Handmade by Linds...Introducing the offspring: My baby Andrew in NINE months old!

I'm just crazy about this boy!

Flexing that sweet tender for all the ladies out there.

Andrew, aka "Mr. Sticky fingers", "drool bird", "sir" "hamster" and "you're SO ca-UUTE!" has had a lot going on this past month. We joke that he will never learn his real name due to his many nick names. He's gonna start talking and people will ask him his name and he'll respond with "you're so cute!" Ha ha ha. At the very least he ought to make a lot of friends that way:) Anyways, lots to report this month!

I think Eli will agree that Mr. Sticky fingers is becoming a lot of fun lately. He's very interactive, will actually "play" with him and giggles/belly laughs all the time! He likes to grab something out of your hands (or in cousin Liam's case, grab his binkie out of his mouth) and then laughs like crazy when you act surprised. I happen to think this is a great skill to have seeing as how he has an older brother who currently likes to steal stuff out of his hands. Watch out Eli, he's getting good! You'll soon be getting a dose of your own medicine. Muuaaaah ha ha ha (<-- evil cackle.)

Blankie pics are now taken on HIS terms, ha ha

We had our well visit this month so I have updates on his height and weight. Before he was actually weighed, my prediction was that he'd be around 19lbs, so lets see what he really does weigh.

Size: I've cleared out his drawers of 6-9m clothing and stocked it with 9-18m stuff. He's mainly in 12m clothes for the most part but he is too long for rompers in that size so I have him in 18m ones for that. He weighed in at 18lbs 12oz (so close!) and 27 1/2 inches long. His current diapers are getting small so I'll need to go up a size (still haven't done that yet, and we've been paying for it with recent poopsplosions, doh!)

Likes:Food! Eating! Eating food! I'm not sure I can even emphasize this enough. He gets those arms a flappin' when he sees me coming with food and I'm glad he's strapped in because I'm waiting for him to take off! He also loves taking baths/playing with water, especially now that he's graduated to the big tub and gets to splash around with his big bro, which is my next thing to mention that he loves: his brother! I have a hard time keeping his attention if Eli is in the room because he'll contort his body in order to watch Eli's every move. He still loves being rocked (but not by me), being held, swinging in a swing, and remotes.

Sitting with his big brother who turns FOUR tomorrow!

Graduated to the big tub

Dislikes: he's just now starting to turn away from me when I change his diaper, (ugh that's the worst!) running out of food, and being in his carseat around nap time (unlike Eli who to this day will pass out in a car ride if he's tired, this kid fights it tooth and nail and lets all passengers know he's not happy about it.)

Feeding:Breast milk is still his primary food source but I've been way better about giving him big boy foods. He could and does eat his weight in cut up blueberries and I decided to let him try my hard boiled egg (yolk) the other day and he devoured it! He squawks the entire time it takes me to break off a piece and stick it in his mouth until the entire thing is gone. He loves steamed broccoli, and apples. Now I'll throw whatever I've made the rest of the family for dinner into his baby bullet and pulse it a few times and he eats what we eat. I haven't seen any signs of food allergies so I continue to give him what I think is baby friendly foods, (oatmeal, fruits, veggies, pasta etc) I just introduced a sippy cup with some water in it and he seems to like it.

Drinking his water by himself

Sleeping: Although he's very much like Eli in a lot of ways, sleeping is not one of them. Eli was sleeping consistently 12hrs through the night by this age. On a good night, Andrew will go down at 7pm and wake up for a feeding at around 4am and then go back to sleep for a few more ours. But lately he's been getting up around 12-1am for a feeding and again for his 4am one. Steph had mentioned reading somewhere that babies tend to not sleep so well during milestone achievements, so I can't tell if it's that or if he's truly hungry at those times. The other major difference between the two is that he typically does a big (3hr) morning nap and then won't nap the rest of the day. And the really big exciting news, drum roll please.....he's now sleeping in the same room as Eli in the crib there, and he's out of our room! Happy dance! No more tip toeing around the room at night and in the morning, afraid we'll wake him. We'd held off on making the transition for so long because he wasn't sleeping solidly through the night and we didn't want him to wake Eli up too. Well that's a laugh because that kind is a SOUND sleeper! We could put Andrew crying hysterically IN the bed next to Eli and he would't even notice! I'm not even kidding. When he's out, he. is. out. I'm happy to report it's going well. Phew!

He seems to like his new sleeping arrangements

Milestones: Well we have gone from one bottom tooth last month to another bottom tooth AND an upper tooth this month! And out of nowhere he's fully mobile. He's crawling and scooting everywhere! One day he was rocking back and forth on all fours and then sat himself upright and seemed to be pleased with that accomplishment so he does it all the time now. Sometimes I think he gets in the crawling position just so he can sit himself back up, ha ha. Ever since he's been mobile he's been super chill too I've noticed. He contentedly explores and plays with toys on his own or tries to follow his brother around. Whereas before this newfound mobility, if I set him down on the floor to play and walked out of view for any reason, he'd throw a bird. He's also starting to stand holding onto stuff unattended and pulling himself up into a standing position. It's all happening so fast! One day he's just a bump on a log, then the next moment he's nowhere near where you last left him! Sigh.