9 months.

*updated with Dr. Stats/info*

This sweet little babe is nine months old today...

 

as in...3/4 of a year old.  Hubba wha??? (as Lucas and Sophie say).

Oh my, does this little boy brighten a cold dreary day in just a matter of seconds. (And we've had quite a few of those this winter!) My favorite moments are hearing his squeaks and squeals in the morning when he wakes up, I barely open the door, and then I see a huge gummy grin come across his face as he sees me.

Since turning 6 months, Brady has perfected the art of crawling-- in other words, you CAN NOT let him out of your sight for a second, otherwise you'll find him down the hall, in the bathroom, crawling INTO the sink.  Yup, happened today.  He crawled up the kids' step stool (two big steps) and pulled himself up into the sink.  Instant heart attack.

He LOVES to climb.  Man, is he strong.

Yes, we're often within "falling" reach, so no worries.

Other notable milestones:  Brady can now stand on his own for short moments at a time.  Two teeth popped through the bottom so far so Brady's been eating more table food (ie: avacado, bananas, black beans, pasta, steamed sweet potato, squash, and apples, bread, green beans, blueberries, and peas).  The kids love to help feed him, which comes in very handy these days.  Also, Brady seems to respond to his name these days... his reaction is often a loud squeal and quick run (ok, crawl) in the opposite direction.  I think he thinks it's a chasing game... probably because I spend most of my days chasing him around.  Man, he wears me out! :)

A few of my (Brady's) favorite things: the curtains (hiding behind them), anything he can bang to make noise, magnets on the fridge, climbing up stools/steps, emptying the tupperware cabinet, being chased, pushing Soph's doll stroller around, drooling, Cheerios (goes BAZERKO when we get the box out), his Vitamin-D drops, kisses on the belly, seeing his brother come home from school (BIG smiles!), books, looking out the window, playing hide-and seek/peek-a-boo, turning on the tub faucet, & pacis.

A few of my (Brady's) not-so-favorite things: diaper changes (nearly impossible), sleeping completely through the night, teething, eating while teething, the exersaucer, getting put in his high chair, napping at church, taking a bottle consistently

Day-to-Day: Brady typically gets up around 8ish, eats a GOOD helping of oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast, plays a bit, and heads down to nap around 9:30.  He'll nap usually around 1 1/2 hours or so.  He's good to go after that until around 1:00 when he goes down for his second nap which is usually at least 2 hours.  Very rarely does he take a third nap these days but if he does it's pretty short.  He's ready for bed by 7:00, which is when Soph and Lucas are getting ready for bed as well.  I still nurse Brady about 4 times a day and once in the middle of the night around 4:00.  Here's the crazy thing about the middle-of-the-night feeding... I actually don't mind/dread it.  There's something special about that time I have with Brady... the house is incredibly quiet, I'm not in any kind of rush, and it's the best feeding that Brady does.  The other two were sleeping through the night LONG before 9 months... but it's okay... I'm soaking our 1-on-1 time up.

First picture I noticed a hint of red in his hair...!

Stats: 

Weight: 16 lb 6 oz. (5-10th%)

Height: 27 3/4 in

Size 3 diapers

Clothes: 3-6 month and 6-9 month 

*he's basically wearing the same clothes he was wearing 5-6 months ago !!

Commentary from Dr. Harper:

• Noted that Brady has LOTS of teeth ready to poke through the top.  That explains a lot.
• We can go ahead with mostly table food, which we've been hesitant about knowing how much.
• Sunscreen.  Yes....little B has acquired the Rupp skin tone which means he'll be much more prone to burn.
• Brady's following in his siblings footsteps, for sure.  This is about the time the growth curve started really slowing down for all 3 of them... no surprise he's in 5th% for weight.  No concern though- he's a healthy and very strong little babe.  That's just the way we make 'em. :)