9 Months - Are you kidding me?

Monday was Atticus's 9 month birthday. Can you believe it? He's been out longer than he was in! :-)

The details:
Height: 30 inches (90-95%)
Weight: 21 lbs and 6 oz (50-75%)

Long and lean. Of course, I still think he's got some pretty pudgy thighs. My friend, and nurse at the office, Angie, came by while we were waiting for the doctor and chatted for a few moments. It's always good to see her. I still think it's funny that Angie is a nurse at the office. What a small world. I hadn't seen her since high school, so we're really having a good time catching up. I hope we're able to get together soon with our boys so they can all met. Angie has two little boys, Ian and Owen.

During our appointment, Dr. Owens was very patient with me and answered all my "first time Mom" questions. Do I need to worry about his ankles cracking? Apparently no. Do I need to worry that he seems to have a really high pain tolerance? Apparently no. (I'm still a little worried about that one though... not sure why, just am.) What about citrus fruit? All clear. Yogurt? All clear. The tugging at the ear? Ear drum is perfect - most likely teething. (See earlier post about lack of sleep...)

So, essentially - we've got a great kiddo at this point. We were given the go ahead to try pretty much any food, including most table food. Today, we tried frozen strawberries in the front yard. I figured since the blueberries were such a hit... and yep, strawberries were good too. Definitely my child. He has yet to meet a fruit that he doesn't like. And, while I had high expectations of making my own baby food - which still could happen - so far, we've been sticking with Earth's Best, Gerber Organics and a new one... Happy Baby. Atticus normally has at least one jar of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner with some cereal thrown in once a day as well. Of course, he discovered yesterday that he can "blow bubbles" with food in his mouth. The bubble blowing was cute as could be until he discovered he could do it with a mouth full of spinach and green beans. Ewwwww. We've also begun experimenting with Cheerios. Right now, Atti just sort of pushes them around on the tray and throws them on the floor. He wants to put just about everything else in his mouth, so I'm surprised he hasn't put the Cheerios in there yet. It's coming.

He's close to crawling - a bit behind all of his female friends.... but I'm not too concerned. He can stand unassisted for about 15 seconds or so. He's not cruising around the furniture, but I'll be that's soon. The only other thing he hasn't done - which I find a bit surprising - is he hasn't pulled up yet to a sitting or standing position in the crib. He's incredibly strong, and I'm surprised he hasn't figured out that he's capable of doing so. Which reminds me... Greg and I REALLY need to lower the mattress in his crib this weekend BEFORE he figures out how to pull to a sitting or standing position!

Atticus has found his preferred sippy cup. So far, it's the blue Born Free cup. We have a couple of Avent ones as well - but thus far, the "blue cup" is the favorite. I think he likes chewing on the spout as much as he does drinking... but hey, it works. He's only drinking about an ounce or so of water a day. Now that it's hot outside, I'm trying to encourage more water.

Only other thing to mention is that we think he's starting to distinguish between me and Greg verbally. During the day when he's talking... or when we were at the softball game (see video on our Picasa site) Atticus is all about Da-da-da-da. But lately, especially during the middle of the night screaming sessions... it's all Mmm-mmm-mmm. Great. He's finally figuring out the "mmm" sound and he's only using it when he's crying uncontrollably. Fabulous.

That about covers it. We'll have another nurse visit for shots in 4 weeks before we head to New York. On the amended Dr. Sears schedule, he wouldn't be due for more shots - but since we're using a formal daycare in NY, we have to play by their rules, so I've had to bump up some of the shots that I had been delaying. I'm not thrilled, but it's not the end of the world.