The Thrash Three: Month Nine and a Tribute

Bill & I both had wonderful birthdays this year. Bill took me to a nice dinner while Uncle David and Raine baby sat. It was Will's first time to stay with any one other than my mom in a while and he did great! David and Raine are so good with him and he just loves them. For Bill's birthday I threw him a little adult party at a trampoline park in McKinney. It's basically a giant room with built-in trampolines. We had a blast! It was so fun to let loose for an evening and Grandpa Bri (my dad) and PaPa Pat (his partner) baby sat Will and they did great as well. We're so lucky to have the family we do who are always so helpful and especially loving. It makes going out so much easier knowing he's in good hands.

Will is 9 months old now and...

Is crawling, pulling up, scooting, pulling, pushing, opening, closing, dumping out, taking apart....which means we are officially baby-proofed (for now). Bill's friend has a toddler and they used a detachable baby coral to build barricades around their entertainment center so we copied that idea and did the same around some other furniture and areas he should keep away from. So far it's worked.
Is currently being trained to sleep in his crib. He's been sleeping in a cradle swing since he was 5 months old. He graduated from the Rock n Play to the swing. Since Day 1 he has hated the crib, hated sleeping on a flat surface. It may have had something to do with his reflux back then and it was something we just never got him used to. When he started to outgrow the Rock n Play I started using the swing to train him to fall asleep on his own. It worked great but he can't sleep in it forever. He's sleeping great in the pack n play at my mom's and he's sleeping pretty good in his crib at home. We've started with naps. I don't know if we're quite ready for overnight yet. I admit part of the delay of the crib transition is my own fear. I know someone personally who lost her infant to SIDS and it wasn't all too long ago. You just don't forget something like that...
Weighs about 17 lbs and was 29" as of his 9 month check up. So he's still a little peanut; still in the bottom percentile. He's healthy and he's definitely happy!
Imitates all the time! It's really funny. He cracks up when we make faces and sounds at him. He seems to have a sense of humor. He loves to play peek-a-boo. He loves to be outside. He loves people and animals. He's a talker and I believe he's starting to understand some words (da da, ba ba, night night). He also is starting to express his emotions. He loves on the people he knows by "hugging" them, crawling to them, giving "kisses" (a really slobbery, open-mouthed version which would be totally disgusting if he weren't so cute). He can also really express himself when he's frustrated and upset. This usually entails throwing, flailing, holding his breath and high-pitched screams. Oh boy. It also seems to happen most often when Bill isn't around! There was one evening I was having a hard time spoon feeding him because he was so ornery. Bill heard the commotion and I swear the minute Will heard his foot steps he was automatically a sweet little angel again. Hmm...

On a personal note, my fitness regime is going well! My 5 am wake ups to go run outside in the rain/wind/cold are starting to pay off. I'm working out 30-45 minutes 6 days/week so it's encouraging to see my body start to slowly morph into the remnants of what was. And exercise certainly does the mind some good too. It helps me find something I can do outside of my mom duties. It's something of an escape. Don't get me wrong, I get plenty of help with Will and everything else. My family is great; Bill is amazing and does more than I could ask of him. He really keeps it all together. But outside of my family I don't socialize much now. It's hard when you don't have a lot of friends with babies that can get together regularly. One of the things that puts you at a disadvantage as a FT working mom is the fact your week-ends are so jam-packed. The other working moms are too busy during their week-ends too, and the nonworking moms get together during the week and are with their own families on the week-end. Most of our closest friends don't have kids yet so we don't see much of each other. No one's fault necessarily but disheartening sometimes, nonetheless. I hate to sound whiny or complain b/c I am grateful for what I have - the family, the job, and the really good friends who have been there. My best friend is sometimes my saving grace. She doesn't have kids yet but she always knows the right thing to say...or not say. From the day Will was born she's been there like family. She's never taken my changing candor as indifference because she knows me. I know I've changed since becoming a mom. I think most mothers do. I don't think it's necessarily good or bad. It's just different. But like my family, she's always in the wings cheering me on. I hope I give as much as I get, but I do know, and I think she does too, that I am loyal to her for life.

And now our month in pictures!