9 months

     Some days I wake up and think "Oy, it's going to be a long day" but then I hear the sweetest little babbles on our baby monitor and I remember that I get to spend my day with the cutest, sweetest, most fun baby I know. That cute, sweet, fun baby is now 9 months old! What?!? I remember when A was first born and I would see friends with their 9 month old babies, and I thought it would be forever until mine was that age. Well here it is and it certainly doesn't feel like it was "forever." Rather, it feels like it went by in a blink of an eye. A is constantly changing and so here is his update:



     Baby A has made some major milestones. He took his first steps about a week ago and since then he has gotten better and taken more steps each day. Currently he can take about 6-7 steps until he plops onto his bottom. He gets so frustrated and wants to walk so badly. Not only that, he also has his 3rd tooth coming in! One of his top teeth is trying to make it's appearance! I'm not sure how much fun breastfeeding is going to be after the top teeth come in :/ He has also become a self feeder and feeds himself all of his meals. We still feed him yoghurt and applesauce type foods but that's because I don't want to give him a bath 3 times a day haha He is about 19 lbs and 29 inches long. He is a skinny thing! When we aren't using cloth diapers I still put him in 6 month pants. He is, for now, still taking 2 naps a day but I think that will disappear soon. And thankfully!! (I should add a million exclamations marks) he sleeps from 7:30-7am without getting up. I can honestly say that I have so much more energy these days! He continues to change and impress us each day. Taking photos of him this month proved to be the most difficult task. Not that I normally get amazing photos but I had to sit him in a chair just so he wouldn't move. He has the major wiggles! Here are some photos:

On another note, I've had several people ask how I feed and what I feed A for solids. I'd like to first say that I just do what I think will work and I am NOT, in anyway, an expert of baby feeding.  We were told by his pediatrician that we could start with rice cereal around 4-6 months. For our own reasons we did not start that early nor did we use rice cereal. Instead, we started A on avocado mixed with breastmilk around 5 1/2 months. We started that early because A was having weight loss issues and we were desperate for him to gain weight. Since he had lost the tongue thrust reflex and could sit up fairly independently, we felt comfortable. He LOVED!! the avocado. And avocado is easy to mash up and has a good texture to help with learning to swallow, especially when thinning it out with breastmilk or formula. Actually, it has a very similar texture to rice cereal but way more nutrients. We solely gave him that until he was 6 months. After that we started with other foods. I don't remember exactly what his next food was but I think it was sweet potato. I simply peeled the potato, chopped it up into bits and steamed it. I then mashed it up. By that point A was used to swallowing and so I didn't have to thin it with milk but it can be done. We then ventured onto other vegetables like green peas, carrots, zucchini, squash, peppers, spinach, kale, and etcetera. We did mashed up foods and purées until A was 7 months old. After that point we went for a more baby led feeding approach and also started fruits and meats (salmon, turkey, and chicken) around 7 1/2 months. We mashed his foods roughly or chopped them up and let him play with some while we interjected with a spoon. Then by 8 months we only chopped his food and started with yoghurt. Now by 9 months he feeds himself and enjoys most everything. I don't think there is a wrong way (well within reason) to feed your baby. There are so many opinions on the subject and so just do what works. A happens to be really (no, like, REALLY) into food. He gets so excited when I set his bowl down that he tries to dump the whole bowl into his mouth! No joke! Luckily someone gave us suction cup bowls and they work great! They are munchkin brand, I highly suggest them! So, feed your baby! It's really fun watching them learn about new foods and tastes. I remember when we gave A his first bite of peaches. It wasn't a super sweet peach and his face puckered up like he had eaten a lemon. It was pretty cute! Here are some of his favorite and easy recipes:

 Cinnamon Apple:
 1 red delicious or granny smith apple
Tinfoil
Cinnamon (optional)
** Preheat oven to 400 degrees
     Wrap Apple in tinfoil, place into baking dish, and cook for about 30-40 minutes or until tender
     Using a potato masher, mash apple and pick out seeds and peeling.
      Add in cinnamon, to taste.


Salmon:
Boneless, Skinless Salmon filet
Butter or olive oil
Salt
Pepper (optional)
Other spices (Ex; Cumin, Curry, don't be afraid to use spices!)
** Preheat oven to 400 degrees
     Place Salmon filet into baking dish lined with tinfoil (for easy cleanup!)
     Spray tinfoil with non-stick spray, olive oil.
     Prep salmon with a tablespoon of butter or olive oil
     Season to taste with salt, pepper, other spices.
     Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fish is flaking.


Kale Applesauce (not originally my idea but my recipe)
 This is a large recipe that I canned, it can be scaled back. Just use less apples


 7-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped.
  cinnamon (optional)
  Kale (chopped and steamed)


**Using a slow cooker, place apples into cooker and set on low for 8-10 hours or overnight. (I always do it overnight)
     Chop kale and steam, save for later.
     Combine cooked apples, steamed kale, and cinnamon. VOILA!
      If you want a thinner product then throw into blender in batches.




   Flavorful Black Beans
  1 bag of dried black beans
 1 yellow onion, chopped
  2 cloves pressed garlic
Salt
Pepper
Other spices (cumin, red pepper, ect)


 **Using a slow cooker soak black beans overnight
    After soaked, add in enough water to cover beans. Add chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, other spices. Cook beans on low for 8-10 hours or overnight.

This makes a great self-feeding food! Very messy, I warn you! I have also heard of using a pressure cooker but we don't have one.
 
And there you have it, my super easy, homemade, oh so good for baby, recipes! They really are simple! I consider myself a lazy mom, so everything in my world is simple because otherwise it won't be done! haha We are so fortunate to be this guys parents! He make a us laugh, sometimes cry (a good cry, right?), smile, and look forward to each day! He has an abundance of energy and we are so grateful that we get to watch him grow and be apart of his life!