Liam {9 Months Old}

With each passing month, I'm becoming more and more aware that Liam is slowly but surely turning into a little boy - and losing his "babyness." He has such a personality. He is super smart, independent, funny and determined. He knows when to turn on the charm and when to turn on the sass. He has both of us wrapped around his little finger, and he knows it! He keeps us busy and on our toes, and we have so much fun!

Stats

At Liam's 9-month well visit, he weighed 20lbs, 2oz and is 28 inches long! He's growing perfectly! Everyone always tells me how huge he is, but I feel like he's pretty average size wise. He's in 58th percentile for weight, 35th for height, and his head is still in the 88th percentile, LOL. I hope he gets a growth spurt soon for his height, but if not, oh well. Being short is just fine, especially he's healthy!

New Milestones/Skills

• Points - This is hysterical, actually. He looks just holds his arm out and open his hand, most of the time at nothing. We get a kick out of it
• Dances - To music from toys and from phones, the TV, etc. It's so cute! (see video)
• Knee crawls - He chooses whether or not to use his knees or "swim" (army crawl on his belly) depending on how fast he wants to get somewhere.
• Responds to "no" - He used to laugh when we said no, but now he is starting to listen! Unless he's doing something really naughty or dangerous, we try our best to gently say "No thank you," and explain why he shouldn't be doing whatever he's doing. Most of the time, he's trying to play with something he shouldn't be. The only times we sternly say no are really when he tries to throw himself off the changing table in dispair {eye roll emoji} or when he tries to stand up in the bathtub.
• Opens and closes things - Loves to open/close toys that have this function, turn pages in the book, open/close drawers and doors.
• Responds to "come here" - I often tell him to come with me somewhere and he just scoots behind me. It's adorable!
• Says Mama, Dada and Baba - mostly Dada and Baba, but I get a few ma'am's now and then! Melts my heart.
• Waves hi and bye - He started this last month, but now he will wave on his own and when prompted.
• Recognizes himself - In the mirror, in the oven door, on the fridge, in photos - he sees himself, gets SUPER happy, and sometimes gives himself a kiss. Little narcissist!  
• Imitates people - He is working on this - if you show him something or tell him to do something, he tries to do it, too. He's great at clicking his tongue!
• Shows separation anxiety - Luckily, not too bad. He cries when our nanny leaves, and sometimes when we leave for work. He's a little leery of strangers, but usually doesn't cry. He gets sad when we have just gotten home from work and have been holding him and try to set him down. Hoping it doesn't get much worse than this!
• Working on pincer grasp - He's doing great with most finger foods! Addy has learned where to camp out and when for lots of dropped foods :)
• Exaggerates his mood - He plays up every emotion and can go from happy to PISSED in .001 seconds.
• Sharing - not quite there, but he'll try to give us something (like his paci) when we ask for it

Likes
Liam is learning new little "things" every day, and once we show him positive attention for these quirks, he does them over and over again!

• Initiating games of peek-a-boo - he pulls himself to stand, then squats down behind a table and when you ask "Where's Liam?" he pops up! He also covers his face with blankets and plays that way. It's obviously adorable!
• Looking at pictures - He is seriously OBSESSED with pictures. We could walk around the house all day showing him photos, or look through photo albums, and he would be OK with that. 
• Looking at himself in the mirror
• Dancing
• Reading - He loves books so much! He's great at turning the pages, and wants you to read them 100 times in a row.
• Playing "SO BIG!"- this is obviously the cutest, too. "How big is Liam?" we ask, and his little arms go up in the air, accompanied by a big smile!
• Clicking his tongue
• Tilting his head - mainly when he is in his high chair. He knows it's cute, and just ever so slightly, tilts his head and smiles. He'll do it on your shoulder sometimes, too. (See video)
• Music - He has a personalized CD of children's songs that use his name (a gift from his Aunt CC), and he loves it!
• Table food - He has tried so many new foods and we have yet to find out he doesn't like! Prayers that he keeps up the great eating!
• Puffs - When he sees the can of Puffs, he immediately starts flailing his arms and fussing. He needed one 5 seconds ago!
• Sippy cup - Now that he can hold and drink from his sippy cup, he just wants to do it all the time! I've even had to put milk in there before because he wouldn't drink it from the bottle! Little Mr. Independent.
• The bath - He can't get enough. He's at the point now where he can hear the bath water turn on from the kitchen while he's eating dinner. And when we say it's "Nakey baby time," he takes off down the hall toward our bathroom. Smart cookie!

Dislikes
Honestly, the kid doesn't dislike much, but a few I can think of:

I mean seriously. Drama queen, much? WOULD NOT sit still for a photo shoot. Le sigh.

• Still HATES being on his changing table. We still can't figure it out, but changing clothes and diapers takes two of us due to the screaming fits that ensue.
• Being told "no." He used to think it was funny, but now when we say it sternly, he gets sad. And then I feel bad, of course. 
• Sitting still - the child must be moving, all the time. Even in his crib, when he wakes up, he just rocks back and forth.
• Getting frustrated - he just wants to do everything, to do it himself, and when he can't, or he needs help, he gets real unhappy, real quick!
• Being rocked - sometimes. If he's really tired, he usually gets pissed when we try to snuggle and rock him! He just wants to lay down and sleep. The good part is that he'll just put himself to sleep in about two minutes, so I won't complain about that skill as long as mama can still sneak in a snuggle from time to time!

Eating
Liam gets 4-5 bottles day, and is starting to drink less milk now that we're eating more solids. I'm still pumping for my little man, but am having to supplement more with formula, which is all good for this mama.

Liam is pretty much feeding himself and eating purely table foods! His pincer grasp is still a little shaky, but he does great. Our nanny said he was ready to move on from the purees we'd been giving, so we kinda just went for it with the "real" food, and give him everything now! He loves tomatoes, black beans, waffles and meatballs. I steam veggies, cut up all kinds of fruit, give him shredded chicken, ground turkey/beef, spaghetti, mac 'n cheese, quesadillas, waffles...he loves everything! He eats 3 "meals" each day, plus a snack or two. We do keep pouches and purees on hand for when we are on the go.

Sleeping

Liam is still an awesome sleeper, for which I am so thankful. For a couple of months now, he is sleeping 7:30pm-7:30am. He takes 2-3 naps/day - whether or not he takes a third nap usually depends on how long the previous two were. But sometimes he just flat out refuses, in which case, it's usually an early bedtime because he is SUPER grumpy! He'll sleep just about anywhere - in the car, in his crib, in his carrier, in the stroller and in the pack 'n play. Please Lord, let's keep this up!

The months are just FLYING by, but I am loving every second of being this baby's mama. Let's see what month 10 brings!

Photo shoots are getting harder and harder....

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