41 Weeks

41 Weeks! Today baby is sporting his new onesie outfit from his Grammie I. GapBaby, of course, and in Michigan colors! Jack had his 9 month well child appointment today so I knew it would be the perfect time for him to wear it. So much easier undressing him when his entire outfit is one piece!

Jack's 9 Month stats: 

Height 29 inches (68%)

Weight 19 lbs. 11 oz. (30%)

Head Circumference 45 cm (36%)

The Dr. said that his lower weight is normal since he is crawling, standing, and pushing his walker. Since he is exerting more energy, teething, and changing his appetite it is normal for his weight to take a little dip. He is perfectly healthy. 

Jack celebrated his first New Year this week. Now he seems like a big baby since we're no longer in his birth year! Only a couple more months and he'll be a whole year old! On New Year's day DaDa, Momma, and Jack went over to DaDa's best friend's house, the Winkel's. They are expecting their first little boy this spring! Jack and Baby Boy Winkel will be BEST friends, I'm sure. 

Jack loved playing with Jon and Andrea. He was more than happy to test out all their toys too. He got them good and broken in for Baby Winkel. (PS: Look how great Andrea looks! Her little baby belly makes me really, really, really want baby number 2!) We went out to dinner at a Pub by the Winkel's house in Allendale and then watched the Dark Knight Rises. DaDa and Momma hadn't seen it yet since Jack was born shortly before it came out to theaters. 

Jack loves music... and he LOVES playing the piano! He bangs on the keys with both hands and gets the biggest smile on his face! We have no doubt he will be musical. Both his parents are musical so we'll see whether Jackson chooses to play an instrument or sing or both!

Jack also loves his Papa. He peeks over the top of the couch into the kitchen where Papa usually sits in the evenings. He peeks over there even when Papa isn't home with an expectant smile on his face. When Papa comes home from work Jack gets super excited and jumps up and down until Papa picks him up. He crawls over to Papa all evening and wants to play or be held. Papa plays piano with Jack a lot too.

Jack has been busy cutting teeth. His poor upper gums are all swollen and red. Before his first top tooth pushed through his gums bled a little. The second top tooth is ready to push through any day now. His bottom teeth are working on coming through the rest of the way and hopefully will straighten out. I know baby teeth start coming in crooked a lot and then straighten out as more come in. I guess it doesn't matter either way, his grown up teeth will most likely be crooked. Both DaDa and Momma had braces. Even though all these teeth have been coming in, Jack has been a trooper. It typically doesn't even seem to bother him too much. He may fuss a little here and there, but he has plenty of teething toys that help. 

With more teeth come more interesting foods! I have begun to split up his meals so he has a few foods to try/eat. This helps as he really likes fruit. I want him to get enough veggies so I give him some of each at lunch time. I'll usually give him something a little sweeter for dinner so he eats more- like peach cobbler baby food or fruit smoothie medley.

It's nice having a baby who can eat table food now. When we go out I can give him some of our food in addition to his puffs. We ordered him a slice of cheese when DaDa got a burger one place and then gave him some of the sticky rice at Mongolian BBQ (we went there with Uncle Mark). He loved playing with the rice and thought it tasted pretty good too!

Jack is such a big boy and does so well feeding himself. He doesn't make too much of a mess. He likes eating so he isn't interested in playing with his food. He really likes cheese and cucumber. Yummy and healthy! So far he hasn't disliked anything we've given him to try. I hope this means he won't be a picky eater. I tried to eat a variety of foods while pregnant so he would get the tastes in utero.

Of course, with all these new foods Jack needs to brush his teeth. He has two toothbrushes and two infant gummies. I don't use the gummies too much, but I did when he was a newborn. I wasn't sure if I had to scrape out his mouth back then or not. I gave him one toothbrush to use for now. I got him his own toothbrush cover to keep it sanitary. I hand it to him and he brushes his own teeth. What a big and helpful boy! Momma and DaDa have a history of bad teeth (even though we brush, floss, and use mouthwash daily) so we want to encourage good dental hygiene with Jack. 

