Boy, I wish I could just bottle this little guy up. Already this is going so much faster than I'd like it to.
At Reed's 9 month appointment he weighed 20.15 pounds (56th percentile) and was 29.75" tall (89th percentile). As best we can tell he's part giant, as he dwarfs most all the babies (...and some of the toddlers) that we see regularly.
-He learned to sit himself up at almost exactly 9 months. He's been able to sit independently for probably 4-5 months, but he can finally get up on his own. It took him just a couple days to pretty well master it, and now between rolling and sitting and sliding on his forehead (hello carpet burns), he can make pretty good time across a room.
-Reed LOVES strings, shoelaces, cords, or anything that looks like a rope. He pulls at hoodie strings and there are days I have to sit on my feet while changing his diaper because he won't stop rolling over for my shoelaces.
-We rented the Moana soundtrack for the library and have listened to it over and over. He loves Maui's song and the village song but he HATES "Shiny" so much that he'll scream and cry if I forget and leave it playing.
-He's eating more and more solid foods. He really likes bananas, Cheerios, pancakes, rice, strawberries, and cinnamon rolls. He'll eat most everything we give him and sometimes we get entertaining faces but for the most part he just plugs along. There are a few exceptions: TJ fed him grapes once and he hated them so much he wouldn't even try them again; and he loves chocolate more than anything else. :) I used to say that as a joke, but it's proven to be true. Two nights ago TJ and I were both eating chocolate cake as we watched the Olympics. Reed just stared at us, unblinking, unmoving, until I gave him a bite. Once that chocolate was in his mouth he laughed and waved his arms and kicked his legs.
-It appears that Reed is quite a good listener. Often at church he just sits next to us on the bench and watches the speaker/teacher. It's adorable.
-Reed and I get out on walks most days, even though it's cold. I put him into his snowsuit and he stays toasty warm as we walk. He still always likes to face forward and rarely makes a peep as we walk, even when it's for an hour. When the sun is in his eyes (whether in the stroller or in his carseat) he just turns his head from side to side trying to find a position that brings shade: if there isn't one, he just keeps his head to the side and waits.
-He isn't crawling yet and he can't stand on his own either. His cousins his age are both experienced movers by now, but it is awfully nice to sit him down and know (within about 10 feet) where he'll be when I come back!
-Almost always when I change his diaper he plays with the diaper rash cream - it keeps him busy enough he doesn't roll over. It's a silly little thing, but I think I'll always think of him when I see those yellow tubes. :)
-TJ often works to make new noises for him. A frequent noise he makes is the sound of a trumpet: since TJ can't whistle, he often "trumpets" music instead. Reed always reaches out with one finger to touch his lips, over and over, while listening.
-Probably around 8 months Reed started sleeping through the night. Man alive, what a difference this makes! He typically goes between 9-11 hours straight through, every few nights waking for his binky. It is pretty amazing and we are lucky and grateful that we didn't have to go through torturous sleep training to get to this point!
-We bought Reed a little high chair that clips on to the island in the kitchen and he probably spends a couple hours a day sitting there as I work in the kitchen. He is a great observer and watches me for long periods of time, usually with a big spoon and a canning ring to play with/suck on. His favorite thing - by far - is when I crack eggs: when he hears me do that he leans way forward in his seat for a closer look.
-He's started just screaming when he's hungry or tired. It wears on me.
-The other way he's started communicating what he wants is by leaning - sometimes nearly out of my arms. He leans for the alarm (he loves to touch the screen), he leans towards the vacuum (which he loves), he leans towards food he wants to eat, he leans for his binky.
-He's practically a pro at putting his binky in now. This is especially handy in the car.
-Over the past 4-6 weeks we've worked to make routines of brushing Reed's teeth, having family scriptures, and praying together (taking turns who says it). Reed knows when we get his toothbrush ready to open his mouth and, aside from the occasional fighting over him wanting to do it himself, he's really pretty good about letting us brush them. We finished reading the picture Book of Mormon together and are now into the Old Testament. We're trying hard to make these habits now!
-Reed really enjoys the bathtub and loves sitting all the way at the front and waving his hand through the water as the tub is filling. TJ was giving him a bath last week and found that Reed pretty consistently makes quiet noises when he's laying down and his ears are underwater. :)
-At this point Reed has eight teeth (four on top and four on bottom) and they are starting to show as he talks, which is so odd! :) He has been doing a sort of babbling over the past week or so where he almost pulls his lips back to show all his teeth, which cracks us up. His bites hurt, but we've learned to mostly stay away from his mouth. ;)
-Reed continues to be a pretty serious little guy, mostly just watching/observing. It's rather humorous to introduce him to people: most often he just stares, no smiling, no blinking, no interacting. People don't really know what to say/do.
-That said, Reed's little laugh makes both of us grin. He loves to be tickled on his sides, under his chin, and have his neck blown on. He loves to gallop in TJ's arms and loves laying on TJ's belly as TJ army crawls on his back - both of those get some good laughs.
-He loves sucking on the face of his blue sheep. It makes these terrible slurping noises that sometimes make me gag but mostly make me laugh. He liked his cow better but we (tragically) left it in Las Vegas - we called that cow his "Chew-vaca" which we thought incredibly clever. Ha. Also, we have probably 70 pictures of him sucking on this blue sheep, so although these four probably seem like overkill they are way narrowed down. :)
-Reed is great at pulling his socks off and if he has nothing else to keep him busy, he'll pull them off and suck on them just for something to do.
-Speaking of sucking on things, he has a quiet book with little animals that he sucks on (leaving them in his mouth like a dog while he plays) until they can be wrung out. Oh boy. He gets those things so full of drool.
-When we fold laundry together one of my favorite things to do is put things on his head and tell him, "Reed, I like your hat!" He puts his little hands up and grabs around until he finds the thing and yanks it off.
-He often has his little toes clenched/curled tightly. I don't know why. He rarely wears shoes.
-Reed still loves to be swaddled to sleep. His bedtime routine almost always includes him rolling around, kicking at the slats on the sides of his crib, and often curling up tightly in the corner to sleep.
-He loves watching motion. His eyes immediately go to the person walking or the car driving or whatever is moving. He loves walking along roads outside where he can watch car after car go by.
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| Watching people at the Bellagio |
I could go on and on. We feel so blessed and grateful - every single day - that he's our little guy. He sure lights up our world!
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| Reading his favorite book: Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion. That face is priceless. |
