Made in Richmond

Dear JR,

Today you are 9 months old. I think that’s a big deal for a lot of mothers because you’re quickly approaching the status of “more time out than in.”

The biggest change this month has to do with nursing. At this point, you only nurse in the morning and at night. The rest of the day you get bottles. You’ve done beautifully with this transition, and I’ve had absolutely no problems – both of these are signs that it was the right decision. Next will switch you over to the bottle for your nighttime feeding and just keep the morning one as long as you’ll take it. It’s my favorite time with you, and it seems you feel the same way.

I must say, I was a little sad when the time came to make this change. But you’re growing up, and the simple act of giving yourself a bottle (or in some cases a cup) of milk makes you so very happy. Look:

You’re also branching out in terms of food. Today I heated up some edamame and gave you the beans. You LOVE munching on them, smiling and laughing the whole time. When I put you to bed a while later I noticed you chewing on something. I reached into your mouth and what did I find? A bean. That had been sitting in your mouth for two entire hours during which you both nursed and had a few ounces of formula. It was like you were saving it for later.

No crawling yet, but you’re getting better at turning yourself around when you’re on your bottom. You’re also rolling to whatever it is that you want on the floor. Tonight you even hurled yourself forward just to face plant in efforts to grab one of your toys. Luckily you didn’t seem to mind. I expect the crawling to happen in the next couple weeks. It seems that you’re just on the later end of the spectrum when it comes to the gross motor skills. Your fine motor skills are quite impressive though. You’re able to point at and touch very small things (like screws on hinges and tiny buttons on people’s shirts) without any trouble. Your verbal skills are also developing really quickly, with lots of “buhs” when we say “buttons” and “puh” when we say “push” and “tiiiii” when we say “tick tock.”

Oh, little man, what can I say? You get better and more wonderful every day. You’re healthy and you seem happy. That’s all we can ask for.

Love,

Mama