don't just love you.  I love everything about my life even more because of you.

Your dad and I are closer now than we've ever been before, and I've really enjoyed getting to see a whole new side of him.  He's always been sweet, gentle, and fun, but when it comes to you, he takes those qualities to the max.  I also have a whole new appreciation for your grandparents and everything that they've ever done for us -- both when we were growing up and even now.  Our church, our friends, everything that Austin has to offer -- I love it all even more now that you're here, and even the simplest of days spent at home are that much more fun because of you.

You really are growing up so fast.  In some ways, it makes me sad to think that you are no longer my tiny baby that lies calmly in my arms, but in other ways, these times are so much more fun.  You now army crawl all over the house and have realized that if you lean over, we'll put you down and that if you crawl over to us, we'll pick you up.  Feeding you, burping you, clothing you, and changing your diaper is not nearly as easy at it used to be, and all of these tasks somewhat resemble that of a wrestling match.  All I gotta say is that it's a good thing you're cute. ;)

You love to give us eskimo kisses, click your tongue, and touch/point to everything with your one little finger.  You love to grunt and rub your fist {or one of our shoulders} in our mouth while saying "ahhh...", and this month, you also learned to "Whoop!" {or your own version of it} while watching an Aggie football game on TV.

I love you, Munchkin, and I am so incredibly proud of every single one of your accomplishments.  Thank you for making my life so much richer.  I love being your mom.

Love,

Momma

{9 MONTH STATS}

Measurements:

• Weight: 23 pounds 6 ounces
• Length: 29 inches

Sizes:

• Clothes: 18 months
• Diapers: size 4
• Shoes: size 4

Eating:  Everyone that sees you comments on what a good eater you must be, and that's the case when it comes to nursing/bottles, but unfortunately, you still don't like solids all that much.  You still nurse or take a bottle 5-6 times a day {every 3 hours or so}, and we still give you 3 tablespoons of cereal in your bottles twice a day for the iron, too.  I'd like to try to get you to take less milk and more food, but considering you're still not a huge fan, that's a lot easier said than done.  These days, we try to feed you two meals {once in the afternoon and once in the evening}, which mainly consist of baby purees or soft pieces of fruit and veggies.  You still only take just a few bites and will only eat it if you're really hungry though.  This month, you've tried a few new foods, and your favorites have been Cheerios {I'm pretty sure you would live off of these if we let you}, tomatoes, corn, and plain yogurt mixed with apple puree.

Sleeping:  As crazy as it sounds, you finally are on somewhat of a schedule.  It varies a little bit depending on whether or not you're with me or your Mimi, but that's mostly because I have to get you up earlier on the days that I work.  On the days that you're home with me, you wake up at around 5:00 or 6:00 to eat and will usually drink an entire 9-ounce bottle.  Although you're usually in a great mood, I can tell that you're not really ready to get up for the day, so as soon as I feed you, I put you back to bed, and you sleep till around 8:00.  As for naps, you still take two of those -- one from around 11:00 to 1:00 and then another from around 3:00 to 5:00.  You still go to bed at about 7:30, and thankfully you still go down so easily -- for both naps and at bedtime.  We lay you down, turn on your lamb, give you your puppy lovey, and that's it.  You talk to yourself and roll around a little bit, but you hardly ever fuss.

Likes:

• Waking up in the morning or from a nap -- we let you lay in there for a few minutes, and you just roll around a talk to yourself
• Sleeping with your Puppy Lovey
• When we come into your room to get you from your crib and when we walk out of your room after sleeping and/or a diaper change
• Playing with all of your toys in your play area and on your foam mat
• Army crawling all over the house -- if I shut our bedroom door and put up a baby gate between the living room and kitchen, everything is baby-proofed.
• Picking on Annie and Amos {especially Annie} when they are trying to sleep in their crates
• Being out and about -- whether it's Stroller Strides, running errands, or meeting up with friends/family, we try to get out at least once a day because otherwise you get bored
• Going on walks around the neighborhood in your stroller
• Eating Cheerios
• Drinking water out of a sippy cup or our water bottles/cups
• Touching everything with your one little finger {with both your left and right hand}
• Giving us eskimo kisses -- but only when you want to and not on request

Dislikes:

• Being laid down on the changing table -- you are constantly trying to turn over, grab things that are above your head, and drop things onto the floor
• Being strapped into your highchair -- I try to have the food ready so that I can start offering you things right away because you fuss up until that point {and sometimes even after that if you're not very hungry}
• Being strapped into your car seat -- I usually try to have something new for you to play with while riding in your car seat whether it's a toy that you haven't seen in awhile, an empty water botlle, or some other random thing from around the house
• Being put in your crib if you're not ready to go down {which is very rare and usually only happens if you're past due on your nap or bedtime} -- you grunt and thrust your hips up off the mattress in protest
• Having your face wiped after meals or in the bathtub