• Dr. Fletcher report: You now weigh 16.8 lbs (10th percentile) and are 28 ¼ inches long (50th percentile). Hardly any gain in weight, which makes me feel inadequate but the nurse assured me that this is normal for kids between the age of 6-9 months due to increased mobility. Sure enough you TORE up the paper on the table and were into everything while we were there.
She said that since you were so active, she wasn’t too worried right now. I AM, however, supposed to add whole milk and more fat to your diet to see if this helps. I think you are taking after your daddy—long & lean.
• You still enjoy being held, but constantly squirm. We pick you up and you want to face out to see what’s going on, then want to face us… it’s a constant twisting/circular transition to help you see everything around you. (I wouldn’t trade it, but my wrists & forearms ache almost every morning when I get out of bed & I think it’s from holding you/ helping you stand the previous day.)
• Your pincer grasp is really coming along, which is great.
I give you a little “buffet” of food on your tray (beans, cheese, ham, waffle) and you like to feed yourself for a while as I try to cook dinner or clean up the kitchen.
• You still nurse 2-3 times in a 24 hour period and enjoy a variety of solid foods (too many to list, but you took an instant liking to my crock pot roast beef & potatoes…
Oh, how proud your grandpa Cook is!
• Your clothes typically jive with your age. 6-month onsies are getting a little snug and you have started wearing 9-month outfits. I hadn’t fully appreciated how much you have grown until I recently moved more clothes to the "outgrown" bin & found one of your newborn onsies. It made me a little sad, but I LOVE how much you can do now.
• You. Fight. Sleep. You might relax and accidentally drift off to sleep with your “nuk” in & ankles crossed, but as SOON as I lay you down in your crib, your eyes snap open and you immediately scoot to the railing to pull yourself up.
o Ben/daddy found a website that proclaims Kaden as an American name that translates to “fighter”, therefore it is my fault you fight sleep so hard… since I picked your name.
I disagree.
o I also found that Kaden \k(a)-den is of Arabic origin meaning “companion”. I like this definition better and think this one suits you better.
o Once you finally fall asleep, you’re out for a long time. At night you’ve been going from 8:30 p.m. to around 7:00 a.m.
Life is good!
• You LOVE to face OUT when riding in a shopping cart (CVS, Target, Wal-Mart), making it look like you are in “pigeon pose”. You like to see where we are going & smile at people.
• For the past few months, you sit with your legs extended out with your ankles crossed.
• You are about the only child I know who wears cloth diapers
(Bum Genius) with a Pampers overnight diaper when you go to bed. People may think I am nuts for doing that in this day & age, but they are the Cadillac of cloth diapers. They are so much easier to clean than I had anticipated, they never leak, AND in the 9 months of your life I haven’t had to buy more than 2 boxes of diapers, which has saved us a TON of money.
• I can’t keep socks on your feet, but have been putting you in little shoes called Roobies, which actually stay ON!
You also get lots of compliments on these when we are out & about. One pair has cars & the other has lizards.
• You perfected the “army crawl” and at 8 ½ months, almost overnight, you made the transition to exclusively crawling on your knees.
• You pull up on EVERYTHING imaginable! Bookcases, chair legs, the coffee table, laundry baskets, Schatzi…
• You do your “chores” every morning and afternoon.
- pulling books off the living room shelf, which is impressive because a few are heavy textbooks
- clearing the coffee table of any newspapers or magazines & then crinkling them up on the floor
- clearing the CD case (the part you can reach that is no longer hidden)
- crawling to the hallway to strum the AC vents
and open/close the linen closet
- moving onto the bathroom to open/close the bottom drawers.
No wonder the house is a mess every evening!
• You love to watch and interact with Schatzi. You often laugh at her—especially when she speaks and jumps around in anticipation for our walks around the park. The two of you are always near each other.
• You enjoy being outside. Whenever you seem crabby, we go outside or for a walk around the park and all is right with the world.
• You’ve started babbling “da-da” and “ma-ma” and “na-na-na-na”. I love this! We often find you standing in your crib, staring back at us in the morning. I hear you babbling before one of us staggers in to get you.
• You don’t seem to mind strangers who want to hold you—especially at the gym.
• You’ve started giving sloppy kisses. For instance you grabbed my face the other day and planted a big lick up my cheek, then laughed. You’ve also done this to Marissa (caregiver at the Townclub) a couple of times right before we leave. It’s cute now… I’m not sure what I will think when you are old enough to know better…
• You’ve always been ticklish around your neck, but laugh HARD every time I tickly your arm pits & ribs.
• You like your baths and enjoy being naked.
• You cry when your daddy or I leave the room and don’t particularly like being alone.
