BTLA: 9-month update!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

9-month update!

At 9 months, Iver:

- probably weighs 17-18 lbs (verdict at his well child check next week) and is in 6-12 (pants mostly)-month clothing

- is still exclusively on breastmilk as well as a variety of solids. He is very clear when he is done eating but has done a pretty good job of at least trying anything we offer, including most fruits, veggies, and some pureed meats, and even some dairy (cheese) without a major reaction. He has seemed to now prefer finger-feeding and being fed chunks of (soft) solids rather than being spoon-fed. He will gum up cheerios, puffs, as well as other fruits and table foods like soft chicken and meat. Distracting him with a toy helps us get the meal "down" :)

- now has 4 teeth, all erupting within a course of two weeks--his left lower tooth came in around 8 1/4 months (we called it "snaggle unitooth"), followed by the upper central incisors (right before left), and then the right lower tooth. He's started to bite occasionally while nursing, which is incredibly painful and annoying, and tries to bite off the sippy cup spouts regularly

- is still a regular pooper (i.e. usually at least 3x per day) with the occasional morning blowout (once all over his crib a couple of weeks ago)-- he is really good at pooping in the potty first thing in the morning and either peeing or pooping before and after naps (we are using a Prince Lionheart potty seat now, and it's working really well for cutting down on our diaper laundry/waste)

- is in cloth diapers during the day (with flushable liners) and size 3 Pampers at night (usually with one change after the 2-3 am feeding) or while traveling

- is quite the mover. He has crawled up our staircase, pulls up on everything, and cruises around his crib. It's pretty exhausting to watch him, as he's extremely persistent. Almost all of our pictures of him are blurry with motion! He is NOT a lap child but an explorer. He can free stand briefly on his own before falling down

- sleeps in his crib/own room at night. He goes to bed pretty easily between 7:30 and 8 p.m. after a routine of nursing/patting/Goodnight Moon-reading/lullaby-listening, and being put down by daddy. He gave us a few-night stretch of waking only once to nurse (around 2-3 am), but after the arrival of teeth (and traveling), has regressed again in the sleep department, now waking about 3x per night (some requiring intervention). We are doing some graduated extinction sleep training, which we hope will eliminate the 11pm waking (/eating) and help him self-soothe himself later in the night. He is usually up for the day between 530 and 6 am (we miss those weekend mornings of sleeping in!).

- naps twice in his crib, usually for 1-1.5 hours in the late morning (1000-ish) and mid-afternoon, although sometimes he only stays down for 20-30 minutes (he also falls asleep in the carseat and occasionally in the stroller)

- is getting bathed about twice a week now, since he gets filthy from crawling and grabbing everything, and we hope it will help him be more comfortable in the bath-- he usually whimpers or screams in the tub

- has gone swimming with Kelvin a few times in the Arcata pool, which (surprisingly) he loved, despite hating baths

- loves walks in stroller/BOB, and swinging at the neighborhood park. He likes being carried forward-facing in the Lillebaby carrier. He loves to play with cups, balloons, and paper.

- has figured out how to blow raspberries, mostly on Kelvin

- is incredibly smiley and vocal, saying some things like "da," "ba," "gaga" and "mum-mum-mum." He smiles all the time and giggles a lot, too. He is a very well-tempered baby most of the time, except when trapped in his carseat on long 5-hour road trips or when fighting sleep.

Getting ready to swim!