9 Months Old

Back posting here...is back posting even a word?  I don't know, but I found this post I started shortly after Ben turned 9 months old and realized I never finished it or posted it.  It was fun to read how things have changed.

Ben hasn't gotten in own post  in a while...definitely, not intentional.  This one's all about you little one!

Ben is everywhere and busy.  He's a speed crawler and puts his head down to streamline himself when he turns on the turbojets.  He's cruising around the tables, furniture, and cabinets. He just started taking steps while holding our hands.  He can stand on his own for a few seconds.  He loves to eat...real food, not milk...I actually had trouble feeding him a bottle while Sam was sitting at the table eating the other day.  He wanted Sam's food, not milk.  He just mastered the art of feeding himself  a couple of weeks ago and he'll eat anything that he can get in between his fingers.  He's very vocal at home and quiet as a mouse when we're out in public (like, doesn't make a sound).  He definitely seems to be my thinker and watcher.  If you doesn't know someone, he stares, but will not smile or engage with them.  He's an amazing sleeper, sleeping 13-14 hours a night...but unfortunately usually short naps during the day.  He still loves his brother and is always entertained by him.  One of his favorite things to do is to make an "elephant" sound with his mouth which usually results in spitting...which interests a certain 4 year old, and well, you can imagine how that turns out...often at the table while eating!  (I secretly enjoy watching the two of them sitting across from one another at the table giggling and spitting everywhere while being "elephants".)  Ben likes to snuggle. When we hold him, if he's tired, he likes to tuck both arms in under his body and snuggle into our necks.

I think I mentioned his eating/weight problem a while back but never went into detail about it...the short of it is that I either haven't been making enough milk or didn't have enough fat in my milk and he started dropping off his weight/height curve around 4 months.  While it was hard for me to do (emotionally), I had to start supplementing his nursing with concentrated breastmilk (milk I'd pumped and added formula to) and/or formula at 6 months.  Ben started out at the 40th-50th percentile and dropped all the way down below the 5th.  I'm happy to now be able to report that he's back up to the 20th percentile!