Nine Months

Silas at 9 months, same outfit!

Silas at 9 months. I tired to get Rocco to do the same pose, but you can only control so much at a 9 month photo session. :)

We have a nine month old now. Things are so fun! He has cut a top tooth making for three teeth in his mouth. It's odd because it's not a top center tooth, but a side one. Weird! He's not a very fun teether, but that's pretty much expected.

my grocery shopping partner

Rocco can climb up (and fall down) stairs. We have barriers up, but no real gates yet. That's on my list of things to do! 

He loves to eat paper. We don't promote it, but with the other two kids and their "work" all over the place Rocco gets his fair share of paper in his mouth. And paper is about the only constant thing he likes to eat. This whole baby food or finger food stuff is not his thing. Drives me nuts! And I think he drives himself nuts too. Once in a while he'll suck down a squeeze packet of baby food or he will take a few bites of banana. I think once he tolerated avocado. Steamed broccoli was a hit for a day. He likes baby oatmeal, but doesn't like to be spoon fed. Black beans are fun for him to play with. Bread can be a winner, but not always. He usually ends up getting so frustrated in his high chair that he throws his head back and screams. Meals are not my favorite events of each day. I don't know what his deal is, but I'm not too concerned since his is growing just fine. He will figure it out eventually, right? He still drinks plenty if milk, but only in a dark quiet place. He is so distracted otherwise. And my sweet friend is still on a mad pump and donates her extra milk to Rocco (can we all give her a round of applause because she's pretty much amazing!) Huge blessing!

my helper

Water has become Rocco's obsession. He loves drinking water. From a sippy cup or regular cup. Even a straw. He will suck the water out of a washcloth at bath time. And splashing water while sitting in water takes him straight over the edge of excitement. Dude loves bath time in the big tub. He kicks and splashes and slides all around. It's the best! 

Rocco is very much into exploring. Taste testing toys and spinning wheels on trucks.  He also oves the marker/crayon/pencil/ tub. He will dump it over and essentially swim in the markers. When Joe wrestles with the kids, Rocco wants in on the play. He will squeal and crawl towards them to get in on the action.

He's a ham times ten and flashes his smile to anyone looking his way. He loves a good snuggle and whenever he buries his sweet face in my neck to fall asleep I literally make myself etch each moment in my memory because I know how quickly they grow and how much I will miss it.

His face in my neck. My favorite

Sweet baby sleeps

He's doing so much better at sleeping. We have only had one full night where he has slept from 8pm to 6am....but getting up once a night is so doable compared to four times. I'm finally getting some REM sleep once in a while.

Stats: 21lb 7oz (80%) 29.5in (94%)

I am keeping close tabs on this baby each month because, I confess, this blog is his baby book! I do have one for him, but not long after he was born I actually looked in it and realized that it has no place for monthly updates. No pictures. No stats. Nothing. So I vowed to put words and photos on the blog documenting each month so I can remember. So he can see. Because time just keeps on whizzing by. So fast. And sometimes I feel like there has GOT to be a pause button. Or at least a slow-motion one. But there isn't. So I try to remember to soak in every fleeting moment with my sweet children. I try not to wish for anything. Not for spring or summer or a vacation. Not for the weekend or even for bedtime, because days turn into weeks turn into months and before I know it a year has passed and I can hardly breathe if I think about it too long or too hard. I'm typing this and it's almost 10pm. Joe doesn't allow me to talk about anything 'important' after 9pm because I become all weepy and irrational. So I guess updating the blog with my baby's nine month update after 9pm was only asking for some deep, sappy talk about children growing up to fast. Sorry friends! Thanks for bearing with me :)