Happy Nine Month Birthday

June 13, 2011
Dear Christian,

Happy nine-month birthday!

Nine month statistics: Weight: 20+ lbs. and change Length: TBD inches. Diaper Size:4 Clothes: 12 - 18 months. We go to the doctor on Wednesday so I’ll update then.

The word of the month is: SLEEP! Precious, glorious sleep! A few days after you turned eight months old we decided to put sleep training into high gear. I hated to do it, but my body was seriously shutting down from the lack of sleep. I also don’t think I was a very nice person to be around. After just a couple of rough nights, you have now been sleeping through the night from approximately 8pm – 6am.

Another exciting thing that happened this month is our trip to Las Vegas and California. I’m actually a few days late writing your letter because we were gone from June 11 – 18, 2011. Your first plane ride to Las Vegas was a tough one. The last two hours of the flight you screamed your bloody head off. The guy across the aisle from us put his hands over his ears and a man a few rows ahead of us gave me the stink eye the entire time. Like I really wanted you to scream at me for two hours. Grrrrr!

We spent a couple of wonderful days in Las Vegas seeing friends and family. We also took a couple of days and drove to Southern California. We went to Legoland and Disneyland! We had a great time, and you actually traveled quite well. The drive to CA was a little rough, but I think you had trouble with your ears adjusting to the pressure changes as we drove over the mountains.


Once we got there, you did surprisingly well. You slept well at night and took a few short naps at the parks. Disneyland was packed with people and even in the crowds you did well. You screamed through the submarine ride, but loved Pirates of the Caribbean. You also went over to Pirates Lair and on the Winnie the Pooh ride. Overall, the trip was a success!

Prior to our visit to Las Vegas, we took you on your first camping trip. You even have special shoes for camping. Who could resist shoes with little bears in a tent with a campfire?!?! We went to Pennsylvania and stayed at Camp Hebron and visited Lake Tobias. This is a place we have camped with your brother before. We brought along our good friends, the Peppers. It was great to camp with such good friends. You and their daughter, Abigail, got along well. The first night was pretty rough, but we had a great time at the animal park on Saturday. We were reminded just how much work camping is and think we might be waiting until next year to try again.

In preparation for your doctor’s appointment on Wednesday I filled out a form that talked about your development. You are a champ at sitting up on your own, and you can spin yourself around. However, you still aren’t crawling at all. I suppose I shouldn’t complain and should just appreciate that you stay in one spot. When I hold your hands/arms you are able to stand on your legs, but not much movement toward walking. You easily pick up toys and pass them back and forth between your hands. You pick up little pieces of cereal and sometimes get them in your mouth. You are not using the pincer grab yet, nor are you making any consonant babbling sounds. I guess we’ll have to ask the doctor if that is any concern.

You are eating a good variety of foods: spinach with apples, applesauce, carrots, squash, sweet potato, avocado, beets, peas, nectarines, and bananas. You had a bunch of pre-prepared baby food while we were traveling and you seemed to like all of it. While the packed baby food sure is easy, you did develop a few eczema spots and it is quite expensive. I think we’ll stick to making our own at home for now. In addition to eating food, you are still nursing four or five times a day. You also like to drink some water from a sippy cup.

On average you take two naps per day. It seems to be one long one and one short one, although they alternate. The past few days you have taken a longer morning nap (a couple times over 2 hours). This morning was back to just one hour. When the morning nap is long, then the afternoon nap is generally an hour or less. Right now you are awake upstairs, because the UPS deliveryman rang the doorbell and woke you up after 20 minutes. *sigh*

I’m looking forward to your doctor’s appointment on Wednesday to see how much you have grown.

Love you little bear,
Mama