9 month pic preview

Here are just a few favorites from Liam’s 9 month session by the amazing Robin Frisella Photography!

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9 month checkup

Liam had his 9 month checkup today. It went well! He weighed in at 19 lbs 9 oz and was 30.25″ long, putting him at the 25th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height. His head remains between the 25th and 50th percentiles at 45 cm.

I can’t believe his weight has fallen to the 25th percentile! The pediatrician says it is a good place to be, and there is no need to worry that he isn’t on the same curve as when he was born. Apparently, it has been a gradual decrease for him, and that is fine. They worry about sudden drops in weight. Of course, as a Mommy, I can’t help but worry about it! I’m going to see if I can get him to eat a little more, but we shall see.

He is doing great developmentally, and his cruising abilities even put him ahead of the curve! The pediatrician was also very impressed that he not only says “bye-bye”, but knows what it means! He said it a little over a month ago to two different sets of friends as we were leaving a birthday party, and we took notice, but thought it may have been a coincidence, especially since he babbles the “ba” sound a lot. But then, on Saturday as the photographer finished his pictures and left the park where we were taking them, he said “bye-bye” to her as she walked away! So now we are quite certain he understands what he is doing. The pediatrician said that most babies use 2-3 words purposefully by the time they are a year old.

The only vaccine he received was a flu shot. It was optional, but after talking to the pediatrician about it, I felt it was the best thing for him, as the flu virus can be very bad for babies and small children. My brave boy didn’t even cry about it! He scrunched up his face for a minute, and then was fine!

I told her that we’d had a little bit of trouble getting him to sleep in his crib, and she suggested putting his pack ‘n play back in our room, letting him sleep in that, and then just gradually moving it further away from us until he is in his own room, and then in his crib. I think we may try that, or his crib mattress on the floor. She said there was no need to feel pressure to use the “cry it out” method – she said there were much gentler approaches and those were fine, too. She recommended we read “The No Cry Sleep Solution” by Elizabeth Pantley, which I actually own! Our pediatrician said she could tell that I was someone who would have a hard time with leaving my baby to scream. She said she was the exact same way with her babies. She was right, by the way. I can handle a little fussing and mild crying for a minute or so at a time. I already knew that “cry it out” wasn’t my parenting style, but it felt good to hear his pediatrician back me up. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the method or those who use it, but it simply isn’t my “style”. I am a big believer in everyone doing what works best for them and their families.

Liam also had his toe pricked and blood collected to test his hemoglobin levels and to test for lead. Both came back great, which was good to hear.

His next checkup will be his one-year appointment in January. I can’t believe he will be a year old so soon!

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Picture time!

Liam’s pictures went very well yesterday! We even got a few family pictures done, as well. It will take up to 2 weeks for me to get those back, so in the meantime, here are a few we have taken around our house lately.

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Time & Standing

Time is escaping me these days. I find myself trying to catch up, but I can’t. The clocks and calendars say there are still 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 365 days in a year. If it could not be so easily proven, I would be skeptical of this truth.

I know time is not increasing in speed. But my life seems to increase in “things I must do” on a daily basis. As a child, I often found myself searching for things to fill the minutes of a day. I could choose how those minutes were spent, at least when not in school. But now, there are so many demands on the minutes I have. Instead of seeking activities to fill the minutes, I now find myself looking for minutes to complete my activities. Where waiting in a doctor’s office was once a bore, it is now an opportunity to email a friend. The thirty second elevator ride I take each day is spent checking Facebook or making grocery lists.

I once believed growing older was the culprit. However, my maternity leave did not feel this way. It went by quickly, overall, and I was very busy taking care of my new bundle of joy! However, the days didn’t seem quite so short. I only had one major demand on my time. So, that experience tells me, age is not the issue. Instead, I now see the true link is all of the additional responsibilities with which we immerse ourselves as we grow older. Unfortunately, for many, including myself, this cannot be avoided. So, I suppose time will continue to move at whirlwind speed for me.

Enough rambling about that! Time for Liam updates!

Since Liam has become mobile, we spend our evenings and week-ends following him around the house, making sure he does not get into a dangerous situation. We also put up a gate in our living room, so if we are in there, we can keep him there with us!

