Eight to nine months plus a couple weeks has been incredibly busy for Arlo (and us). Within the two weeks surrounding moving day he got a tooth, pulled up to standing position, saying mama & started scooting around! He loves to sit at the back door which might be the filthiest square footage of floor you can find. He licks the window & bangs on it for entertainment while we eat a meal or knock out a math lesson. He also keeps his eye on Bella Blue, sometimes his hands & even his mouth much to her dismay. I do love the way he looks at her as though they are the best of friends...
EATING: Our little darling only gained about a half pound in three months leaving him at the 17 pound mark & dropping him to around the 10th percentile. He did grow in length which means he's looking long & lean. Due to his recent work out routine of pulling up as often as possible on furniture, animals, people, trash bins, toilets etc coupled with this little move that could earn him the name "scootly bootly" he is burning calories at record speed. Our pediatrician asked what he had been eating lately & my answer was as follows. "He likes to nurse, nurse & nurse. He has been disinterested in any food until this week & we've been giving him little bits here & there like maybe once a day if that." She said to keep nursing, let him eat as much solid food as he desires, & call if I'm feeling like he needs to be weighed in. Just one week later he is eating everything in sight.
Up to that point he had tried some carrots, apples, pears & sweet potatoes....like a miniscule amount. The more exciting things he got to try were the hotdog one of his brothers kindly shared right around the six month mark, a few french fries & a huge chunk of chocolate cake. My kind of diet! I was carrying him on one hip & holding a plate with a generous serving of delicious chocolate cake. I happened to have a fork pointed in a safe direction....right at Arlo's face. I was coming out the door & someone said "You're about to poke him in the eye with your fork!" I overcompensated & shifted the plate right into his reach. He quickly swiped a handful & stuffed it in his mouth. This should have been the first sign we were starving him ; )
In the past week he has been in a high chair for meal & snack times scarfing down all sorts of food! So much for the four day rule I stuck to religiously with the first couple Valentine babies. Since last Friday he has become accustomed to eating: oatmeal, yogurt, cheese, steak, turkey, sausage, chicken, scrambled eggs, peaches, crackers, peanut butter, blueberries, broccoli, asparagus, avocado, raspberries, grapes, cheerios & applesauce. He tried to dominate my slice of pumpkin bread from Starbucks earlier....I hate sharing that but he was so cute bouncing around asking for another bite by slapping my leg & squealing. Thankfully he has shown no signs of allergies because Lord knows how I would have figured out the culprit! The big change with this guy along with introducing five foods at a time is not pureeing anything. He's had slices & chunks of these delicious foods & does really well smushing them up to eat, smear on his tray or in his hair. I really really loved making all the baby food for the rest of the Fab Five but due to our daily life survival routine, feeding him what we are eating with little prep is fitting in nicely.
Meal time looked mostly like this just a mere 2 weeks ago...
He's all smiles now with plenty of milk & an extra 2000 calories a day....
SLEEPING: Arlo likes to sleep & goes down without complaint. He's napping around 9:45-11:15 & 1:30-3:30. I pretty much nurse him when he wakes & right before he goes down for a nap & whenever he's grumpy, whenever he peeps at night & whenever I need to buy us some time or for no reason at all. I've created a monster that is only calmed by nursing ; ) We were sharing with some friends how I sigh when rolling out from under the covers to tend to a night time cry. Robby made me laugh so hard when he said "You made your bed.....and now you don't get to sleep in it!" Thankfully since eating like a champ he is way more consistent & sleeping from about 7:30pm-6am, nursing then going back to bed till around 8. He's on his tummy, bottom up in the air, thumb in mouth & full of sweet sleeping baby sounds.
Some things about this snuggly buggly at 9 months:
- has one bottom tooth that is SO painfully sharp & another that is just poking through...youch!
- is fairly content in his new single rider stroller
- he loves a bath whether in tub or sink, splashes & squeals abound & he tolerates two others with bigger splashes & louder squeals
- you can put him in the back of an empty tub & when the water starts pouring out of the spout he scoots/wiggles to the waterfall within seconds & puts his face right in it
- he loves playing with anything he can chew on including Bella's bone
- his favorite song is "I'm bringing home a baby bumble-bee"
- can get around rather quickly with a funny scooting move. Blocking off the stairs is now a necessity!
- can say mama, dada & a few other consonants followed by "ah" although he is not saying them all the time
- he's completely happy in a swing at the park or in the backyard. When it's a grumpy day I think about strapping him into the swing outside the back door & checking on him at 15 minute intervals ; )
- he waves & claps infrequently but is so adorable when we does!
- clicks his tongue rather loudly & smiles at you when you copy the sound
- he LOVES his siblings & would be extremely bored without them
- he hates the nursery at church...like really hates it
- he loves looking at himself in the mirror & gets really excited when the cute baby smiles back
and this snapshot wins the prize.....
It pretty much sums it up....Arlo is absolutely adored by each and every person at the Nest.
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