Butt

I think it's hilarious that he fell asleep like this.

Laundry Basket

I can tell he's getting more and more curious about the random things he finds. Everything he can get his hands on is a toy! While I was folding laundry, he started pulling on the laundry basket. I figured that was a decent toy and maybe I could eventually show him how to fold too...

What did I do?

That's it. Reach in, grab the clothes, and fold.
Good boy!

Celebrity Babies vs. Normal Babies

It's annoying to read how celebrities buy their babies $600 rhinestone studded pacifiers, $300 designer outfits they'll only wear one time, or a $4000 crib. It's kinda nice to see that some of them are just like you and I. I'll sometimes catch a reality show where a baby is wearing Carter's and I'll secretly get excited because even they buy Carter's! (Not that reality show celebs make a ton of money, but some do...)

While I was pumping, I came across the son of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz with the same pacifier clip that we have! Yay for some "normal" parents who shop at Babies 'R' Us like the rest of us!

Smiles & A Thumb

Mr. Smiles!

And more smiles...

Trying to push buttons on Daddy's computer. Good boy!

Here's where it gets funny. He doesn't like the Soothie pacifiers so he thinks they're just toys.

He put his thumb in the pacifier!

Very hard to get his little hand still enough to take a photo!

Connor, Kitty & a Mouse

Look what Daddy Did...

He put my paci in my ball!

Baby clothes FAIL

We got this Marc Jacobs sleeper that was handed down from our nephew. I was all excited when I saw it. Designer outfit for Connor!

Here's how you're supposed to snap it.

Really, Marc Jacobs?
You think this is easy for parents to do?

Cute, but total FAIL.

Boy parts

Someone had started to get interested in his lower area during the past week. He's been grabbing at his diaper a lot and he giggled when I was washing the area during his bath!

Stacking Cups

I never really knew what the big deal with these were. We were at Ikea about a month ago and I saw them for a few dollars so I grabbed a pack for Connor.

His favorite thing to do is what we call, "Bang! Bang!" Let's make lots of noise by banging two cups together!

Bang!

I love how he always looks so hard at work like he's carefully concentrating on each little thing.

The end of swaddling

No one was more pro-swaddling than me. I swore I would do it until he was five years old if it helped him sleep through the night.

As a newborn, Connor slept with his arms by his face and we had no reason to swaddle him. At about 7 weeks old, he started to get a little fussier during the early evening "witching hour" so we tried it. Magic!
Here's a photo of his first time being swaddled at home at 7 weeks old.

At first, I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I tried it again the next day in his pack & play here. It worked!

We are extremely lucky that the swaddling helped so much! He's been sleeping through the night since about 3 months and we get to sleep too!

But Connor now loves to roll around and get on his tummy to sleep. Daycare doesn't swaddle him anymore. His last swaddle sack is getting too small and I can't find anything long enough. This is what I saw in the monitor last week: arms up and swaddle sack by his feet!

So we've been slowly transitioning from it by just swaddling his body and legs or using nothing at all for naps. It takes a little longer to get him to fall asleep sometimes, but he's doing pretty well! He's still sleeping every night and Mommy & Daddy are happy!

Dirty laundry

Mommy, why did you put me in the laundry basket?

9 months!

This lil' guy is 9 months today!

Since he just learned to clap, he wanted to show off his clapping skills while we took photos on the calendar.

Lots of smiles!

This month, he got a lot more interested in the sock monkey. The sock monkey got a lot of kisses!

At this point, I started wiggling the sock monkey on his tummy where he's ticklish and the giggles started!

Peek-a-boo!

9 Month Stats:
Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz. (<3%)
Height: 27 inches (10-25%)

The doctor was very impressed with how much weight he put on. You can really see it in his thighs and cheeks. We were told he can start drinking water, cow's milk and can sample all of our food now.

9 Month Milestones:

• eating some stage 3 foods, puffs, sampled a few grown-up foods in tiny pieces like cauliflower, green pepper, red pepper, and pasta

• sitting and putting his arms down to balance and turn

• spinning on stomach or rolling to move around

• scooting backwards

• more baby babbling like "bababa"

• sleeping 10-12 hours and almost transitioned out of the swaddle

• drooling a lot, but no teeth

• showing off clapping skills

• sitting in the shopping cart & high chair at restaurants like a big boy

• strawberry mark is pretty much gone

Mr. Sandman

We went to the park the other day since we all got home early and it was perfect out. After the swings, I thought it might be fun to try the sandbox for the first time.

I was worried that he might want to put the sand in his mouth, but he was fascinated with picking up a handful of sand and watching it flow through his fingers. He also loved kicking his feet in the sand. I think light socks were a bad idea!

When we got home, we played in the front yard for a bit also. Connor seems to be a little scared of grass, so I wanted to get him more comfortable. He also doesn't really like the bright sun so he was hiding his eyes!

P.S. I love his lox, bagels & cream cheese shirt!

More things retired...

Bumbo chair & tray

I've really loved this and it came in really handy. Especially since Connor is so small, he couldn't fit into his high chair until 8 months. He loved sitting in the Bumbo like a big boy! He always looked so proud! But lately, he's been reaching out and trying to grab things so we're afraid he's going to flip out of it.

This was his first time in the Bumbo on Halloween. He needed us to support him so he wouldn't fall over!

And learning to eat solids in his favorite blue chair...

Good-bye, my friend.

Swing

Connor never used this very much. I used it a little when I was home on maternity leave and he would hang out in there while I showered. After that, we pretty much only used it when we couldn't get him to nap which was pretty rare. The last few times we used it, he was trying to roll in it which didn't look safe. I'm glad we just got the small travel swing because it really wasn't a necessity.

OMG. I have no pictures of him in it! How can that be? I guess we really didn't use it very often...

Growing Up

I just thought this pose was funny because it reminds me that my little guy is growing up! At daycare, when I pick up Connor, I always put his car seat on the floor and strap him in. While I'm getting his things together, some of the mobile babies usually come over and hold on to the sides or look in. They always seemed like the "big kids" to me. But now he's the one holding onto the sides and looking in!