Braden is 9 Months Old!

Okay, I'm back into the "I can't believe he's 9 MONTHS OLD!!!" phase again! That's kind of a milestone age in a sense! The whole 3-6-9-12 thing! A lot of people do professional pics at 3 month intervals, but I decided to do them at 6. I take too many myself as it is! :) Speaking of too many pics, Braden was SO not himself all day today. Maybe he was sad about turning 9 months old, he certainly wasn't as excited about turning 8 months! I could barely get this boy to keep a content face or keep his hands out of his mouth, nevermind smile...

Not a huge growing month this month, but he did enough of that last month!

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz
Length: 28 1/4" (more like 28" and a teensie bit!)
Head: 45.5 cm

So here are the new Braden things:

• Eating a SOLID 3 meals a day plus snacks, I am down to nursing him 4 times a day and the weaning process is going very well
• Can eat almost anything that we eat, I just have to cut it up/mince it and he's good to go! Which is SO handy now.
• Sleeping through the night every night!!! The odd time he will wake up screaming (don't know what that's about!) but he often settles himself or just needs a little cuddle and snack and he's okay
• Napping twice a day now, which I LOVE. Two 2 hour naps is ideal, but usually it's two 1.5 hour naps
• Awake 3-4 hours every afternoon which I also love and makes running around MUCH easier with a content and happy baby, not a baby that's getting crabby cuz he wants to nap NOW!
• Still crawling backwards...no signs of wanting to go forwards! Every time he tries to crawl forward he streeeeeeeeetches forward as if to reach for something, and ends up rolling over. He can get onto all fours, but also doesn't do that much
• He can go from sitting to all fours...then his knees slide out from under him.
• Loves standing up and is getting really good at "walking" with Jay
• He can pull himself up holding onto one of us, but not with other objects yet
• He can wave bye-bye which I love and it just "gets me" every time
• Saying "mama" and "dada" and I'm certain that he knows who we are, also says "nom nom" when he's ready for food
• Still no signs of more teeth, but all of the symptoms are there still - woke up with 2 rosy red cheeks this morning!
• For a few weeks he's been in all medium FuzziBunz - bye bye, smalls!
• Love love loves his water still and is a pro at his sippy cup and just a normal cup at home with a spout
• Loves all his pets and lights up and giggles at the sight of them
• Loving his swimming lessons - we've had 3 and on the 3rd lesson he really started to enjoy it. Smiles right away and was splashing and kicking the whole time. He even lets me dunk him under water and it doesn't phase him at all.
• Had his first hair cut

I'm going to start introducing him to whole milk now, just very slowly. They say that babies can have it starting at 9-12 months. Anyone have any tips for me? 1 oz a day...? Too soon? Thoughts?

I am planning on going back to work next month, slowly, and if we ever finish harvest! :) Would like to not have to pump and just breastfeed as needed. I will probably start working 8 hour nights as that'll be the easiest transition for Braden as I can still put him to bed, he still needs breast milk before he goes to sleep, though he hasn't fallen asleep nursing since he was about 4 months old. I hate pumping and I'm glad I don't have to do it, just when I want to.

The other night I fed him before bed, and he was snuggling so nice with me after, and I whispered in his ear, begging: "Please don't grow up any more!" I love this age so much, I will remember it forever and I don't want it to end. I'm dead serious. I know he'll keep getting more and more fun, but I just adore him at this age. He sleeps well, he eats well, he is happy and content during the day, he can entertain himself for a good period of time, he's very portable, he doesn't talk back, doesn't get into things... sigh. Here's hoping my little angel stays that way :)