Lincoln: 9 Months

Nine months old. Doesn't that seem so much older than 8 months? Just me? Regardless, this has been a big month for Lincoln. He is officially mobile and is T-R-O-U-B-L-E. He is the reason that people baby proof. He is a danger to himself, because he is absolutely fearless and is into everything, all of the time. Overnight, he has discovered the stairs, all of our furniture which is perfect for climbing on, every scrap that the vacuum missed, and of course, the dreaded electrical outlets. His big brother honestly never even noticed the outlets, but you best believe Lincoln has already been caught trying to stick his fingers into the holes or chew on lamp cords. Despite being a complete and utter wild man, he is also the sweetest, happiest little guy. He is so much fun, and is determined to do all of the 'big kid' things that he can!

Age: 9 months
Height: 31 inches or so. Still sitting at the 100th percentile.
Weight: 24.5 pounds. 98th percentile. He is still up there, but already seems to be leaning out a bit. He may be big and sturdy, but there really aren't many rolls on him!
Milestones: This month has been HUGE for this guy! He started crawling mid-January, and since then has probably given me a hundred gray hairs. He started pulling himself to standing within days of crawling. He also has started cruising furniture a bit, and can climb the stairs. He can make it up our entire story-and-a-half staircase, and often is a few stairs deep before we even realize what he is doing. Needless to say, the baby gate has made its return. He babbles all of the time, and is just an absolute blast to have around, even when he is giving us panic attacks!

We also switched him over to a convertible carseat, because he is so tall we really had no choice. He was at the maximum height limit, so while it was the last thing I wanted to do during the darkest and coldest month of the year, he seems to be tolerating his new seat. He was pretty unsure at first, but seems to be enjoying having more of a view now!
Sleep: He is still sleeping through the night pretty consistently. He occasionally will wake up around 10-11pm, usually on nights where he fell asleep early or didn't eat enough before bedtime. Often giving him his nuk will put him back to sleep, and very rarely I will give in and nurse him as long as it is before midnight. He is, however, waking up by 5am most days, which has this mama feeling pretty tired. Both he and his big brother are almost always both awake by 5:30am, so we get lots of morning time in before the work day begins!

Best Moments: Watching him crawl really has been a lot of fun, even though he is getting into SO much trouble.
Worst Moments: He escaped our sight, made a dash for the stairs, and fell down a few the other day. Not fun at all! He got some sort of gash/wound on his upper lip, and a scratch on his head, but nothing major. That is what really prompted the return of the baby gates! He also loves to climb under and through things, so often gets stuck underneath the kitchen table, and he manages to wedge himself under and into our end table, which usually results in him getting pretty scared. This kid, I tell ya.
Eating: All solid food, all of the time. I have started keeping as many fruits and veggies on hand as possible, to make sure he is getting a good variety. He loves blueberries, string cheese, PIZZA, rice and noodle casseroles, and of course, anything sweet. He about loses his mind whenever he sees the container of puffs come out of the pantry. Really, he will eat absolutely anything. The greatest tragedies in his life occur when someone has food and doesn't give him any.

He is still nursing, and receiving bottles of pumped milk when I am at work. Since starting solids, he seems to be taking in less milk, which is totally normal. He nurses right away in the morning, gets a few bottles throughout the day, and gets one final nursing session before going to bed. We have quite a bit of milk stored, so I am thinking I will be cutting out my pumps at work in the next 1-2 weeks!
Teeth: Still just those bottom two. It has been a few months, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see the top two soon, but from what I can tell they aren't there yet!
Likes: Any and all food, climbing the stairs, climbing under things, picking up and eating everything he finds on the floor, getting thrown in the air, taking baths and splashing in the water, his pacifier, watching football (seriously!), laughing at his big brother, and using the end table as a jungle gym.
Dislikes: The most ironic dislike of Mr. Lincoln is his hatred of being taken OUT of the bath. If you go back and read his first 6 months or so of updates, you will notice he despised taking baths. He would scream bloody murder, and I truly dreaded bath night because he (and everyone else) were so miserable throughout the process. Now, he and Jackson often take their bath together, and when it is time to get out Lincoln comes out first. And he screams and throws a fit! I guess we just will always see tears during bathtime one way or another ;-) He also doesn't like being pushed by his brother, not getting fed fast enough, and when mom walks by without holding him. He also hates the baby gate. This week he sat at the bottom of the stairs and cried because he wanted to climb and couldn't figure it out!

He is giving us a run for our money, but life is so much more fun and entertaining with Lincoln in it! I continue to be amazed by how independent and determined he is. I love watching him become his own little person, with what is definitely a mind of his own! I wouldn't mind if this next month was slowed down just a bit, but knowing this baby boy, I have a feeling we won't be slowing down anytime soon! We love you so much, Mr. Lincoln!