It virtually takes my breath away to realize that Ben is 9 months old already. 3/4 of a year gone like that! Was he ever really a tiny little baby? It’s almost hard to imagine.
This past month has, unfortunately, been marked by illness for him. Our happy little guy turned crazy cranky for a couple of weeks. Once we finally worked out that he had an ear infection, he improved immensely and I was delighted to see his cheery self return this weekend.
He has made big strides in just about every way this month. He is crawling like a champ and pulling up anywhere he can get a grip, even on things like larger toys that tend to topple over on him. I am thrilled to see him moving well and hope walking isn’t far behind. I am not sure how much he weighs (he went down while he was sick), but he is not light at all and takes both arms for me to safely carry.
He is getting quite accomplished at self-feeding. When he first insisted on feeding himself, his hit-ratio was about 20% but in just a short while, he has improved that to about 80%. He eats just about everything imaginable, with squash and cheese being among his favorite foods and most recently meatballs as well. He still has more of a gag-reflex issue and so I shy away from giving him hard foods or foods with skin (grapes, blueberries – unless I’ve cut them up pretty small) as I would have done Tabby at this age. He seems to be making up for lost time and I am aghast at how much food he can put away, eclipsing his big sister at times. I am pleased to say we’re making big progress with the sleep issues that have been plaguing us as well. To be clear, I am sure these are OUR issues, not Ben’s. He now has a much more solid bedtime routine (jammies, bottle, books, bed). We put him to bed awake and he goes to sleep on his own with a minimum of fuss. He is on a single night time feeding and we have cut the amount down. Hopefully we will soon be able to eliminate it and get him to go back to sleep on his own. Even now, when he is up only once, it is nearly an hour before he is back to sleep. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
He talks a great deal, with a couple of intelligible words (Mama and Dada with purpose). He absolutely loves when we sing to him and loves to bee-bop in time to any music he hears. He also seems to sing along with us in his funny baby-babble way. He is absolutely delighted by his sister and he seems to have an especial affinity for other males around him (he is surrounded by females much of the time) – Daddy, Papa, his cousin Ryan and Uncle Andrew and our sitter’s son.
9 months has always been an age I especially enjoy in a baby and Ben is a perfect example of why it is so. His world is opening up for him and it is such a privilege to get to witness so much of it. We’re so happy we get to go along for the ride.
Weight: unknown, although at least 24 lbs
Height: don’t know, though we guess around 30 inches based on how long he is in comparison to his crib, carseat and me (I’m only 60 inches tall)
Sizes: 4 in diapers, 18-24 mos or 24 mos in clothes
Likes: snuggles, cuddles, bottle, feeding himself, furniture to cruise on, music
Dislikes: antibiotics, having his diaper changed (nasty diaper rash from said antibiotics), being told no
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast
What a little sweetie!
Glad the sleeping issues are getting resolved and Ben's ear infection is gone.
Oh, look at that cute little face! Glad to hear he's feeling better.
He is CUTE!! It is so funny how our girls and boys are so different from each other. Ben sounds so much like Jack at that age… climbing on everything, eating a ton, gagging, not sleeping.
Those boys are a handful. Love the summary at the end, he's a big boy!