We are looking forward to Christmas and a vacation!!!
Brendan turns 9 months tomorrow!!! Darrell proudly proclaims it his “in & out” day- he’ll have been out of me as long as he was in me! I don’t have the heart to remind him that Brendan was born a week overdue… lol. Brendan is such a happy, gurgly, joyous little boy!! We bought him a pair of size 4 sneakers… and my baby turned into a toddler!! Waah! He isn’t crawling yet but can roll and stretch and scoot on his tummy to get around quite nicely. One minute he’ll be sitting in the middle of the living room and the next he’ll be at my feet, kicking the chair. He *still* sleeps in the pack n play but nights in the crib draw nearer- he’ll soon sit up on his own, I’m sure! Words to date: Dada, Baba, Mama, Oh! & Yay! We are very proud of him and think he is very smart!
Timeline:
11/13- His bald spot on the back of his head seems to be slowly disappearing!
11/14- Brendan spits now- for fun! Yuck!!
11/15- Trip to Waco to see Mimi & Grandpa- he amazes us by imitating motorcycle sounds on the tv!!
11/16- I woke up to Bren peering over the edge of his pack n play!!
11/20- 8 months old
11/21- Bren becomes an official carnivore by downing a jar of “Pears and Chicken”
11/22- Bren amuses us at a restaurant by being a little drummer boy to the beat of the music with 2 celery sticks
11/23- Picture with Santa- he didn’t cry til the pictures were taken!! But he did NOT like the animatronic elf whose arm moved up and down-lol!
11/24- Bren gets a tray full of whipped cream and goes to town!
11/25- Eats Vegetable Pasta with jarred ham added- doesn’t care for it
11/26- cereal bar bits (a new fave!) and mixed veggies from a can
11/27- Bren’s 1st Thanksgiving. He watched the Macy’s Parade with Daddy and ate turkey, ham, sweet potato soufflé, marshmallows & cranberry sauce. He also pops out tooth #2- the bottom right
11/28- Brendan automatically reaches out to feel the furry animals in his touch book. He can close the flaps over the characters on his Disney toy. He eats peas (and adores them).
11/29- Brendan babbles “mama” again!!! It’s been a looooong time. And now he definitely connects the word to me!
11/30- Brendan will lean forward and give open mouth kisses when you ask! He loooves to stand while we hold his hands and can now stay in a crawling position when put that way.
12/1- We put up some Christmas lights (and even some on the living room ceiling) and a small fiber optic tree. Brendan loved the lights and wanted to eat them!!
12/2- Bren saw his first movie, “The Haunted Mansion” He was great!!
12/3- He can stay standing when holding the couch! He also can turn a light switch on and off. He eats meatloaf and carrot cake.
12/4- He squeals with delight when the lights are turned off and it’s pitch black.
12/6- First Indian Food- Tandoori chicken, naan bits, semolina cake, mango puree, rice pudding
12/7- Says “Oh!” and tried very hard to say “book”. He also spontaneously leaned over and kissed a picture of a little girl in a book- right on her mouth! I am surprised he could recognize the picture as a person!! He claps his hands too! He was just sitting on Darrell’s lap while we were watching tv and he was concentrating sooo hard on it!!!
12/10- He says “Yaaaaaaay!” when he claps his hands now! It sounds more like “Aaaaaaa” though! Awwww!
12/11- Brendan flirts and kisses his own image on a mirrored footstool at a shoe store!
12/12- Nico’s birthday party. You love whole spaghetti noodles!!
12/13- We have a blast driving around looking at Christmas lights. Swiss cheese, diced corned beef, corn.
12/14- Brendan does a “high-five” and initiates kisses on his own!
12/15- Says “Ni ni ni ni!” which I am pretty sure means “No no no no!” LOL.
12/18- He gets his first upper tooth (on his right). He has three teeth now!
12/19- 9 month doctor appointment
*****
Doctor’s appointment details:
20 lbs 13 oz- He gained 1 lb 12 oz since 6 mo
29 1/4″ tall- up 1 1/2 inches
18 3/4″ head- up 1/2 inch (not too far off of the curve- whew!!)
Our visit went well. No flu vaccines anywhere in this town but we have a prescription for one for Brendan when we do run across someone with them. We are on a watch & see approach to his head size and birthmark. No major concern with them at this point. Brendan was all primed and ready to clap, kiss & high-five the doctor but then got stage-fright. Oh, well. He did get up about 2 hours early and so was pretty crabby. He got 1 shot- the polio vaccine.
Concerns we addressed:
Tooth with v-shaped notch on top- might be 2 teeth or 1 1/2 fused together. 😮 Have to see what the other one beside it looks like when it comes in. Not a big concern and not too uncommon.
Not crawling yet- What’s important is whether he is reaching for and trying to get objects.
Milk- NO milk for drinking until 12 months. He says he prefers cow’s milk over soy unless the person is allergic.
Eating way too fast & doesn’t indicate when full- Not a big problem except maybe socially. Try giving him small portions at a time to slow down. He’ll indicate fullness later.
Drinking less- 20-24 oz (what I reported he drinks in formula) is fine.
*****
Brendan sometimes laughs out loud like he is watching something that we can’t see- especially when he’s in the car. Mary K likes to say that he’s playing with Angels.
We used an adorable photo for the front of our Christmas card this year- I call it “Santa Bren”.