 Big boy foods means big boy poops! His poops no longer stick to his diapers! I haven't experienced this with other babies so maybe Jack just has good fiber in his diet? It's so strange. He poops more often than he used to (3-4 times a day!) and man does it smell! At least when I change him the poop just comes off the diaper and I can flush it. That means I don't have to spray the diapers as often before I put them in the wash. 

Jack has also been liking juice more. I keep a sippy cup of diluted baby juice out whenever Jack is playing. I let him drink from it whenever he wants so he can get used to drinking from the cup. If he's been playing for a long time then instead of nursing him I'll let him drink from the cup to stay hydrated. He's getting the hang of the cup and seems to enjoy the different flavor. 

Jack has been getting much more steady on his feet! He was playing with his cousin and his cousin let go of his hands and Jack just stood there for 10+ seconds! I saw him but couldn't believe he was just standing there on his own! What a strong boy. I wasn't quick enough to take a picture as I was across the room. I did take this picture though. I was sitting in front of him so you can't see his feet unfortunately. But he's getting better balance!

 This week, with the help of DaDa, I also lowered Jack's crib. Yup, I posted that I needed to do this back in November! As Jack didn't stay in his crib at night I figured I could hold off. Now that we have lowered it to it's lowest setting Jack can stand up against the side but can't crawl or fall out. I have been putting him in his crib at night, but he still hasn't stayed there the entire night. This week I may sleep in a different room to let him try to cry it out at night. At his 9 month appointment this morning the Dr. said that Jack doesn't need to eat overnight (which I knew) and that he is old enough to go back to sleep on his own. She said that I should try letting him self soothe for 3 nights and then evaluate how he's doing. I don't think he'd calm down if he saw me about 2 feet away in my bed. So maybe Momma sleeping upstairs is in order. With my trusty video monitor I can keep track of him. Sigh.

I also moved his jumperoo up two notches! He's getting taller! He can still jump jump jump. There are two more levels on the jumperoo. I hope he doesn't get too much taller too quickly! It's nice being able to put him in the jumperoo when I want to be hands free for a bit. He is more content in there than the play yard most of the time. He'll play in the play yard with toys, but after a little while he wants me to come in and play with him.

We were so glad to have the whole week with DaDa! Christmas Exodus is such a nice time for military families. DaDa went back to Fort Benning yesterday and we'll see him in about seven weeks for graduation!

DaDa helped give Jack baths. Jack is so much fun in the bath now that he splashes and plays with toys. We graduated him out of his baby bath tub to the regular bath tub! He can crawl in there without slipping and can stand up against the edge too, though I don't encourage this. We bought him a new turtle toy for the bath. I was doing some shopping and DaDa came up to me at the register with a toy Jack had "picked out" himself! 

After bath time is story time. DaDa reads really good stories. Jack loves looking at brightly colored pictures. He really likes animal stories. Momma often makes all the animal noises and Jack thinks that is just so funny! 

Yesterday when we took DaDa to the airport they were able to change his flight from leaving at 9 am to leaving at 12 pm! So we got 3 extra hours with DaDa! Momma and Jack were planning to go straight to church after dropping off DaDa, but we came home and played some more instead. DaDa and Jack played with Jack's Megabloks. DaDa was a little upset that Momma didn't get baby Duplos. But when I went to the store (I went to about three stores!) the only duplos were the girl kits with purple and pink. I figured the boy colors were better. 

The three extra hours were up all too soon and it was time to take DaDa to the airport for real. It was very sad. DaDa gave Jack lots of hugs and then gave Momma hugs too. I feel like the extra time made me more sad at the actual goodbye. In the morning I was waking up early, getting ready, getting the baby ready and all worked up. After spending time with Matt I felt much more sad. 

Jack has also begun grinding his teeth! Already! Momma grinds her teeth something horrible! Just when she sleeps though, Jack does it when he sleeps and when he is awake! Bummer. 

It's so interesting what traits kids inherit from their parents.