Dear Chase – Month 9

Dear Chase,

You’re 9 months old today! We’ve made it 3/4 of a year! Crazy. It’s time to recap this month, but if you need to catch up first, check out my previous letters:

• Months 1 & 2
• Month 3
• Month 4
• Month 5
• Month 6
• Month 7
• Month 8

Let’s talk food first. We made some changes to your food this month. Mommy realized she had started decreasing your formula and increasing your real food a bit too early. The doctor said formula should really be your primary food source for several more months….so we’re now giving you about 30 ounces a day instead of 22-24 oz. I’ve cut back on the amount of real food I give you a little bit but you still eat plenty.

This month I really stopped cooking stuff specifically for you. You just eat a little bit of whatever we’re eating as long as it’s not hard or spicy. You typically get an 8oz bottle around 8am, a 7oz bottle around 12pm some lunch, 7 oz around 5-6pm, some dinner whenever we eat and then an 8 oz bottle around 9/9:30pm. Most days you snack on Cheerios at least a couple times during the day. I pretty much stopped giving you oatmeal but not really for any reason in particular. I’m sure we’ll add it back in at some point.

You’re quite proficient with your pincher fingers and can pick up most things fairly easily as long as they’re not slippery like avocado. You like drinking out of real cups and although a lot of it ends up on your shirt, we’re going to keep practicing.

Sleep is similar to last month. For most of the month you were getting up around 8, napping around 10, 2 and 6 and going to bed around 9:30. Mommy and daddy are opening a gym so for the past week your sleep schedule has been a bit off. You’ve been napping at the gym and it’s pretty hot so they haven’t been your best naps. You’ve also been getting transfered to your carseat and bed a lot after already sleeping and you’ve been waking up around 6, making for one tired mommy. It will be interesting to see if this earlier wakeup time is your new thing or just temporary. I thought some teeth might be coming in but not yet!

You are a master crawler and can move super fast when you want to. You LOVE standing and will pull yourself up on pretty much anything. You can take several steps sideways if you’re holding onto something and have taken a few forward steps while holding onto our hands. I think you’ll be walking in the next month!

We still have your Gated Community

set up at home but I try to let you out to explore several times during the day. You get into everything if I don’t watch close enough. Your favorite is the dog’s water bowl. You think “No” is the funniest word and your usual response is to look up at me with a huge smile and then continue on with whatever you were doing. We got you this Summer Infant Pop ‘n Play Portable Playard

for the gym. You don’t particularly love being in there but it’s super lightweight, folds up quickly and is generally great to have around.

Your separation anxiety is going strong. You want to be with mommy and if I try to leave your sight, lots of screaming ensues.

We had to get you a new carseat this month. Even though you were about 8 pounds away from the weight limit in your first carseat, you were less than an inch away from the heigh maximum! The seat we used up until now was the Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat

and we loved it. We upgraded you to the Chicco NextFit Convertible Car Seat

and we love that as well. It’s super padded and easy to install. It’s rear facing for now and in a couple years we’ll be able to switch it to forward facing.

This month you also:

• Celebrated your first 4th of July
• Went to the zoo with mommy & daddy and friends
• Spent a few days with Mimi and Grandpa when they came to visit
• Played in the blow-up pool in the backyard
• Spent a lot of time at the gym

You love to play and can entertain yourself for quite a while in your pen when we’re at home. You LOVE books, especially with flaps so we do a lot of reading. The Bizzy Bear

series is your absolute favorite and we have several of them. You don’t need fancy toys. Plastic water bottles make you super happy. We got you a giant train set and although you’re a little unsure of it right now when it’s set up, you like playing with the pieces. You love your cars and are getting good at driving them around on the floor. This Oball Rattle and Roll Car

is your favorite.

You still love your activity table

and spend a lot of time standing at it doing work and making noise. You’re getting more and more vocal and this month you’ve really mastered saying “ba ba” You say it about pretty much everything and will chatter away says ba ba ba ba ba all day long. You also love throwing your hands up in the air, especially after you take a bite of food.

You love your animals, especially Tucker and Marcus and you especially love chewing on dog bones. It’s hard to get you dressed so you spend a lot of time crawling around in your diaper. You have a little bit of eczema on your stomach and back but mommy’s been putting this Zoe Organics Cream on it and it seems to be helping.

Most days you’re a very good baby. You love Curious George and can keep yourself busy for a while when mommy needs to work…but you like getting what you want and if we’re doing something you don’t like (like not letting you stick your finger in a outlet or not letting you drink an endless amount of formula), you definitely let us know!

We love you, sweet boy! You go for your 9 month checkup on Friday and we’re excited to see how much you’ve grown!

Love,

Mom

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