happy easter package

papa and ninnie sent a fun easter box of treats!  better get scooping those letters!

happy early christmas to us!

all those really cool, shiny kitchen appliances came in really big boxes--perfect for a fort!  the skylight was the best part!

back to scooping...dirt!

a few weeks ago we had some great warmer weather and we of course began playing outside every day to scoop dirt!  pace was so excited to be back outdoors--he gets the wiggles out when we play outside, and he ends up being more obedient and happier inside, which of course i was excited to see!   after the warm weather, it got really, really cold, and the boys both got goopy noses, so we holed up inside and wiped their noses raw.  literally.  poor max had a bloody nose (the skin) by sunday morning from all the wiping.  anyway, here are some happy photos from warmer weather  (if pace is really into digging, beware--do not disturb!--he whips out his, "no, mama, no!" mad face:

backwards

is this a good indication of future personality?  

when pace encountered crawling, or climbing up the stairs, or climbing up into his booster seat, he would just look at it forever--just look and analyze, and think.  and then he'd do it, the first time, perfectly.  he climbed from the bottom of the stairs to the top at the first go.  he climbed up into his booster seat the first time as though he'd done it forever.

max has mastered crawling...backwards.  no matter what toy i put in front of him, or push off his feet, etc., he insists on pushing himself backwards to get around.  he'll go from  the middle of the room clear out the door and into the hallway, eying things he inches past with a determined, perplexed look.  stubborn and headstrong?  a little like mama?...he'll figure it out...

max's 9 month stats

weight: 20lbs 3.5oz (60% ile)

length: 28.5" (53% ile)

max was short and fat for a while there, his length never above the 50th percentile until now!  he's certainly growing into himself and is QUITE the personality--happy, stubborn, moody, giggly, scheduled (not spontaneous whatsoever), social--all rolled into one big butterball!  he thinks pace is the best thing since sliced bread, he loves hanging out with daddy and grabbing daddy's nose/ears/lips, and cannot get enough of being tickled by mama.  max wakes up with a huge grin on his face and starts giggling as soon as you pick him up.  he loves jumping, chewing on his fingers, jabbering, blowing bubbles, grabbing anything placed in front of him--he is a happy little thing (although he knows how to whip out those alligator tears, and on occasion turns into a banshee--although that phase seems to be tapering down).  

max is incredibly social, offering a huge grin to anyone who looks his way.  he's fine going to another person, as long as i am within sight.  he jabbers every waking minute--i think he's going to be the kid who will hop on the kitchen stool and tell me every detail about his day.  he also loves imitating.  if you say "yay" and clap your hands, he'll start clapping with a huge grin on his face.  if you growl, he'll growl.  if you smack your lips, he'll smack right back.  today we were running errands and he and pace were giggling back and forth at and with each other for a good 10 minutes.  so, so cute.  he is so, so ready to run around with pace and get into trouble together.  i can't wait to see these boys play together!  

max goes to bed at 6pm (still!), wakes up around 230-330am to nurse, and is up for the day between 4-5am.  this week he's decided to be a bit kinder and he's actually slept in until 6am!  of course, right when he's moving into a great routine--spring daylight savings hits on sunday, and his schedule will be slightly thrown up in the air until he decides to settle down.  max generally has two naps a day--his morning nap goes from 730/8-930/10, depending on when he woke up that morning.  i think it's hilarious he goes down for his morning nap when normal children are waking up for the day.  it's fine with me--that means on a good day i'm done with my cleaning chores, working out, and i've gotten a shower all before 9am.  

yesterday we went to the dr's for max's 9month check up, and for some reason i scheduled it at 9am.  by the time i realized what i'd done (right in the middle of his nap time!), it was too late to reschedule.  so i kept max up until 1030, when we got home from the dr's.  he actually fell asleep in the car, and i put him up in his crib for the rest of his nap.  so yesterday he napped from 1030-1230, and then he decided he didn't want an afternoon nap, despite acting like he needed one, and despite multiple attempts to lay him down.  so he was in bed by 530pm.  this morning he decided to actually sleep in until 7am(!), and so he wasn't ready for a nap until 10.  it's 3pm, and i've put him down for a nap, so we'll see if he stays there...(...update: nope)

other than gnawing on counters, max also eats a really, really good diet!  the dr. commented his iron was really good (they check hematocrit at 9months because that's typically when breastfed babies' iron count drops, as that's when it naturally drops in breastmilk), and asked me what i was having him eat to have such a good level.  i laughed and said, "what doesn't he eat?!"  

grains: lentils, polenta, oatmeal, barley, wild rice, brown rice, flax seed ground up and added to veggies, he has also learned how to chew on graham crackers with his single tooth

veggies: sweet potato, regular mashed potato, beets, zucchini, peas, green beans, acorn, butternut, and spaghetti squashes, broccoli, cauliflower

fruit: peaches, pears, bananas, apricots, prunes, mangos, cherries, blueberries, apples, papaya

meats: ground turkey, roast chicken

we also mix greek yogurt with a few meals, and he's had a hard-boiled egg yolk on a couple of occasions.

i make all our baby food, and freeze it in little square ice cube trays.  i had to force two squares down pace; max is more than happy to down 4-5 squares per meal.

here are some cute 9-month photos i took the other day.  max looked a little concerned about the nude shot--i think he was upset that i had violated his contract we had signed prior to the photo shoot...