9 Months Old

It's hard to believe that I'm posting Nathan's nine months update already. He turned nine months on September 23, 2009. It's so much fun to interact and play with Nathan. Watching him grow and seeing the changes he makes brings big smiles and sometimes happy tears to his Mommy and Daddy. This has been a milestone filled month for Nathan. Here's a fun list of what he can do now.

* Nathan does a great job scooting around on the floor on his tummy. He can make a full circle by making his strong arms turn him. He rolls and scoots to get the toys he wants on his blanket when playing on the floor. At the end of September, he started crawling.....backwards. He hasn't made forward movement yet but Isaac and I have seen many attempts of him working hard at it. Nathan has very strong legs and arms. He can stand on your lap for a long time while supporting him under his armpits. He can sit up on his own too!

* He can hold his bottle on his own when he wants to. He's eating five times a day; two of these feeding times are with rice cereal and did great with increased portions. Nathan started baby food mid September. So far he's had carrots, peas, peaches, and applesauce. Towards the end of September, he decided to not be interested in rice cereal; too boring and no flavor compared to big boy food so I just started him on whole grain oatmeal cereal to see if he enjoys that better! It's taking time getting Nathan to eat the variety of baby foods since it's recommended to wait three to five days to make sure he doesn't have a reaction to something and would be easier to pinpoint what it could be. So far he hasn't had any trouble and likes the different flavors. I thought we might see a funny face here or there but he just opens his mouth waiting for the next bite. Nathan is now wearing size 3 diapers and in nine month old size clothes.

* Nathan grabs his feet and draws them towards his face/mouth. He can hold a leg in each hand and bring them to his face. He usually does this when laying on his changing table. He entertains himself well playing with his toys on the floor. Nathan makes great sounds and laughs. He "sings" to us in the car when music is playing (more so to a female singer) and in church when the congregation is singing. His awake time has increased and naps have become shorter.

* On September 13 we discovered his first tooth on the bottom; just above the surface. Then two days following the second tooth appeared. So far he seems to be teething well. There were just a few days that he wasn't himself and needed Tylenol. We're thankful that he wasn't screaming his head off or anything like that.

Doctor Checkups:

Nathan's developmental appointment was on September 23rd. He had a very good report. The doctor tested his hearing by having Nathan follow where the sound was coming from with a high and low pitch item. She tested his ability to pick up different size toys, follow an object dropping to the floor, seeing how well he can stand, sit, crawl, etc. His corrected age is 6 months.

His well baby checkup was on September 30. He weighs 18 lbs 4 ozs and is 27.5 inches tall now. He ranges from the 10 to 25 percentile for a fill term 9 month old. The doctor was very impressed with his progress and recommended me to start moving him toward a three meal a day schedule.

Now for the extra fun part....pictures. Enjoy!

Look, teeth!