EJ 9 Month Update

Happy Monday!  The Huebner clan was down for the count this weekend with sickness.  Everyone except EJ.  Thank you nursing antibodies!  So we took it easy, watched our Hawks come out victorious on Saturday and got me some new ski pants.  All in all it was a pretty chill weekend.  We don’t get those too often so it was nice.

I cannot believe EJ is 9 months old y’all!  Like he might as well be one because I’m going to blink and be planning his first birthday party before you know it.  I am just not ready.  He’s my last baby and although I’m not going to miss the sleepless nights, I already miss him being little.  He’s always on the go now, so I don’t get a lot of cuddle time these days.  

Here’s an update on our little man.

Stats

Weight: 23.6 lbs (94th percentile) 
Height: 30 1/2 inches (99th percentile)
Diaper size: 4
Clothing size: 18 months.  He can fit in some 12 month pajamas, but those will probably only last another week or two.  

The boy has man hands y’all.  Like he seriously has the biggest hands.  People comment all the time on how big his little mitts are.  He is going to be a big boy.  

Development

Since his 6 month update:

• He is crawling!  And he’s fast.  You set him down and he beelines for the DVD player and surround sound speakers.  He also loves the hand vacuum.  Anything with wires and he’s all about it.  We actually picked up a little baby corral yesterday to keep him a bit more contained when I need to cook, do dishes, etc.  He is seriously so fast I can’t keep track of him half the time!  
• He is shying away from baby food more and more these days, and prefers to feed himself.  So we give him a lot of finger foods these days and he’s happy.  
• I shared this in his last update, but he says Mama all the time.  It’s definitely very intentional now.  He’ll say it and look around for me.  When he cries at night he cries for mama.  Breaks my heart.
• He is copying his sister all the time.  He loves to play with her.  They have a little game in the car where he’ll reach out his hand for her, she’ll put her hand in his and they’ll hold hands for a bit. Then he’ll take his away and basically play that slap hand game, trying to get her hand all the time.  It’s so cute!  
• He doesn’t like to be held as much, he’d rather be down on the floor playing and exploring.  Except when he’s tired, then he just wants mama to hold him.  And to eat my face.
• He is pulling himself up on everything.  And he’s starting to cruise a bit.  

Those thighs and little cankles. I die!

Food

Like I mentioned above, he is enjoying feeding himself more and more.  He has started using a sippy cup with a little water and he does great with that.  We’re still nursing and I don’t see that ending anytime soon.   

He likes pretty much every food we give him.  He now likes peas and green beans mixed with other foods (whereas he didn’t like them before).  The only thing he hasn’t liked is plain Greek yogurt (but who can blame him really).  He does like those Yo Baby yogurts from Stonyfield though.  

He loves eggs for breakfast.  Little bits of chicken, bread, bits of soft fruit and veggies.  He just loves food, ha!

Sleep 

Oh sleep.  I don’t even know what to say about this.  We have had the sleep regression from hell.  And sleep training seems to be making it worse.  

Let me back up a bit.  

EJ had been waking up twice a night for the last few months, and he was hard to get back down without feeding him.  So we decided after the holidays we’d work on sleep training him again.  We are now 5 or so days into it and I swear each day gets worse and worse!  He is waking up more and more during the night.  He is going down faster, from 1 hour the first night to about 15 minutes a few nights ago, but he’ll wake up after 3 hours, then again an hour later, and so on, throughout the night.  I don’t even know what to do at this point.  

Kellen and I are both so exhausted.  I feel terrible because he literally screams so hard that he chokes.  Breaks my heart!  We’re going to stick with it in hopes that after another week or so he’ll get the hang of putting himself back to sleep when he wakes up, but in the meantime we’ll both be walking zombies.    

His naps are going well still.  I’m wondering if he may be slowly transitioning down to 1 nap a day; or 1 long nap and an afternoon cat nap.  We’ll see how the next few weeks go as we continue with sleep training.  

Likes & Dislikes

• Loves tickle time.
• Loves playing with his sister.
• Loves food.
• Loves crawling as fast as he can (he giggles when you put him down and he makes a go for something).
• Enjoys throwing things over the side of the high chair and watching to see if you’ll pick it up (yep, we’re in that phase).
• Loves bath time and water in general.
• Dislikes being in the pack and play for very long (10 minutes max while I try to work).
• Dislikes too long of car rides.
• Dislikes too many toy options (he definitely gets overwhelmed).
• Likes grabbing my skin when he’s nursing (ouch!).

Overall he’s still a dream baby, minus the whole sleep thing.  He’s always smiling, giggling and just genuinely happy.  Time is going by way too fast for me and I’m trying to cherish the little moments as best I can.  He’s my last baby and I’m just not ready for him to grow up yet.  But alas, he’s already the size of a 1 1/2 year old, so I guess I need to get used to the idea, haha!

Have a great day friends!