9.5 Months

So its just as I thought it would be.  The first 6 months were pretty long (in both wonderful and challenging ways) but I predicted that the next oh, 18+ years of our lives would fly by, and yep, so far I was right!  

Here's the latest on our little man.

GROWING! 

At his 9 month checkup he was 17 pounds 1 ounce and was 27 inches in length (10th percentile).  

YUMMMM . . .  

He eats 3 solid food meals a day (just moved to 3 at his 9 month bday), and we're expanding his palate every day!  (well every 3 days)  He is a STUD at feeding himself, but we're still working on his picky-ness of textures.  He doesn't really like putting anything that's "mushy" into his mouth, but he's more than happy to eat it if we put it there!  He's still breastfeeding 4-6x a day, and hopefully this will continue through his first birthday where I'll then evaluate how things are going.

RUNNING YET?  

Nope.  But, just in the last week he has made dramatic improvements in his mobility.  He now can:  crawl backwards, crawl in circles, and ROLL anywhere he wants to go.  He still can't quite figure out the forward crawling motion, but I think its much more humorous and fun to watch him be creative in how he gets from point A to point B.  And boy, does he LOVE to walk!  If you hold both your pointer fingers out at him he'll get this goofy grin on, grab your fingers, and pick up his legs to walk, even if you're not moving yet!  But once you move, he's right there with you, with some amazing walking skills, and zero balance.  Its kind of the cutest thing ever.  Especially because he giggles and/or smiles the entire way.  We've also found out that he's a soccer star!  He knows what "kick" means and has some mad skills with the balloon soccer games that happen on occasion in the living and dining rooms.  Hey I could handle soccer mom status!

PRETTY MUCH A GENIUS  

Hunter can wave Bye-Bye, give a "High 5", make the sign for "more" and he is starting to know what the word "no" means.  He knows what "up" means and KNOWS when he wakes up from his naps that he wants mama and will let everyone know.  He's an expert at playing the piano,  loves reading books with me (or eating them), and he's been assisting Jake as he plays Words With Friends on his new phone.  He also loves texting on my phone and pressing "end" when I'm talking to a friend.  He is starting to talk so much more, but unfortunately he's speaking a different language than both Jake and I (he's so smart!) so its difficult to figure out what he's saying. 

ZZZZZ.......

So, Hunter's daily schedule has been so much more predictable!  He does not consistently take long naps, but compared to months ago, he does great!  He usually takes about 3 naps a day, and he goes to bed at 7:00ish every night.  He wakes up anywhere from 6:30 to 7:45 every morning.  So, I don't have much to complain about!

But, I guess I still will.  :)  Once he goes to bed at 7:00, he will wake up at least 3 times to eat every night!  Not a big deal, but for some reason it has reeeeally been making me tired lately, and its time to make another sleep transition.  As of two nights ago, I'm trying a new night schedule,... no details yet, but I will let you know how it goes!

CHOMP CHOMP

He has 4 teeth!  The normal bottom middle cute teeth, and then the atypical monstrous Incisors on the top!  He's our little vampire . . . but at least he's a cute one!

LOVELY LOCKS
Yep, he's definitely getting more hair!  We still have yet to tell if its going to transition towards brown, stay a dark blonde, or turn red?  He could go either way!  And, if he gets sweaty, the curls start to come out, so who knows what's going to happen!  Either way, we're just happy he has hair to talk about!

ALL SMILES
Okay well no one can smile ALL the time . . . but Hunter gets pretty close!!  He's not a super fan of diaper changes, but lets be honest, wouldn't you feel the same?  He's getting better about letting us change his clothes, but some days are more of a struggle in this department.  But I will say, with all thankfulness, that Hunter is just truly a JOY and he brightens our life every day.  He's such a happy baby, and although it may be just a stage, we'll embrace it as much as we can for the moment!!

Hunter, words cannot express how much we love you.  You amaze us every day!