In addition to crawling everywhere, he is pulling himself to stand all the time, and cruising around the room. He does this more at daycare than at home, but we don’t have much cruise-friendly furniture, whereas at daycare, the entire room is geared towards babies a year old or less.

Finally, he is standing on his own, and doing quite well at it! He can easily stand for an entire minute at a time without wobbling. Last week-end, he even pulled himself into a standing position in the middle of the room, with no furniture or anything to support him! He started out on his hands and feet, and then one by one, lifted up his hands, so that he was standing. I haven’t seen him do that again, but I also don’t get to see him most of the day during the week. 😦

All of his daycare teachers tell me he is going to be walking before he is a year old. He loves to be walked around the house but, most importantly, he isn’t afraid to let go of our hands (or whatever furniture he is using for support) and try to do it by himself. Unfortunately, at this stage he does not have the balance to walk by himself, so he ends up falling, so we have to stay nearby when he is cruising. However, they say this lack of fear concerning stepping out on his own is very important for walking. A lot of babies have the capability to walk, but are afraid to let go, so that prevents them from walking until they build the courage they need. Apparently, there is another baby who was doing all of the things Liam is now doing, and just started walking at 10.5 months. Anyway, we shall see. It is fun to make predictions, but I have quickly learned it is impossible to know what will happen. I was sure Liam was teething at 2 months and, well, he is still toothless!!

Liam is now taking all of his expressed milk at daycare from a sippy cup rather than a bottle, and that is going so much better than a bottle ever did. Before, we were lucky if he drank 4 oz without me there to feed him. Thankfully, I feed him at lunch time most days and when I pick him up, so I think he was still managing to get what he needed, though not as much as I would have liked. He hasn’t put on weight at the same speed as he did while I was on maternity leave and, of course, I have worried about it off and on. He still has plenty of baby chunk – one only need look at his thighs to see that! And he doesn’t look scrawny by any means. But he is very far from being a chubby baby. Anyway, with his sippy cup, he will drink 6-9 oz in a day, plus what I feed him, which makes me so happy!! He also eats regular meals during the day – no more purees at daycare. I still will give him a puree for dinner if he stays awake long enough to eat, and I nurse him several times in the evening and I even still nurse him 1-2 times in the middle of the night, all to try to make up for what he doesn’t get while at daycare.

Today Liam is getting his 9 month pictures made, and Monday I am home with him to take him to his 9 month checkup. It was initially scheduled for last week, but I had to go to a meeting for work, so we had to reschedule. I can’t wait to see how he has grown, and I have quite the list of questions for the pediatrician! I will share them, and their answers, on Monday!

I will add the pictures I have taken recently before the week-end is over!

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Another (longer) crawling video

Here is a video I meant to share when I did my last update, but couldn’t get it to work.

I also want to note that Liam is now pulling up to stand like a regular pro, and he is even cruising around while holding onto furniture. Whew!

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Catching up…

Wow – it has been way too long since I provided an update! But, with a crawling baby on the loose, it is much harder to find an uninterrupted stretch of time to blog! We have also been very busy, and I’m sure that will only get worse as the holidays approach.

On 10/1, Liam turned 9 months old! He is as old as a full-term pregnancy! His time on the outside has definitely felt a lot shorter than his time on the inside. He has changed my life completely, and I feel so incredibly blessed that God chose him for our family.

The week-end before last, we went to visit Nathan’s family, and met up with some long-time friends of his family. We had an enjoyable visit, and Liam shared some sleepy-time snuggles with his cousin Ella.

He also rode his cousin Nolan’s motorcycle, with the help of Aunt Cindy.

Then, this past week-end, we went to Branson with our friends Bonnie, Ben, and their 3-month-old, Elias. We went to Silver Dollar City and outlet mall shopping. Liam adjusted well to being in a new place. However, he didn’t sleep as well as he does at home, and he was still recovering from an ear infection, so there were a few meltdown moments. 😦 Here are some pictures of our time in Branson.

Kisses for Baby Elias...or chewing on his head...

Hanging out on Dad's lap

Exploring the cabin

And here are a few other pics from the past few weeks.

Enjoying some fresh blueberries

This is what happens when I look away for 5 seconds...

Chasing the cat

The cat looks quite alarmed...

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