This boy had a jam-packed, fun-filled, too much time in the car-seat, and a whole lot of celebrating kind of ninth month. Every weekend we were celebrating or traveling. We were busy. He was busy. It was awesome.
Baby Update:
Chief is weighing in at 21 pounds and standing (sometimes) 30 inches tall. I remember thinking he was heavy when he weighed 12 pounds and didn’t move. Now, he’s like the ultimate shake weight. He’s busy, and squirmy, and near impossible to keep contained. Diaper changes are interesting, putting clothes on him is like trying to dress a cat, and trimming fingernails? Yeah, I’m lucky if I can cut two of them before he’s gone.
His favorite things are chargers of any kind – phone chargers, computer chargers, he’s not picky; keys – the bigger and dirtier the better; the vacuum – oh man, is that thing exciting; door stops – specifically those on a spring; cabinet and drawer pulls – it’s like unwrapping a present, you never know what exciting thing is going to be waiting inside; and hangers – can’t get enough of the hangers.
During his 9th month…
We visited Chelsea for Alumni weekend. When you graduate from Chelsea you know that in 13 years your class will be hosting the alumni banquet. This happened to be my year to host and my boys tagged along.
He said “Mama.” It is the absolute sweetest sound I have ever heard. He knows it turns me to mush, so he uses it to his advantage any chance he gets. My least favorite is in the middle of the night when he cries “Mamamamamama” over and over again. Heartbreaker.
Mama turned 31! Birthday’s (or any special occasion for that matter) are so much more fun with baby! We had Aunt Lauren and Aunt Whitney come stay with Chief, while Chase and I went to dinner at Benvenuti’s.
Mom and Dad celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary! 8 years and this was the best one yet. We were the youngest couple in the restaurant at our 5 o’clock dinner at Red Rock Canyon Grill. Chief joined us, and he completely stole the show! He’s such a flirt in public places, the waitresses couldn’t get enough! Get in line, ladies. Get in line.
Little Chief Six Teef. He sprouted one more and man-oh-man does he like to use them. He “Sunny Baudelaires” just about anything that crosses his path. Sorry, raccoon…
Celebrated Dad’s first Father’s Day and First Swim! Dad is the best. He’s definitely the most fun parent. We had our first family swim session to celebrate. Chief was a natural.
He had his first fever. Gosh, it was a sad day. Our busy boy took 6 naps that day and when he wasn’t sleeping, he was crying. A fever and upset stomach had him crankier than the finger incident ever did. Thankfully, it only lasted about 12 hours.
We visited Big Cedar! …and Grand Lake. We spent a couple of days at Big Cedar with Big Chief and Honey (Chase’s parents). It had been YEARS since I had been in the Ozarks, and goodness, it didn’t disappoint. It was so beautiful! We stayed in a tree house cabin, visited Top of the Rock, saw our Marnie, and then stayed a couple of days at Grand Lake on our way back to Norman. Lots of traveling for our little adventure baby.
Baby’s first boat ride!
Solids are becoming A LOT more interesting. Boy LOVES his food. He is such a great eater and I’m SO THANKFUL. He’s getting better and better with finger foods and uses his sippy cup like a champ. It still amazes me every time he grabs the cup and drinks from it himself.
Since last month, Chief has added beets, cauliflower, asparagus, chicken, strawberries, tahini, turkey, lentils, leeks, blueberries, watermelon, and Ezekiel bread to his expanding palate. He would live off avocado toast if we’d let him. As you probably know, food is important to me. I’ve read Super Baby Food, French Kids Eat Everything, and lots of blog posts on the subject. I REALLY want Chief to be able to go anywhere and eat what we’re eating. I don’t want him to live off nuggets, fruit snacks, and macaroni. Maybe I’m looking at this through a rose colored lens, but I’m going to do my best to make sure he eats what we put in front of him.
Some of his favorite combinations lately are: butternut squash cauliflower, beet carrot apple, pea potato leek, lentil sweet potato, and of course, avocado toast.
Mama Update
After a lot of prayer, conversations with Chase, and trying for weeks to get an answer from Chief – I decided to stop teaching my yoga class. The timing of it was difficult, I was missing Chief’s bedtime routine, and our weekends were cut short. I miss it, but I feel completely at peace with my decision.
My biggest challenge this month was traveling. As you might know, it takes days to get everything packed up with a baby. Usually when we travel with Chief, his routine completely gets turned on its head – he doesn’t nap, he doesn’t sleep well at night, and he’s so much more cranky than if we had just stayed at home. I don’t know if it’s because he’s older or if he’s getting used to spending time in his car seat and sleeping in his Pack n’ Play, but he was WONDERFUL this trip! He handled his car seat well, took his naps regularly, and he slept just fine at night. My sweet, angel baby was, well… an angel!
As far as workouts go – I mentioned to Chase the other day that although I don’t work out like I used to, I’m a lot more active. If I’m home, I’m constantly moving – pick squirmy baby up, put squirmy baby down, pick up his sippy cup (or whatever else he decides he to throw on the floor) then repeat 1,389 times, and we go on LOTS of walks – boy loves to be outside!
Chief has continued to sleep well at night and every month that passes I feel more like my old self. He still wakes up once to eat but after the initial “Why won’t he sleep?!” moment wears off, our middle of the night nursing session is my favorite. It’s the only time I don’t feel like I’m wrestling with him to eat.
Every month that passes I become even more ridiculously enamored with my darling boy. I still can’t believe this little human is mine.
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