Brody: Eight- Nine Months

      Brody turned eight months on May 26th and nine months on June 26th. I decided to do a blog documenting his growth and development combining both of those months.  I feel like that these past couple of months some of the biggest changes with Brody have happened.
  
       At eight months Brody was mobile but not full on crawling yet. He would scoot, roll, and  army crawl to get where he needed to go. The more mobile he became the more curious he was about things he could get in to and places in the house that he could go. At nine months he started crawling full time. He is so fast! He is all over the place! Now we are having to baby proof everything! It's like his world has just opened up for him and there are all of these things that he can get in to that he never realized were there until he became mobile. He is also pulling up.  He  pulls up on chairs, couches, the walls, his toy chest, everything! He is also very curious about everything. He really keeps me on my toes all day!

  It's amazing how much he is now picking up things that we teach him. He is mimicking us a lot more.  We have been working on teaching him to wave when you say hello and goodbye. He has picked up on that pretty well and usually waves with both hands. Sometimes I will see him sitting in his crib during his nap time waving his hands. It's so cute! Another thing that we are working on teaching him is how to clap. He hasn't quite done that one yet but does know to put his hands together when I say clap. We have also taught him a few signs such as "more, thank you, and please" we mainly do these when we are eating together. He has done more several times but not thank you and please yet. Hopefully those will come at some point. I'm really just working with him on hearing thank you when someone gives you something, and please when you want something etc. 

    
       It's interesting the older he gets his personality is shining through more and more. Brody is a very content, happy baby, and is also fearless. He wants to get into everything and doesn't seem to have a lot of fear of things. A couple of weeks ago we were swimming at our good friends', Kelci's apartment pool. This pool has a zero entry area where Brody can crawl around quite a bit and the water isn't very deep. When we were over there he was crawling and kept sticking his face in the water. When he would lift his face up, I would clap for him and say " Yay" to try and communicate that he doesn't need to be scared of getting his face wet. After that happened once he wanted to do it over and over, it was quite humorous. He also wanted to crawl towards the deeper side of the pool and try to dive in. I didn't let that happen of course. We are working with him on kicking his legs in the water, and turning him over on his back. We go swimming quite a bit during the week. We have done a lot of play dates at the pool and we got a summer membership at the YMCA, so we go to the pool there. He absolutely loves the water and is a little fish.

         We have been so blessed to have such a happy baby. When we go in his room in the mornings to get him he is always standing up grinning from ear to ear. This is how he is when he has had enough sleep. He is so happy most of the time, but he has to have had enough to eat and has to be well rested. He just enjoys life so much. Everywhere we go it is fun to watch him. He is absorbing everything around him and curious about where we are, what we are doing, etc. He is fascinated with ceiling fans, exit signs, lights, the show " Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" ( the only show we DVR for him and let him watch), his daddy ( he lights up when his daddy comes home), sunglasses, earrings, necklaces, shoes ( he loves to try and chew on any shoe that he sees), water, cell phones, computers, TVS, he loves touching other kids ( we are working on being gentle and not grabbing their face off), he loves grabbing people's noses and putting his hands in their mouth. He also loves drinking out of anything, cups, water bottles, bottles, sippy cups, etc.  He also enjoys talking to people. He talks a lot! I'm starting to think that he is going to be a pretty talkative child.  It is so fun to watch him! My heart is so full of joy to be around him all the time! I just am so in love with this little boy!
        
        Brody is still very social. When we are out in public he will stare at people until they look at him and talk to him. Sometimes it is a little awkward, but people love it and will feel someone staring at them and then look at Brody and talk to him. Brody also will go to anyone, as long as he is well rested and fed. He really is curious and interested in different people. He does very well going to the nursery at church and also being left in the daycare at the gym. The girls that keep him in the daycare gym just love him! They always get really excited when he comes in the daycare area.
    
