Life at Nine Months

 

Yes, as you can see, the big skill Stephen learned in his ninth month was to pull up to a standing position. He pulls up on everything -- this ottoman is a favorite because he can stand there and rock back and forth with it. He also likes the train table and whoever's pant leg happens to be close by (usually mine).

Another discovery this month was the stairs -- he can go up very well, although he exerts a considerable amount of effort to do so. He is turning into a little bit of a mama's boy. I wouldn't say he's having true separation anxiety yet, but often when I walk out of the room, he cries. Lately, he has taken to crawling around the house after me like a little puppy dog and fussing if I don't pick him up.

This month, Stephen also transitioned out of his infant carseat. He was just getting too wide for it and would cry every time we would strap him into it because he was so uncomfortable. Basically, we moved Alex to a big kid booster seat (which he was super excited about) so Stephen could have Alex's old convertible-type carseat.

Stephen has two little teeth on the bottom, and more on the way (I think). He eats with gusto and is developing quite the "muffin-top" to prove it. Still nursing 4-5 times a day, plus at night. At this age, Alex was already starting to wean himself and I was gradually replacing nursing sessions with bottles of formula. I kind of thought Stephen would do the same thing... but, when I tried to give him formula, he turned his nose up at it. I did finally get him to take a little bit one time, and he gagged and then promptly threw up all over me! So, we'll be sticking with nursing for now. Maybe I'll actually make it to one year with this one. I'm not even going to think about weaning until we're settled in Portugal and life starts to feel normal again.