Marco's 9 Month Update

Marco's 9 Month Growth Stats:

Height: 29.3 inches (84%ile)

Weight: 18lbs 3oz (18%ile)

Head: 18.5 (83%ile)

Night Sleep: I will usually nurse him around 8:15pm and then he falls asleep while nursing. I am usually able to transfer him to the crib without waking, but sometimes he does require a little *shush'ing* and rhythmic bouncing to fall asleep again. And, he's been teething so much, that sometimes he throws us for a loop and will require us to sit with him in the rocking chair for almost a half hour before he lets us put him in his crib sound asleep. He will wake up crying between 11:30pm-1am, when he realizes he's sleeping in his crib and not nursing. So, I'll go get him and lay him down in bed next to me and let him nurse until his heart is content. We both fall asleep and he will nurse off and on throughout the night (probably 3-4 times at least, for however long each time!). This results in me never really getting a good night sleep. But, it makes the little guy happy... and that makes me happy. It's a vicious cycle of love!! He will usually wake for the day around 7 or 7:15am. 

Naps: Marco’s awake time is now stretching from 2-3 hours in any wakeful time period. His morning nap is his longest nap and still takes place 2 hours after he wakes for the day (so around 9/9:15am). He'll nap for about an hour in the morning.  He is usually ready for his 2nd nap almost 3 hours after he wakes up from his morning nap (around 1:15pm). The 2nd nap is a wildcard in length... sometimes lasting a half hour, and sometimes lasting a little over an hour, but he will most often wake up around that 45 min mark. And, his 3rd nap seems to take place 3 hours after he wakes from his 2nd nap, and it's getting shorter and shorter. He'll probably soon ready to give it up. The 3rd nap is now never longer than a half hour and he always wakes up crying. So, I will nurse him immediately when he wakes up from this nap and this is pretty much the only way to make him happy after his 3rd nap. I envision him moving to two naps very soon if he is able to continue lengthening that first morning nap.

 

Eating: He is in no rush to jump into the world of table foods. He seems to be following in Giuliana's footsteps in this regard. I am now able to feed him either pear or applesauce baby food, mixed with a bit of baby oatmeal cereal, 3-4 times a day. He will eat approximately 1-2oz each feeding. I consider this a success, as I try to nurse him less and introduce more foods to his diet. He is still nursing on demand... lucky guy! I probably still nurse him 10-12 times throughout any 24 hours. And, he does still nurse throughout the night. He's like a little barnacle at night... sucking away. If he wakes up realizing he's not sucking, he'll cry until he's latched on again. Such a funny little guy! He also still nurses if he is upset, and before naps and bedtime.

      Marco Updates:  

• Crawling forward on all 4’s on December 18^th. Prior to that he was getting up on all 4’s and moving backwards. And, he was moving forward by doing the army crawl.
• Waves “hi!” and “bye!”
• Says “Mamamamama” when he sees me and/or wants me to pick him up and hold him.
• Pulling up to a stand, using furniture and walls.
• Climbing. Loves to climb up on children’s chairs, and try to pull himself up on tables, the sofa, etc.
•  Stairs are SUPER fun! He loves climbing all the stairs to the top and screams with excitement the entire journey up.
• Copycat: He loves to play copycat with his siblings. For example, he will shake his head and then look to one of them to shake their head. If they do it, then he will do it again and look at them to repeat what he did. It’s hilarious – he loves to play this game!
• Screaming/shrieking: He loves to scream or screech really loud when he is playing happily. When he gets everyone’s attention… he’ll smile really big and scream/screech again. He gets even more excited if his siblings scream/screech back and forth with him.
• He has 3 teeth!
• Wrestling: He had already started to enjoy the thrill of baby wrestles with his daddy. He gets SO excited if Dan lays him on the floor and pretends to wrestle him, like he does Rocco. And, if Marco sees Dan wrestling Rocco, he quickly crawls over to them to try and participate in the action. Super cute!
• Feeds mommy. He likes to grab his spoon when I’m feeding him, and he will try to put the spoon in my mouth to feed me.
• Pulls hair! He LOVES to pull hair. He will pull on my hair, Giuliana’s hair and Gabby’s hair. It actually really hurts when he does it and he uses all his strength to give it a good tug! He’s made Gabby cry a few times… Giuliana seems to be a bit more tough and will just yell “OUCH!” This reminds me of Matteo… he used to pull on single strands of my hair, piece by piece and he would laugh when I would say “Ouch!”
• He has grown a little mole on the inside of his right leg. Oddly enough, Matteo had a mold in this same exact spot. Matteo’s was larger. But, I love that Marco has this new mole in the same spot. Maybe another sign from above.