Weighing in at 9 months

Holden is now 9 months. (officially yesterday!) Today we went to the doctor. He weighed in at 21lbs and 10oz which was in the 50-75th percentile. On our home scale, he had been weighing between 22 and 23 pounds, depending on who was holding him and what time of the day it was. So the good news for me is that I might weigh a couple of pounds less than what I thought. The bad news for Jeremy is that he might weigh a couple of pounds less than what he thought. :) Holden’s height is 30 inches which is in the 90-97th%. He is definitely a tall boy! The nurse said he looked older than 9 months because he was so long. During this last month I have had to retire many of his clothes that I thought he would wear much longer. After a toe broke through the seam of some one piece footie pajamas – I knew he had finally outgrown them. So just about the only 12 month clothes he is able to wear right now is the Carters brand, as they seem to run a bit larger. His other little 12 month pants are looking like high-waters, which is not cool at all. So they have gone in the box for hopefully, a bubba to wear one day.
What has happened this month? Well, he learned to crawl just a week after turning 8 months. And that changed everything. It has been so fun to watch him explore on his little hands and knees. Let’s talk about food. Holden decided just one week ago that he loves yogurt. He loves it like it’s desert for him. He also decided a few days ago that he doesn’t like green beans. He has eaten them just fine for me over the past several months. But now he gags and occasionally cries when a spoonful goes into his mouth. We might have to return to green beans at a later date and give it another go. He has been successfully feeding himself fruit puffs for sometime now. This month we have tried some new table foods like bits of banana, bread, chicken and cheerios. With 8 teeth now, I think he is ready for some steak! A funny thing about this boy: he still refuses to hold his bottle. This is funny since he DOES want to hold onto something. In the past, he would grab hold of his bib as he drank his milk. Now that he no longer really needs a bib for his bottle, he grabs hold of a burp cloth, his shirt or whatever material is close by. But he WILL NOT hold his bottle.
He is quite the talker. I say “ball” and he says “bah”. I say “mama” and he says “baba”. I say “bottle” and he again says “baba”. I say “dog” or “duck” and he sticks his tongue out and blows. It’s quite entertaining. His eyes light up during these conversations. It seems he is learning so much of our language, though he isn’t ready to speak it yet. He isn’t quite ready to sign it for me either. We have been working on our baby sign language. The main 2 that I am beginning with are more and all done. So far he hasn’t participated, other than smiling at me when I sign and speak. But I am sticking with it. I know he’ll catch on soon.
Some of Holden’s favorite things to do right now are: sit on daddy’s shoulders, see his own cute face in a mirror, splash in the bathtub, jump up and down and up and down on a lap and pet the dog.
So that is our update for this month. In case, you can’t tell from my posts, life has been full! We are so thankful for the gift of Holden. Here he is sitting on his daddy's shoulders. Look at that face! See, he loves it!