     At eight months old Brody started biting me while he was breast feeding. I tried several different methods to get him to stop but nothing was working. I have been already feeding him some formula during the day so he was already used to it. After the fifth time that he bit me Phillip made the suggestion that I go ahead and quit breast feeding him. For me this was a good way to transition out of the breast feeding stage. It was hurting me so bad when he would bite me that I got to the point where I would dread feeding him. I do miss having that time to hold him and snuggle with him but I usually get to do that now when I give him his bottle. I will either hold him or lay down beside him while he has his bottle and we will watch "Mickey Mouse."

  
      He is also a very stubborn child who makes his opinion known. When we sit him in his high chair to eat he immediately starts grunting or throwing kind of a fit until he gets food. Right now I am working with him on communicating that we don't get what we want by throwing a fit. So I usually don't him food while he is throwing a fit and then the moment that he is done with the fit I give him food. It's been interesting watching him develop in this area. We have also started implementing swatting his hand after we tell him "no sir" the first time regarding for example not to touch something, and he usually if not always tries to touch it again and this results in a swat on the hand. This new stage of setting boundaries for Brody has been a bit challenging but I know that by doing this it will pay off. I'm really trying to ask a lot of questions of parents that I respect and think that they have done a good job with their children. I am also looking for good books to read on setting boundaries and parenting toddlers. I truly believe that this is a huge part of God's calling to parents.

                                "Oh no, I've been caught!"

    
     Brody has now graduated to the "big" car seat. He is now 22 pounds so we decided to move him up! He seems to be a lot more comfortable in this car seat. The old one was getting to be a pretty tight squeeze for him.  He is wearing size 9 months and size 12 months. He still fits into 9 month clothes even though they are getting a little snug, but he is most comfortable in 12 month clothes. Honestly I am trying to get the most wear out of the 9 month clothes while he can still wear them. He is now wearing size 4 shoes and size 4 diapers. He can wear a couple of pairs of sandals that are size 3, but they are getting really snug. It's hard for me to justify spending much money on his shoes right now because his feet are growing so fast!! It's crazy!
    
     We had to lower the mattress in Brody's crib once he turned 9 months. He was standing up and looking like he was ready to tumble over the side of the crib. We lowered it and that has helped a great deal. He still stands up in the crib at the beginning of his naps and has now started chewing on the sides of the crib! Since we would like to have more children and hopefully want to pass this crib on to the next child I decided I didn't want to have his teeth marks ruin the nice look of the crib. We went to Babies R' Us and found plastic covering to go over the edges of the crib. This has helped a great deal. He is still chewing on it but his teeth are not taking out chunks of the crib.

    Here are a few hobbies and toys that Brody is fascinated with at 9 months. He loves books, he loves to be read to, and will go pull books off of his toy shelf and start looking through them himself.  He also knows how to turn the page in a book when I tell him to. He is a part of the "Dolly Parton Imagination Library" where he recieves one free book a month in the mail! We just signed up for it a few months ago online. Our friend Camille told us about it. So far he has gotten the books, " A Mudpie for Mother," " The Little Engine that Could," and " Goodnight Gorilla."

  He can now beat on a drum. We have a toy drum that says the ABC's when you tap on it. Brody loves being pushed on this toy train that we got him. When he gets older he will be able to push it along by himself with his feet. He loves pulling up on any and everything, walls, chairs, bath tub, couch, the entertainment center, any and everything. He loves to chase us in the living room. Phillip and I will crawl around the couch and tell Brody to come and get us. He really enjoys that game!

  He loves swimming like I mentioned earlier. He loves swinging in a baby swing. He enjoys taking things off of his shelf that has all of his toys on it. Brody loves the dog food ( this is one thing that I try and make him stay away from) He likes to eat grass also( another sources of conflict). He also can't stand to have clothes or shoes put on him or to be restrained in any way unless he is in his stroller and in this case he has toys and snacks that will distract him from the fact that he is strapped in and can't crawl out. Brody still loves any toys that light up, make noise, or that he can chew on.

      These are a few pictures I put together of Brody from 8-9 months. It has been amazing how much he has changed in these past few months! I can't believe that he turns 10 months old next week! We are already preparing for his 1 year birthday! I have enjoyed every stage with him so far and look forward to see what the next month brings!



                                                     8 months old!

9 months old!