Where We're at...9 Months

Well, as promised I thought I would save this for another post. Looking back on the last nine months is like a whirlwind! Finley has grown up so fast and so many changes have occurred for our family as well.

At nine months Finley is doing well. He is due to go in for a check up and vaccines so I am sure I will have more to report then.

Here are his current milestones and favorites:

Eating: Loves to feed himself though will still let me feed him. He eats a variety of things but favorites include pasta with marinara sauce, mexican food (rice and beans and cheese tortillas) green beans, yogurt and strawberries. He still enjoys his "puffs" but doesn't go as crazy over them.

Drinking: Still drinking at least 5 bottles of formula a day but takes a sippy cup with water at meals. He hates juice and pedialyte. He absolutely will not touch the stuff.

Playing: He doesn't really have a favorite toy but his preference is definitely to play with things that aren't toys or the dogs toys. When he can get his hands on things he loves my iPhone, the camera, electronics cords, the computer, the cords to the blinds and anything paper. He is not allowed to have any of these things generally but manages to find a way. He also LOVES to play with my vacuums though he has his own toy one. He also loves to just listen to music and dance. He does this all the time now.

Reading: Finley so far is not a big fan of being read to though I try and try. Once in awhile he can sit and be patient but more often he grabs the book, eats it or just plain crawls away from me to do something else. He does like to play with his books (he has TONS... thanks Aunt Chris!)

Bathing: Finley's favorite time of day is bathtime. Sometimes I think he vomits on himself or smears food in his hair just because he knows I will take him to the bath!! It's not uncommon for him to have a bath sometime in the morning besides his "bedtime bath"

Sleeping: Finley still takes a bottle before he goes to sleep. Usually he falls asleep on my lap drinking his bottle but sometimes he''ll finish it or stop drinking it and just cuddle until he falls asleep. Occasionally I can just put him down in his crib and he will go down but we are working on this for when there is no more bottle... He also will take a bottle in his crib at nighttime wake ups. Bedtime routine is dinner, playing and bath. 8 pm is the desired bedtime but this has been all over the place lately? Also he has been napping better... sometimes 2 a day though short! He NEVER napped reliably until about a 2 months ago. Sometimes NO nap at all!

Talking: Finally saying DaDa though he is choosy about saying it. I still swear he says Ella too. He likes to communicate buy grunting and growling which I am wondering if he is getting from the dogs? Yikes. He also is starting to point at things- especially lights and lamps. He has waived a couple times but isn't really into it. He gets excited when I say Hi and Bye Bye and he does know what NO means though chooses not to obey it mostly. He also knows what I mean when I say Finley Nathan Karras... can you believe I already do that at 9 months? He can be a stinker...

Walking: Almost! He pushes his toys and walks and cruises the furniture. He is brave enough to take one step between something (like 2 people) but grabs on quickly. He does try to stand using nothing sometimes and falls on his butt. I am sure it will be soon enough...

All in all Finley is doing GREAT at 9 months as always! He is a super active little guy who keeps me on my toes. He is also cuddly and loves people and his pets. He loves going outside now that the weather is nice and practically begs at the door or window. He is a load of fun and can be a load of trouble too :). He's a wonderful, funny little boy and Nate and I are lucky to have him as our son. It's all we could ask for!

All the pictures are from playing in the backyard today... it was windy!



I had to include this one because he looks so much MORE like Nate when he is pouting/crying...LOL