Nine Months

I'm pretty sure that at some point, I said that I make no promises regarding the frequency of my posts. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;o) Anyhow, we just had CJ's nine month checkup...he's happy, healthy, and in the 45th percentile across the board! Compared to his sister, he's a peanut! A lot has happened in the past six weeks or so...

--he's been pulling himself up and walking around furniture, which has resulted in a lot of bruises and goose eggs on his noggin. Couldn't figure out why he was so accident prone but after watching closely the other day, I realized he's trying to stand without holding on to anything. Good grief. He also climbed up on the TV stand (no part of him was touching the ground), and all of my dreams of having a child without a death wish/daredevil tendencies went out the window.

--he started eating--as Ava calls it--"human food." Although we've been doing yogurt puffs and cereal puffs for awhile, I've added bits of bread and muffin (kid went bonkers for my pumpkin muffins), Cheerios, diced cooked apples and carrots, shredded cheese, and banana. He's not big on the majority of new foods, but likes the muffins and Cheerios.

--about two weeks ago, I stopped nursing for good. For a few months, I'd been slowly dropping a feeding at a time. For a long time, I nursed first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and if he woke up at night (not a consistent sleeper, but that's another story)...then, for about two weeks, I was only nursing at night, and then I decided at nine months it was time to let go. As someone who has always been easygoing regarding the feeding of my kids (nurse if possible, for as long as it works, but really as long as the kids were being fed and were healthy, I felt like I was doing the right thing for them), stopping was a lot more difficult than I imagined it would be...maybe because it's our last baby, I don't know. But I've been an emotional mess, on and off. More on that later.

--he is on a consistent eating and sleeping schedule and is a good napper--usually 1.5-2 hours AM and PM--but is inconsistent at night. The majority of the time, he goes down around 8pm and wakes around 6am...I give him a bottle and can get another hour or two of sleep out of him at that point. He will sometimes fuss at night, which has prompted me to shut off the baby monitor and just leave the doors open a bit. If he's not loud enough to wake me that way, he doesn't really need me.

--he loves to laugh and smile and is extremely snuggly, and absolutely adores his sister! I hope that continues, because she enjoys the role of big sister/protector.

Anyhow, all is well, in spite of a current sinus infection for CJ. As far as the "emotional mess" part, it has really hit me the past few weeks that this is our last baby. No more babies. Each stage he goes through is the last one we will experience...in some cases, that's a good thing! ;o) But 6-12 months is absolutely wonderful, and I am really going to miss this when it's over. I will even admit that I've questioned our decision to stop at two kids...but there are just too many things working against us that lead me to believe that even in my emotional moments, two is right for this family. Besides, if I decided to have another kid every time I got a little sad about mine growing up, I'd end up with ten of them, you know? ;o) There are also moments of relief in knowing I won't have to be pregnant again, or get up every two hours with a newborn again, etc. It's all good...what a wonderful gift to be given these two beautiful children. Even if the older one is going to drive me to insanity and/or drinking before she even hits elementary school. Speaking of which...

These days, Ava is Ava...as usual. Tantrums still occur, but have mostly given way to defiance. It is exhausting and not all that uncommon for her age (but she's definitely more strong-willed than most), but in her good moments she is fun, loving, and downright hilarious. She's still not sleeping, and out of necessity I have mostly stopped arguing with her: I offer incentives, but in the end if she comes to our room at night, one of us will retreat to her bed and let her stay with the remaining parent. Whatever...if that makes me a crappy mother, just add that to the ever-growing list of things that make me unfit for raising children. Upon a recent visit to the ENT, we discovered she will need her abnormally large tonsils removed, as that's likely a huge issue when it comes to sleep. Hoping and praying that will do the trick.

As far as Craig and I...he's settled into a new position at his company, which has resulted in further distance for travel but more working from home. Not a bad deal, overall...lest you think that "working from home" means we get more time with him, he barricades himself in his office for at least 9 hours on those days, and we do not see him at all. That's how it has to be, and I'm okay with that. Just having him in the same building is enough. I've finally adjusted to being a stay-at-home parent for the most part, and am not in a rush to get back to work...to be honest, "sleeping in" until 7am and wearing slippers during the day has grown on me. ;o) Having said that, I do look forward to re-entering the work force at some point...we would like for that to happen next year (in time for the 2013-14 school year, when Ava starts kindergarten) so we will see what happens. I miss bringing home the bacon...granted, it was significantly less than Craig, but bacon is bacon, people. I am thoroughly enjoying (most of) this time with my kids: Ava gets a full-time mom for her last few years before school, CJ gets a full-time mom for his first few years of life. Not a bad deal for the kiddos.

Alright, I should probably go to bed...nights are unpredictable, and I need my sleep! Craig has offered to get up with the kids, but there's no point: when he gets up with them, he goes back to bed the minute I'm up and then he naps for 3-4 hours, which is worse than me just getting up in the first place. MEN....! ;o)