Owen at Nine Months.

Owen's 9 month stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 12 oz. (6th percentile)

Length: 28 3/4 in (59th percentile)

Head: 17 1/4 in (14th percentile)

Our happy, smiley boy is 9 months old! Owen continues to be such a joy to our family and we love having him in our home so, so much. Owen has been a happy and content little boy since day 1, and his sweet smiles are contagious. Everyone we meet seems to comment on what a happy boy he is and Owen is quick to give a big grin. In fact, when we were at the grocery store the other day our cashier said that he looked a babydoll, because his face was so sweet. 

Owen is a crawling machine and is getting anywhere and everywhere super quick. He pulls up on everything and cruises from one piece of furniture to the other with ease. He's even a pro at going up the stairs! He has also started standing on his own on occasion, and can stand by himself for about 5 seconds before dropping to the ground. 

Owen is a mischievous little guy and is so fascinated by things that are not for him- the cat's water dish, the dishwasher, and toilet paper are some of his favorites. Dylan is his favorite playmate and he loves to be watching whatever his brother is doing. Lucky for Owen, Dylan absolutely loves "his baby" and is happy in include him in almost everything. Owen has started to play "so big" and peek-a-boo, which is absolutely adorable. 

Owen is a noisy little guy and has been communicating more and more each week. He calls me ma-ma-ma and Ben da-da. He's also started lifting up his arms and saying "uhhh!" for up. When he wants milk, he frequently starts saying na-na, which I find adorable. One thing that I love is that Owen still doesn't have any teeth, so his smile is still more baby looking than toddler. I just want to keep Owen a baby for as long as possible!

Owen's sleeping habits are pretty good and predictable. He has recently transitioned to two naps each day, one around 10 am and then another around 2 or 3. Bedtime has always been between 7:30-8, and he never puts up a fuss about going to bed. Sleeping through the night doesn't always happen- I'd say he wakes up one out of every three nights. I keep telling myself that it's just habit and to let him put himself back to sleep, but I always give in and snuggle and nurse him for a few minutes. He wakes up for the day between 7 and 8 am,  happy as a clam. 

Owen is still nursing 4-5 times each day, but never for very long. When he has a bottle he rarely drinks more than 5 oz. at a time, but I remember when Dylan was this age he would drink 8 oz. without a problem. Owen absolutely loves food! He usually eats a Yo-Baby yogurt  and some Cheerios for breakfast, has 2 baby foods for lunch, and has whatever we have for dinner, or some more baby food if our dinner isn't baby-friendly. Owen loves to feed himself anything that he can. Raspberries, blueberries, corn, cut up grapes, bananas, yogurt melts, puffs, and crackers are some of his favorites. He also drinks a little from a sippy cup. The only thing that he didn't seem to love was cottage cheese, because the texture is so different. I can't blame him though- I cannot stand cottage cheese. Funny enough, Owen's favorite meal is green beans with mashed up avocado-- two things that I don't like at all. The main goal is to ensure that Owen isn't a picky eater- we allowed Dylan to become picky and it has been a nightmare ever since-- I'm not going to deal with another picky eater! Please notice that his weight has gone from the 2nd percentile to the 6th percentile- something I'm so, so happy about. Ever since he dropped to the 2nd percentile I have been so worried about him chunking up, and the jump to the 6th percentile had me pretty dang thrilled. 

Poor Owen got sick again this month- he had a high fever (with no other major symptoms) for a few days and was just so sad and lethargic. Owen has not had an easy winter, health-wise... too many colds and other illnesses! After a few days he was acting like himself and was all over the place with a smile on his face. 

Here are a few pictures of our sweet boy from the past month. Some are happy, some are sick, and some are angry. Love my baby boy!