9 Months

{June 16th}

We aren't exactly celebrating on Grayson's 9 month mark... he is down and out with a case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (that hit the older boys the week before) and is also cutting his second tooth.

5 days of fevers, lots of crying, no appetite or sleeping (on top of the 7 days from Braxton and Everett)... UGH.

As I just mentioned, he is cutting his second tooth!

His first one came in 2 weeks ago.

We never had any issues with the older boys teething (as far as being really fussy) but it seems to hit this buddy hard.

The first two have taken FOREVER to pop up and we've just been drooling like crazy, snotty, fussy and whiney.

Our other fun baby trick he learned this last month is clapping!

He is the cutest clapper we've ever seen.

We've been trying to do sign language and he is starting to pick up "more".

We've also tried to get him to wave bye-bye and do "all done" but no such luck yet.

He was starting to sleep pretty good.

He slept through the night 3 nights in a row last week before he got sick.

We've sort of gotten him on a schedule.
He takes about a 30 min morning nap sometime around 9/9:30.
And then goes down for an afternoon nap between 12:30 and 1:30.
He'll usually sleep anywhere between 45 min and 2 hrs, which isn't that great.
I'm hoping we can stretch this afternoon one longer to 2-3 hrs, but at least its a start.

He is getting quite the little appetite and loves pretty much anything we put in front of him.

He still doesn't care for baby food at all but loves:

Bamba, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, rice, black beans, raspberries, cheese, deli meat, toast, hamburger.... basically anything except green beans.  He doesn't seem too crazy about broccoli yet either.

He likes to drink out of a sippy cup but won't hold it on his own.

Also loves to drink out of regular cups.

We gave him his first taste of ice cream and of course he couldn't get enough.

We're still working with OT and PT to get him rolling and crawling.

He's started to bounce and fall forward on his hands/face plant a few times but he still isn't going anywhere.

Loves the bath and gets so excited when we start the water.

He love to splash, splash, splash.

We've been to the pool a few times and he also seems to like the water there.

He has even tried to put his face in a few times.

We went to our neurologist to check in a few weeks ago and everything is looking great!

He was super impressed with the milestones he's hit so far and doesn't see any need for concern (so many prayers answered!!)

He let us know that he could really care less if Grayson crawled and that its not even on his checklist for developmental milestones.  The two big ones he's concerned with are that he says 1 word by 12 months, and is walking by 15-18 months.

Still no words but we've heard him say "dadada" a few times.

He LOVES Braxton and Everett (and mama!) the most still.

Braxton has been super great and plays with him so much!  He will always help out when I ask him to watch Grayson or cheer him up and Grayson eats it right up.

Everett has also gotten more interactive and playful with him.

He loves to play Patty Cake and peek-A-boo.
He can also 'dance' by bouncing up and down.

I think we have FINALLY outgrown his reflux!!!!!
(HOORAY!)
He spits up every once in awhile and I still have a burp rag nearby when he takes a bottle, but for the most part he doesn't spit up much anymore.

This sweet little boy is so happy and we are having so much fun with him!

I always love this age soo much and it makes me sad how fast it flies by!