A Slice of Bryce (#18): Nine Months!!!

Whew! Bryce's ninth month was a busy one in the Herman house. Some for the good, some for the bad. But it's hard to believe it's over and my baby has begun his first 2-digit month...

First, I'll share with you his stats from his 9-month check-up:

Height: 29 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 21 pounds, 1 ounce (65th percentile)
Head Circumference: 46 centimeters (75th percentile)

I know, I know, your chin is probably on the ground. Mine was, too, after hearing that B had dropped from the 90th percentile in weight to the 65th! Our boy is slimming down now that he's on the move, it appears. Although it might have something to do with the fact that he spent all of last week throwing up due to RSV...

Anyway, for comparison's sake, here are Ivie and Macie's measurements at 9 months:

Ivie
Height: 28 1/8 inches
Weight: 18 pounds, 8 ounces
Head Circumference: 44 centimeters

Macie
Height: 27 3/4 inches
Weight: 19 pounds, 6 ounces
Head Circumference: 45 3/4 centimeters

So Bryce has them both by, on average, 1 inch and 2 pounds. Wow. Isn't it interesting the difference between boys and girls, even as babies? It's no wonder I feel like my arm is going to fall off when I hold B for very long. At least it can't ALL be blamed on the fact that the last time I formally lifted weights was the day before my wedding...

Alright, here are a few other memories from Bryce's 9th month:

1. I mentioned RSV above. He had quite a case (involving a 6-day fever, lack of appetite, throwing up, and very raspy breathing), and is still recovering from the double ear infection that came along with it. We (including our washing machine) will all be glad when the diarrhea from the medicine disappears. And I'm hopeful that the last-14-day trend of him waking up to eat once each night goes away shortly, too...

2. The army crawl is slowly turning into a "real" crawl, as Bryce is getting better at holding is belly in the air as he moves along. The crawl is still pretty slow, which I love! He also learned, in the past week or so, how to sit himself back up after crawling. Ahhhhh, it sure is nice to not have to pick him up every time he gets tired of being on his belly!

3. Though he's still working on pulling himself into a standing position, we moved his crib mattress to the lowest position this month, lest he learn how to do it in the middle of the night and decide to lean over his crib rail and try to fly. (Ouch.)

4. Once he's standing, though, he will take baby (literally!) steps while holding onto furniture. This, too, is very slow, and he's got a lot of work to do to perfect it. He also needs to learn how to sit himself back down gracefully. Currently, he just plops down and, more often than not, ends up hurting his bottom and crying.

5. Food. He's still pounding baby food and breastmilk like it's his job, but we've also transitioned into giving him some table food and water from a sippy cup. So far, he's tried chicken nuggets, french fries, pancakes, scrambled eggs, peas, and, of course, more than a 9-month old's fair share of frozen yogurt. So far, he doesn't seem to care whether it's Sweet Frog or Moonberries. That reminds me, though. I have GOT to get a picture of the face that he makes when I first put the yogurt in his mouth. It's soooo cold, and I think it shocks his senses, causing him to break into the most hilarious little scowl. But he's very soon thereafter licking his lips and "asking" for more! Definitely a child of mine...

6. Lastly, as the pictures below will show, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to get Bryce to sit still. He's always wanting to be on the move. So some of the pictures show this "activity".