9 Month and Christmas Update

I wouldn't call Andrew's first Christmas a total success.  Starting on Saturday (Christmas Eve) he was just all out of sorts.  We took him to get his picture with Santa (attempt #3) and while he didn't scream and cry, he also wasn't the smiley baby I'm accustomed to:

That night he was miserable.  He was very fussy and wanted to be held all the time. When we got him down to sleep he lasted an hour and then was up screaming.  He had only pooped once (that morning) which is unusual for him. He always goes two (sometimes three) times a day.  He was arching his back and crying. We could tell his tummy hurt and it broke my heart to see him so sad.  J was able to rock him and get him settled and he slept a few hours before I was up at 3:00 with him.

Christmas morning he seemed a little bit better. He smiled a few times and I fed him some prunes to get things moving.  He pooped twice and took a nap before we opened presents.  He wasn't as into it as I hoped he would be, though.

He watched the train with daddy:

This was before his nap and outfit change.

Then hung out with us while we opened gifts:

Sitting in a box watching daddy open his infrared smoker/cooker

Not thrilled about being put in daddy's cooler

Playing with his stacking toy

Once 2:00 hit he was a mess. I had tried getting him down for a nap and he lasted 15 minutes. He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being sad, uncomfortable, and downright cranky.

He did have fleeting moments of happiness

But this better illustrates what we were dealing with that day/night

Thankfully after a night where he woke up about every hour and fussed before passing back out, he seemed to be slightly better yesterday morning.  He finally ate, he passed a bunch of gas, and he had a couple nice poos.

I wouldn't say that he was his normal happy self, but this was a big improvement from the night before:

This morning he seemed to be back to his old self. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he isn't an absolute nightmare for Marc and Andrea.

Now for his stats.
Age: 9 Months

Stats:  I'll find out just how big my little munchkin ha gotten at his appointment next Wednesday.  I'm guessing he'll be around 19.5 lbs and I wouldn't be surprised if he is 30 inches.  He has a very long torso.

Size (diapers, clothes, etc.):  Still comfortably in size 3 diapers and in 6-9 month or 9 month clothes.  He fit nicely in a 6 month outfit the other day. When I tried a 12 month one on him last week it was huge. He still has some room to grow to get into those (which is good since I don't have a ton of 12 month outfits... yet).

Sleeping:  Sleep has been hit or miss lately.  This past Thursday night he gave us 12 straight hours.  Sunday night he was awake about every hour fussing and whining and last night he was up at 3:00.  For the most part he is a great sleeper and I can't really complain when he has a few bad nights.

Eating: Mostly EBF and bottles of expressed milk, but there is some formula thrown in there every once in a while. Especially since my pump has suuuucked since getting the replacement. But I'm hoping that problem is fixed now that I have a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (Thank you again Christina!!)  He is still doing great with the purees, wasn't a fan of yogurt when I gave it to him (but I'll keep trying) and still not really getting the whole solid food bits thing.  He did suck on a sweet potato fry when we were at dinner the other night, but I'm not convinced any made it into his belly.  We'll just keep trying. I mean, he won't be eating purees forever, right?  RIGHT???

Milestones:  He learned how to go from his belly to sitting on 12/17 and now we can't keep him laying down.  I also find him sitting up in his crib occasionally.  He is this close to crawling and I think it will be any time now.  I was actually hoping he would do it when we were off with him for Christmas because I don't want to miss it.  Maybe he'll wait til this upcoming 3 day weekend.  And I think he is about to pop out one of his top teeth (which might explain part of this past weekend's complete crankiness).

New adventures:  Took him for pictures with Santa on Christmas eve and he did just fine.  He didn't smile, but he also didn't scream and cry, so I count that as a win.

Favorite toys and activities:  His favorite thing in the car is a pack of tic tacs.  I have it in the cup holder on his car seat and he grabs for it as soon as I put him in.  We need to make sure he can't get it open - that would be a total choking hazard.  He is also a big fan of the toy he received at the gift exchange at daycare.  It's a Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks toy.  Right now he loves playing with the lid, but he also tosses the blocks around.  Still loves the jumperoo, although once he starts walking I assume he won't be interested anymore.  I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Funny happenings:  Yesterday I put him in his crib for a nap.  I was watching him on the monitor as he sat up and was playing instead.  After a few minutes I saw his head drooping.  He fell asleep in a sitting position, leaning forward with his head on the crib bumper.  I left him like that for a while until J decided we should move him since "That can't be good for him".

What I'm looking forward to:  Welcoming in the new year with our little guy and all the awesome pictures I am going to take of him with my new camera.  I'm no professional, but they have to he a helluva lot better than my crappy iPhone pictures  :)