Gage - Nine Months Old

9 Months Old!

Nine months have come and gone way too quickly (let's just pretend I wrote this post right after you turned nine months instead of two months later)!  Before we know it your one year birthday is going to be upon us (and I'm not ready for that!).

We had your nine-month checkup with the doctor this month, and won't go back again until after your first birthday!:

Height:                                29 inches (75th percentile)

Weight:                               21 lbs. (50 - 75th percentile)
Head Circumference:    18.2 in. (75th percentile)

Diaper Size:                       Size  3

Clothing Size:                   9 month, 9-12 month and 12 month clothes

As usual, you were a busy boy this last month; here are a few of the things you have been up to:

• In your 8 month post I talked about you getting your first ear infection :(.  You weren't feeling well and mommy didn't think you were up to traveling, as you were supposed to spend the weekend in Mulvane with Grammy and Grandpa.  However, because they love you so much, they came to Kansas City instead on Saturday to watch you for the day and evening since mommy and daddy had a wedding and Brew at the Zoo to go to.  
• Not even a week after taking you in for your ear infection, mommy had you back in the doctor's office to have a sore on your chin checked out, as I was in full on first-time mom mode, afraid you had contracted hand, foot and mouth disease.  My only defense is that a co-worker had told me earlier in the week her son had contracted the disease, which of course meant that you could have it as well! None the less, we were supposed to travel to Mulvane for the weekend so I wanted to make sure you were okay before we left.  The doctor said it was just a sore (like a rug burn) and that you in fact did not have hand, foot and mouth disease.  Silly mommy.  Though the following picture is still in my defense files:

You can see the ugly red sore on his chin, poor guy!

• We made our first trip since April back to Mulvane the weekend before Halloween so we could see some of daddy's friends from home and so you could spend some time with Grammy and Grandpa since you missed going home with them the weekend before.  Mommy and Grandpa went to the K-State vs. West Virginia football game on Saturday, and daddy was hunting for the part of the day, so you got lots of quality time with Grammy.  Daddy had been out of town for work the whole week before so once he got back from hunting, he got to spend some quality time with you as well.  You really enjoyed all of the special attention (no surprise) but it was so nice to have you finally feeling better.  
• We got to celebrate your very first Halloween this month, and you went as a cowboy (the cutest cowboy if you ask mommy, but I may be a little biased). Mommy searched high and low to try and find you a cowboy hat to go along with your outfit that didn't cost an arm and a leg, and when I couldn't find one, we went with plan B of wearing a bandana instead. Plan B actually turned out to be a genius idea, as the bandana doubled as a great drool catcher and it was soaking by the end of the night!  At daycare, Kelly got all of you kiddos dressed in your costumes and took group pictures of you all.  To say the least, it was adorable.  She gave us a Halloween card with the pictures to remember your first Halloween.  Once we got home, we didn't do any trick or treating, but our neighbors hosted a Halloween get together for all of the neighboring kiddos.  Daddy even got in on the Halloween action and (at mommy's request) put on his matching cowboy outfit. We had fun hanging out with all of the neighborhood kids and so look forward to next year!

Cutest little cowboy you ever did see!

• Cousins Emma and Sadie and Aunt Sheri were in Kansas City the first weekend of November, so you and mommy went over to Aunt Christine's to see them.  Emma is only three month's younger than you are, but it is so crazy to see the differences between the two of you and how much you have changed in just three short months!  

Checking out your cousin Emma, in front of your audience :)

Aunt Sheri with an armful of babies!

• We took a road trip to Omaha this month to finally meet your friend Linley (nothing like waiting until a year later) and also to celebrate her Grandma's surprise 50th birthday party!  We took just a short trip, leaving on Saturday and coming back on Sunday.  Both ways we waited until nap time to hit the road hoping that you would sleep most of the drive.  You had other ideas in mind, however, as both ways you only slept an hour of the entire three hour car ride, leaving mommy and daddy to try their best to entertain you for the rest of the trip.  Needless to say it wasn't your best travel trip, but it could have been worse (*knocks on wood*).  We had so much fun seeing all of the Nordquists and finally getting to spend some time with Linley.

