9 Months

My sweet little wiggly, ever-moving, no-longer-want-to-be-held nine month baby boy. 

Last Monday was your nine month birthday and Tuesday at your nine month check-up (with a new pediatrician that we really like - praise the Lord) you decided you did not want to be held. You were trying to do everything you could to not be held and the people in the waiting area at the doctor's office were staring at me as I was trying to wrangle you in my lap. I told them you had never done this before, and looked at me like "ummm, duh, he's a baby and babies do that." But when I told them you had never done that before they looked at me like I was crazy. I feel like it was seriously overnight that so much has changed, and definitely wasn't ready for it. 

Before I get into the new challenges, here are some Jonah stats:

weight: 18 pounds (15th percentile)

height: 28 inches (44th percentile)

head circumference: 17.75 inches (15th percentile) - your Aunt Britt and Papa-doc still do not believe this because your head looks so normal. I can't imagine what your head would look like if it was in the 50th percentile. =)

- Eating solids has been good, sort of. I feel like you do really well every two meals and then on the third it seems you're not that interested or you don't like what you are getting. Starting new textures has not been your favorite, which has made getting you to eat protein a little difficult. I usually shred chicken into your veggies and you LOVE cheese. I think you could eat orzo pasta with melted cheddar cheese all day long (our version of mac n' cheese). You do not like yogurt, which is strange to me. Basically, as long as you are able to feed yourself you are one happy little eater. 

 - You are starting to nurse a little bit better, which is makes me happy because I am not ready for you to be done nursing. 

- You have been getting faster at your army crawl. You are able to get your knees under you but you haven't pushed up yet on your hands. As much as I want you to master this skill I'm okay that you haven't yet. Once you are for real crawling you are going to be hard to keep up with. 

- You're starting to get interested in pulling yourself up but still not too sure about standing up. 

- And I know I shouldn't post about this but I want to remember how sleeping was for you at nine months. Our nights are getting better, praise the Lord. We are having some pretty early mornings but I'll take those if we're able to get through the night. And napping has been good too. You've been taking a longer nap in the morning (almost two hours) and about an hour and a half nap in the afternoon. You still wake up after about 40 minutes but you've been doing great with putting yourself back to sleep. 

 I love your half moon eyes, definitely like your fathers. 

Over these past couple of weeks we have been seeing a lot of your personality develop, and I love it! But I guess I wasn't quite ready to see you become so strong willed (clearly you are my son, just ask your Kika about my strong will as a child...and still). 

At nine months you have already mastered the throw your head back and arch your back at the same time. This usually occurs when you aren't getting what you want because I've had to pull you away from something dangerous. 

At nine months you are shaking your head no while you're eating if I'm offering you something that you don't want. Not exactly sure if it is indeed a no, but your lips are sealed and there is no way food getting in there if you don't want it. You also want to hold the spoon while you're eating which is great so you can learn how to feed yourself, but your interest in your spoon is purely for playing with and you've gagged yourself a few times. I even got you a big fat spoon to hold while you eat, but that didn't work out so well either. Your world and meal time is over the moment I take your spoon away from you and I hate that. I want you to have everything you want but not everything is good for you, and that is a tough lesson to learn at nine months....and even still at 27 years old. 

Even with the new challenges of being a parent, your father and I are so glad we are your parents. Thank you for keeping things exciting and for keeping me on my toes. 

I know there is so much more in store during this next month. 

picture by Brooke

Can you believe this was just nine months ago? 

I love love love love love!

Starting to get a lot emotional over here so I better end this post. 

Thank you for continuing to bless me and love me even though 

I take your spoon away from you.

Love you Jonah-bear!

picture by Brooke