Hayden - Nine Months

Hayden,

You are nine months old! You weigh about 16 pounds, wear size 2 diaper, and still fit in size 6 mo. clothes. You are such a tiny little thing!

This has been another big month for you. I know you are so ready to be a big girl, but I find myself wishing for time to slow down.

You are still an active crawler, although now you can pull yourself up to standing. You're not really showing interest in walking, but that's okay; no one is really pushing you to.

You still nurse/take a bottle five times a day. You usually have 1/4 cup of oatmeal mixed with prune juice for breakfast, 1/2 fruit and 1/2 veggie for lunch (sometimes a whole fruit!), and the same for dinner. You have also taken a liking to Ritz crackers, graham crackers, and puffs. We're trying to do a better job in the food department than we did with Harper. So far you have tried french fries, avocado, banana, apple slices, bread, and oranges (and you weren't too crazy about those oranges).

You've been pretty good in the sleep department as well. On a normal night, you still go to bed around 7:45ish, and you usually sleep until 7:00ish. We have been known, however, to have to wake you at 7:45 in the morning.

You took your first roadtrip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in TN. We quickly found out that you DO NOT like the carseat! Bless your heart, every time we tried to put you in it, you cried like we were breaking your heart. Lesson: We probably need to get you out-and-about a little more.

You still think your big sister is the greatest and try to do your best to keep up with her. She finds it a little annoying at times, but she does often refer to you as "baby" and wants to console you when you are upset. I hope you two are best friends.

Some funny/strange things you do:

-You like to open and close doors. You will crawl over to one, and just start pushing it back and forth.

-You are infatuated with paper - any kind of paper: newspaper, napkins, tissue, and even toilet paper. We had to take the toilet paper off the roll and put it up on the bathroom counter just to keep it away from you!

-You love to play with hair. When you are sleepy or eating, you like to comfort yourself by playing with someone's hair (even if it's daddy's facial hair - ha!). I would love to get a "summer cut" (hey, it's not easy lugging around these 10 lbs. of hair), but you like my hair so much that I can't bring myself to do it. And I know this is rather gross, but you like to eat my hair as well. Half of the time, I don't even notice you have it in your mouth. Strange child.

I can't believe this, but it seems like I need to start planning your birthday party. It is quickly approaching! My sweet little baby will soon be a sweet little girl - so hard to believe!