The Held Family Happenings: 9 Months of Mason!

Mason turned 9 months old on Sunday. He is 3/4 of the way to being one years old. I better get on planning his first birthday bash. We already know we are going to do a farm theme, but I'll need to start working the details soon! We had pony rides at our Halloween party, but I learned that you can also rent 'petting zoos' with farm animals! I am excited that he has a summer birthday so we'll actually be able to have his party at our house this year, since we'll be able to make use of the outside. Mason is growing so fast and seems to have changed so much this month.

Mason has had a another tooth pop through on the bottom - it is coming in a little cock-eyed though. He now has 3 teeth on the bottom and no teeth on top. He wants nothing to do with baby food these days and wants real food all of the time (even though he only has three little teeth). This month, Mason has been on a culinary adventure trying lasagna, ravioli, mostacolli, mashed potatoes, grilled cheese, peas, carrots, a turkey sandwich, pizza, french toast sticks, pears, peaches, pierogi's, brocolli, chicken nuggets...in addition to the other table food he tried last month. This kid is a beast. He'll ~~eat~~ devour whatever you put in front of him. Anything I can cut up into tiny little pieces, he will gladly accept. I think Leah started out this way too, but now she is Miss Picky over everything and won't even try most things. She sticks to her staple items.

Mason is becoming less and less my little baby, to more of a little guy. Although he is not crawling yet, he definitely can get around (by rolling, scooting, stretching) to anything he has his eye on. We've upgraded his carseat to a big boy carseat. No more carseat carrier for him! He is still rear-facing, but it's like a whole new world for him. We had his 9 month well-baby appointment today. (Actually, I was home from work with Leah because she had a bad stomach bug all weekend and I wanted to get her into the doctor too, so we just scheduled his 9 month check-up since we were going to be there). My big guy weighed in at 21.75 pounds (70th percentile) and is 30 inches tall (90th percentile). Holy cow - he is a big dude! I checked Leah's baby book and she was only 19 pounds, but was also 30 inches long. The doctor seemed to give me a hard time that he is not pulling himself up yet or crawling. Ahh - well...he'll do it when he is ready. We had to upgrade to a size 4 diaper. Little man was almost busting out of he size 3's. He is in almost all 12 month clothes. I feel like I am constantly buying new clothes for him because he is growing so fast.

Mason is a vocal guy - always saying his momma's and dadda's. For the past few weeks or so, he has turned into a 'screamer' which is NOT good for business. I think he thinks if he screams, he'll get our attention or get what he wants (i.e. to be picked up, etc.). We need to work on this. We do not give into him. The boy needs to learn! We have nothing new to report in the sleeping department. He is still sleeping 11-12 hours each night and rarely wakes up. If he does, he soothes himself back to sleep. Mason loves to play and learn new things. He is such a good boy and steals my heart several times a day! Happy 9 months Mason James!