Gerrit: 9 months

Age: 9 months on 27 July 2015
Weight: 21.8 lbs
Height: 28.3 inches
Teeth: 2
Clothing Size: 12 months
Diaper Size: size 3
Milestones: army crawling, clapping, pincer grasp, making sounds with his tongue (like the beginning of making the ‘nuh’ sound), sleeping solo all the time, sitting up from laying down, growing more hair (finally!), crawling, looking for attention

Gerrit went from a speedy army crawl to the occasional “real” crawl right before he turned 9 months old. He usually starts crawling the “real” way, then it’s back to the belly because it’s faster right now.

As for the looking for attention? I mean that literally. He will lean over and cock his head to the side to try to get into my line of vision if I’m not paying attention to him! It’s pretty cute, and it always works. 🙂

Sleeping: I’ve really started worrying less about Gerrit’s sleep lately, if you can believe that. I mean, he has good nights, he has great nights, and he has some not-so-great nights. And it is what it is. I still keep track of how much sleep he gets, but I don’t fret so much about his sleep unless he’s getting much less than normal all of a sudden.

This month I started pushing 2 naps instead of 3 each day. That third nap is such a battle most days, and since it takes so long to get him to sleep, it ends up going too late so I have to wake him up. Which I hate doing! That being said, if his first 2 naps are short, I definitely go through the pain of giving him a third nap.

Speaking of naps, I have stopped napping with Gerrit completely now. I was noticing that his first nap was getting increasingly difficult: he would try to roll around or crawl instead of laying and nursing next to me, and he would wake up a bit, see me, and be wide awake, cutting his nap too short. So one frustrated morning, I put him in his crib to nap. And he took a great nap! I was honestly sad to lose that cuddle time with him. I’m realizing that that nap together was more for me than for him at this point in time. Oh, but don’t worry, I still take a nap when he naps in the morning. 😉 I was surprised how much I felt like I still needed it. Sometimes I think I will never catch up on sleep.

A good portion of Gerrit’s 9th month was spent in another Wonder Week: Leap #6 – The World of Categories. I was expecting the worst with this one, because reading other peoples’ accounts of this Wonder Week made it sound awful. Some people even said it was the worst one! But nothing really changed. Gerrit’s sleep was still pretty good. He is so unpredictable with sleep & eating, that things would have to be significantly worse than normal for me to notice a change. Other moms complained that their child would scream when they put them down at night or wake frequently, wanting close contact with Mommy all night. Gerrit just kept nursing to sleep, occasionally falling asleep on his own, and having 2-3 wakings a night. If anything changed, it was that I heard more sounds while he slept: whimpering or the occasional grunt or groan. Once we got to the “stormy week,” I did notice more crying (due to frustration, it seemed), worse sleep (we had some 30 minute “crap naps” and frequent night waking), and general crankiness from Mr. G. We should be coming out of it in the next week or so, so my fingers are crossed for better sleep soon!

Eating: In terms of breastfeeding, Gerrit continues to do fairly well. I still struggle to get him to nurse anytime that he’s wide awake. He takes a full feeding right before naps or bedtime. If I offer the breast when he’s not tired, he will usually nurse for a minute tops, then pull away and want to go play. I’m hoping that if he continues this way, he starts eating more solids to hold him over between feeds!

In terms of solid foods, Gerrit may be eating a bit more FINALLY! He has really come a long way with the pincer grasp, so I’ve started cutting his food into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces are more manageable for him, and I think it’s much easier for him to eat. Don’t get me wrong, most of his food still gets squished and thrown around, but I have seen evidence of more actual consumption! I have started offering more of the foods that I cook instead of just single items (some chili cornbread casserole vs a strip of bell pepper for example). It makes things much easier, since I just save a small amount of our dinner in a container for him to eat the next day. I have started reading more into the BLW cookbook I got for some recipe inspiration too.

Mommy Update: This mommy is doing pretty good! Summer clothes are making me more self-conscious about my tummy area, but I tell myself I will have plenty of time to deal with it after Gerrit stops breastfeeding. Mood-wise, I’m doing really well. I’m usually in good spirits, but that might be because I spend all day being silly with Gerrit!

I seriously love the time I spend with Gerrit now. Yeah, sometimes it’s exhausting, especially when he’s being crabby, but there is nothing better than knowing that I put the smiles on his face.

Best Moments: Definitely watching Gerrit learn and master new things. I love watching him sit and inspect things. He’s so serious about it!

I also love watching him get braver with standing on his own. He can stand by himself for about 5 seconds right now. It really surprised me the first time I saw him do this!

We’ve heard more laughs and giggles out of Gerrit this month too — I LOVE it! Just the cutest sound ever! I think he has figured out that I like it when he giggles… so sometimes I think he forces/fakes it, haha. He’s a smart cookie!

I also love doing sensory and art activities with him. Gerrit likes anything new and different, and I’m pretty sure he thinks “the messier, the better!”

Likes & Dislikes: Have I mentioned that Gerrit likes standing and walking? 😛 This is still true!

He has gotten pretty obsessed with walking. Sometimes that is ALL he wants to do. And he isn’t easily distracted from it! He will try to climb me, take my hands, and whine until I help him stand. And then he wants to take off walking, expecting me to help him along, haha.

Gerrit has gotten very quick with his army crawling! He will often go up on all 4s, but he still drops down to his belly to scoot across the floor. Since he’s so fast, I really have to be aware of anything he can get into. He loves going after electrical cords, but this is really only a problem in our bedroom (lamps, phone chargers, his baby monitor, the fan… lots of temptation!). He also likes shoes and sandals and tries to eat them.

So I have gotten much better about putting my sandals in the closet when I’m not wearing them! Who knows what he’s going to ingest after sucking on one of those… gross.

Gerrit’s mobility has gotten him stuck a few times too, haha.

Gerrit likes our hair. He’s getting good at giving Andrew scalp massages when Andrew puts him up on his shoulders. With me? Yank, pull, twist… OW! As soon as he gets his hands on my hair, he uses a death grip and goes to town waving his arms around. My hair is almost always way up on top of my head to prevent this, but he never misses a chance to snatch it if he can. I tell him, “No, no, that hurts Mommy’s head,” and he just grins.

Gerrit has always enjoyed us reading to him, but lately he has become really into books. When I open his closet doors (where all his toys are), he crawls straight for the books on the bottom shelf. These are a few of his favorites:

 

Along with books, Gerrit likes music! His face lights up when he sees the Pandora app opening on my phone, haha. This is one of his favorite songs. I try to be pretty silly and exaggerated when I sing it, which he loves. He also likes “If You’re Happy & You Know It” and anything I add my own dramatic flair to. 😉 Sorry (not sorry), I don’t have any videos of that!

What does Gerrit dislike? Us walking away from him! He will fuss or start calling, “Mamamam!” and army crawl as quickly as he can after us. He also dislikes getting his pajamas on. I’m pretty sure he knows the bedtime routine well enough to know what’s coming after the pajamas go on. Despite that, he really is not difficult to get to sleep at night. Another thing he dislikes is us trying to sit him down when he’s standing, haha. He will lock his legs to try to prevent it! What a stinker…

Memorable Events: Gerrit celebrated his first 4th of July! And we celebrated our first 4th of July in the USA since 2011!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got some family photos done this month! You can check those out in a separate post, but here’s my favorite:

 

Overall, we had a great month! It was a hot one, so we didn’t spend a lot of time outside, but I do try to get him out every other day or so for some type of activity once the patio is shaded (after 4pm). These months are starting to fly by now that Gerrit is so much more active. Here are a few more from his 9 month photos… he has some funny expressions!