Dear Max,
As I think back over the past nine months I'm honestly not sure how we got to this point so soon. In some ways it feels like we just brought you home from the hospital, and in other ways it seems like you have always been part of our little family. When you were truly a tiny little baby, I am not sure I understood how small you were at the time. I hold up clothes you have outgrown and marvel at the fact that they were once baggy on your little body. Today you're wearing clothes that I remember feeling like it would be a long, long time before it would ever fit, and yet here we are. Mere months away from your first birthday.
A photo of the palest family in Georgia.
I miss what you were like in months past, but at the same time it is so much fun to watch you learn and grow. You often give us little hugs and light up when you see me and Dad, which makes us feel like a million bucks. You'll start "panting" (for lack of a better word), your eyes get wide, your mouth opens and has at least a hint of a smile, and you flap your arms and bounce up and down.
It is so cute to watch you learn what types of noises you can make with your mouth. You love to stick your tongue out and flip it around. Recently, you figured out how to make a clicking noise with your tongue. It never fails to make us laugh, and then Dad and I click our tongues to see who can get you to do it again. So silly!
One of our other favorite "tricks" is that you are starting to audibly laugh more often. Before you would do this "silent laugh" where you'd get really excited and just smile really big and wiggle around. Occasionally a little squeaky giggle would escape your lips, but not often. Now, you'll giggle and squeak with sort of a, "heh, heh, heh, hooooooo" sound and smile with your whole body. Normal things like being tickled will make you laugh, but strange things like watching us tear off a paper towel will crack you up, too. It's adorable!
This month you (finally) figured out how to roll from your back to your tummy, and you take advantage of this new skill quite often! You've even started rolling over in your crib and will end up sleeping on your tummy most nights. While on your tummy in the crib you started scooting backwards and your little legs would go through the slats on your crib. Since you don't know how to crawl forwards just yet you'd get stuck and we'd have to come re-position you. Admittedly it was kind of cute to come in and see your little legs flapping about outside the crib, but then I'd immediately feel bad for laughing when I realized you looked a little panicked over the whole thing! We put a "breathable bumper" in your crib to help keep your limbs contained (the bumper is mesh so that if you smush your face against it you will still be able to breathe).
Modeling your baby shorts and standing on your tip-toes to show off your muscle-y calves.
We visited the pediatrician this month for your quarterly check-up. You've only gained a half pound in the last three months, so your pediatrician, Dr. Khan, was a bit concerned about your weight. You had been consistently hovering around the 50th percentile and now you've dropped to the 8th percentile for your age. She said that it doesn't matter as much what percentile range you are in as it matters that you continue to follow the same trajectory. So, the big drop is the concern.
Also, your iron levels are a little low, so we need to boost that up, too. We talked about some strategies to add more types and textures of food to your diet, and to start offering snacks in addition to nursing and meals, too. I feel like we are now going to spend all day feeding you with nursing five times a day and solids four times a day! You're a slow eater when it comes to solid foods (if you even eat... sometimes you start refusing the solids after one or two bites!), so it can be time consuming.
My little angel baby! Just look at that glowing hair, sweet eyes, and rosy cheeks....
For the most part you still eat pureed foods, but we have tried to introduce soft foods that you can pick up and feed yourself. You have the hang of Cheerios (we think they must feel good on your gums since you're teething), but you just poke at other foods we have tried putting on your high chair tray. Dad and I have both tried different tactics to teach you to pick up the foods and eat them, but you don't seem interested. Hopefully we can all figure something out because we need to fatten you up, little boy!
You loooove me to carry you around, but my arms get tired and it can be hard to operate one-handed. I pulled out this sling from when you were a tiny baby and learned how to do a "hip carry". Dad and I call it your "sidecar" and you love being close to me and seeing all the action from up high. I love your face in this picture... you're all like, "Sup? Just hanging with Mom."
A few days before your nine month birthday, your top two teeth started to make an appearance. The right one seems to be a little ahead of the left tooth, but they have officially poked through your gums. We are excited to see what you look like once they grow a bit more. It really does change your face to see tiny teeth when you smile. I will say, those tiny teeth are sharp! Sometimes when you get really excited you'll turn to whomever is holding you and bite the person's shoulder! It kind of hurt when you just had bottom teeth, but it's worse now that there are more teeth involved.
Here are some facts about you as a nine month old boy...
Nicknames: Sugar Bear, Wiggle Worm, Max Droolian Lilly, Bud, Bub, Buddy, Sweet Baby, Little Muffin Boy, M.J.
Loves:
Anything covered in applesauce, watching us rip paper, riding on Dad's shoulders, getting lifted over our heads and coming back down quickly (but not too quickly or you look a little worried), closing books, dumping and shaking plastic toys
Dislikes: Laying still on the changing table for diaper changes and getting fingernails clipped
Height: 27 inches (18th percentile)
Weight: 17.25 pounds (8th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.25 inches (26th percentile)
Clothing Size: 6 months, 6-9 months, 9 months, size 3 diapers
New Foods: Zucchini, lentils, tofu, yogurt, peaches
Special visits with your grandmothers this month!
We love you!
Love,
Mom