Gage giving Derek the business

Derek with Linley and Gage (there's no question Linley looks just like her daddy!)

Mommy and Daddy with Linley and Gage

"Linley, let me have your puck"

Gage and Linley with Julie

• You still have quite the personality coming through and now that you are more mobile (and more confident in your mobility) we find you getting into more things.  You know the word no, but definitely don't listen to it very much.  Usually you will turn around, smirk at me, and then turn back around to do exactly what we just told you not to do.  Stubborn (like you're mother), ornery (like your father) and Mr. Independent.  
• You are still doing good about feeding yourself puffs and Cheerios and drinking water from a sippy cup.  However, we haven't gotten much further with the whole "feeding yourself" thing.  For example, the first few times I cooked you an egg yolk, you would pick it up and eat it.  Now when I try to give you an egg yolk, you don't want anything to do with it.  More of your food seems to end up on the floor than near your mouth, but we'll just keep working on it.
• You've also this month figured out how to give yourself your own bottle, which for mommy and daddy is a big step!  It's been nice for us to be able to give you your bottle and get a few things done while you're drinking it.  You're still eating most of the different flavor combinations that mommy dreams up for you (squash/melon for example) but you have started to become a little more picky when eating, refusing certain things we try to feed you.  You must be getting sick of having so much cereal (twice a day!) because that is the food you seem to refuse the most.
• You are still eating four times a day.  We have cereal with fruit for breakfast, and then what's left of your 6 oz bottle. You will eat 4 veggie cubes or 3 veggies and one meat for lunch and around 6 oz of formula.  You get a 6 oz bottle for your late afternoon snack when you are at daycare, and then will have more cereal and fruit and 2 veggie cubes for dinner.  
• You are our good nighttime sleeper, going down for bed between 7 and 7:30 pm and waking up around 7 am.  Naps however, are another story. You began boycotting your afternoon naps or not sleeping nearly as long (maybe an hour?), so we began working with Kelly to shorten your morning nap to 30 minutes to hopefully get you to sleep for longer in the afternoons.  It seems to be helping a little bit, but in total you still are only napping about 2 to 2.5 hours a day.  Your dad and I agree though that we much prefer that you sleep good at night, so we can deal with the shorter naps.
• With crawling and pulling up has now come climbing.  You like to climb over mommy and daddy, into the dishwasher, wherever you can.  You have become especially good at climbing the stairs, I think it's become your favorite place to play.  It's too bad we still haven't figured out yet how to put a gate in front of the stairs to the basement, so for now we just have to make sure someone is always with you. Here's a couple of examples of what I mean:  

Climbing up the stairs

Managing to climb into the dishwasher to help mommy

• No new teeth this month, though the way you were drooling and chewing we were sure you were working on some. We'll just have to wait and see if any will come through soon!
• You are still not a fan of being contained (which includes diaper changes, clothing changes, confinement to your exersaucer/jumperoo, etc).  All you want to do is be free to crawl around and get into whatever you want, without restriction.  At home, this isn't such an issue, but at daycare, there are certain times of the day she needs to "contain" you so she can feed the twins or tend to something else.  To say you don't like it would be a definite understatement, but we are reassured that this is a typical phase for your age :).

Here are a couple of videos from the last month I thought were cute:

Swinging with Ben

Babbling and playing in the dishwasher

Here are a few of my other favorite pictures from the last month:

Neighbor Ben got out the baby swing for his swing set for you to swing in!

Having so much fun!

Such a happy baby! Can't wait for warmer weather to do this again.

Cowboy GW and Mommy

All of us on Halloween

Two good lookin' cowboys

You also had a stick horse to go with your costume

One of your new favorite activities, opening and closing the cabinet doors

Gage and cousin Nate

Playing with the dishwasher

Linley with her cell phone and measuring cup, what more could a girl want??

Nothing like playing naked with your toys before bed (and finally getting some hair!)

Love the hat, but he tore it off about two seconds later.

Here are a few outtakes from your nine month photo shoot:

Gage, we are so blessed to be your parents, and we can't believe how quickly nine months have come and gone.  Before we know it, we'll be celebrating your first birthday!