Eli:
I'm pretty late on the 8-month update/milestone record for Eli, he turned 9-months old on Christmas Eve...oops.
There are lots of little details that are fun to record...a snapshot of the incredible changes that take place this first year!
A lot has been happening as far as development lately, Daddy just said yesterday that it almost feels like you are a new person because you've changed so much.
We took you to your 9-month well baby check a couple of weeks ago, and at not quite 9-months old you were about 29 and 1/2 inches long and 20 pounds 13 oz.
The doctor declared you to be a "social butterfly" and noted that we might have another early walker on our hands (big brother walked at 9-months-old)...I guess we will see, but I wouldn't mind waiting a few more months before chasing after two mobile little guys!
As far as your motor skills go, you get stronger and stronger every day. You are a speedy little crawler, and you love to be chased. You like to cruise around the furniture and even between pieces of furniture that are closely spaced. The day before we went to your 9-month well baby check-up, Daddy called me upstairs to see that you were standing up all by yourself. You continue to do this more and more, and sometimes stand 5-10 seconds before sitting down. You love the little push cart you got for Christmas and you can walk around by pushing that toy. You continue to inch closer and closer to walking...
You have an awesome little pincher grip and you love to feed yourself everything, including little things like peas, blueberries, and cheerios.
Which brings us to one of your biggest joys in life- food!!
Baby led weaning has been working really well, you love food and you seem to be eating constantly. I am actually relieved that you are 9-months old now, so that the amount and variety of foods that you eat doesn't seem so strange. So far you have loved everything we have given you and you mostly eat what we eat, and when we eat...3 meals a day and lots of snacks. It is not uncommon for you to eat more than Max at lunch or dinner...I'm not sure where you are putting all of this food because you are a pretty lean guy!
You prefer to feed yourself, and you taught yourself to eat from the Ella's squeeze food pouches that we bring when we are out and about. You also taught yourself to drink from Max's sippy cups, you love to crawl around and find them...you sip a little bit of water and then spit most of it out.
You are still nursing throughout the day and 2-3 times at night, which
is something the doctor wants us to work on with you, slowly eliminating
those night feedings...we offer you a bottle of formula in the evenings, which you sometimes drink.
We are watching your weight closely, because it actually dropped in percentiles, but the doctor thinks this is likely because you are so active, I'm not sure if it would even be possible to feed you more than we already do!
When it comes to personality you continue to be an outgoing, laid-back, happy little guy.
Vivacious comes to mind.
You love to wave and clap, and you have started to say "hi" when you wave and "yay" when you clap. I hesitate to call these words just yet, because I'm not sure you grasp the full meaning, but you definitely imitate the sounds in appropriate contexts. You were showing off your new "words" for Uncle Chris and Jenny when they were visiting and you just loved being the center of all that attention.
You also babble dada, and mostly use it to indicate Daddy if he is around, you also say mama for me, Max, or pretty much anything else that you want.
It is amazing to see you piece the world and language labels together, we were sitting in the living room a few days ago asking you questions like, "Where is the Christmas tree?", "Where is Max?" etc. and you would turn and reach for these things.
We continue to work on sign language with you and your favorite right now is "more", you also sometimes use "milk". Lately we have been mostly focusing on potty train signs with big brother, but we plan to work more on the basic signs with you this month.
I have started to notice you pointing at things occasionally, the age of "the talking finger" has arrived, and it is nice to be able to communicate with you better each day.
While you are very laid-back, you are not always an easy baby, you are definitely a stubborn little guy about some things. You do not like to be left alone...you won't play by yourself in the play room, and you won't sleep by yourself at this point. You will usually only nap/sleep in your crib if Max is also in the room (how you know if he is in there while you are sleeping, I'm not sure). You sleep about 4-5 hours on your own at night, but then you always end up curled up next to me by morning and you refuse to sleep any other way.
You are still very much a Mommy's boy, and I just soak it up :)
You have 4 teeth at this point, the two bottom middle teeth, and the top lateral incisors, so you are sporting a vampire look at the moment, but the doctor said 4 more top teeth are on their way.
Do you look like your brother did at this age? Good question. I think you do a little bit, but you are very different in some ways. You have the biggest, dark chocolate colored eyes, I have ever seen on a baby....and big brother went for his first hair-cut at this age, where as I don't see any visits to the hair salon in your future for awhile ;)
You continue to be a joy to parent. Daddy and I often say to each other that this is the "best age"...you love to laugh and make silly noises, you love to snuggle and be close to us, and you can't get into too much trouble...yet!
Max:
I had to add a few words on for my big boy as well, because he recently went through a major growth spurt- both physically and cognitively.
Mighty Max, I am just struck these days by how very big you are.
The 3T pajamas I bought you for Christmas are a bit too short already, and I had to squeeze your feet into the size 10 slippers. It seems like you grow out of clothing overnight.
It's time to move you into kids size clothing and shoes, which is hard on this mama's heart, but of course it is such a blessing that you are so strong and healthy.
At the same time, you have matured by leaps and bounds over the past couple of months. You are calmer, you listen better, you are a doting and protective big brother...don't get me wrong, you still have that wild thing spirit that I love (and I hope you always keep)...but we get to enjoy your sweet and calm side a bit more these days.
One example is that you will finally curl up on my lap and let me read a book to you (although you have been reading books with Daddy for a long time). This is something I have looked forward to since the time I found out I was going to be a mother.
Up until now, if I tried to read you a book, you usuaully couldn't sit still long enough to finish it...you insisted on holding the book, and "reading" only the pages you wanted read, and then you would run away with the book...
But these days you love to bring a book to me and sit on my lap and we go page by page, pointing out all of the things that you like and know.
I am still getting used to having conversations with you...it is strange to be able to say things like, "Max, do you want a snack right now?" and have you reply, "No, I'm playing with blocks."
I love hearing your thoughts and the adorable sentences you put together.
You love to sing and dance, and you know the words to all of the songs that we routinely sing with you. You love to show us how you can count up to 20, and point out letters, colors, and shapes wherever we go...we think you are a pretty smart little guy!
You are gentle with your brother and when he is upset you try to find ways to make him feel better.
You are finally staying in your toddler bed and just this week we have started working on potty training with you.
Sometimes I see you playing and I can't believe that you are my Max, you just look and act so grown up. So big, yet so little at the same time.
The interactions between you and Eli these days are just precious. You two hate to be apart and if you are separated from Eli you ask about him constantly.
"Where's brother?"
One of your favorite things to do is to "take pictures" of Eli while he is playing.
You like to use your blocks as a camera, you hold them up to your eyes and say "click". I ask you if you got a good picture of Eli, and you say, "It's so cute!"
Be still my heart.
I love the age gap between you two, 19-months and 19 days, close in age, spirit, and heart.
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| I call this a "real life" picture...a better example of what our daily life really looks like! |
Finally, a tip of my hat to Daddy, I can't imagine a better partner to share and celebrate each of milestones with.
Hooray for 8/9 and 28-months!
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