9 Months

Carter turned 9 months a few weeks ago. He weighed 22 lbs. 12 oz. (80th percentile) and was 30.25 " tall (95th percentile). He was 90th percentile for weight and 68th percentile for height at his 6 month appointment. His weight-gain is slowing down, but surprisingly he's quite tall. Neither Matt or I are particularly tall, so we'll see if his "tallness" sticks around. We're predicting Caleb to be the baseball player and Carter to be the football player. We'll see.

Some fun things about Carter: He is a very empathetic baby. If another person is crying, in particular Caleb, then his lower lip starts quivering, and he starts crying too. He has 4 teeth, and is a great eater (hence the chubbiness)! He picked up crawling at 8 1/2 months and being able to pull himself up into a standing position. At 9 months he figured out how to crawl up a few stairs. Within the next few days, he could go up the entire staircase. He seems to understand that he has to be very careful about trying to go down the stairs. He's only fallen down once and it was just 3 stairs. Carter's still trying to figure out how to go down on his tummy, but he's been able to do a few stairs so it shouldn't be too far off.

I've given him 2 haircuts now. I've learned that his hair is not like Caleb's, and that I can't cut it as short as I do Caleb's. Because when I do, his hair sticks straight up in the back like in this picture.

If he could have his way, it would be to have me holding his hands and walking him wherever he wants to go all day long. The walker just isn't the same because it doesn't allow him to maneuver as easily.

Carter is a great sleeper at night, but a horrible napper during the day. (Caleb was bad all around, so I guess this is an improvement.) Carter goes to bed between 6:30 and 7pm and wakes up right at 7 am every morning. He's been doing this for the last 3 months, and it has been a sweet schedule! He takes a morning nap for 1 to 1 1/2 hours and an afternoon nap for 1/2 hour. Both of these naps are preceded by anywhere from 15-60 minutes of crying. The crying beforehand wasn't always this lengthy (though it's always been there). Ever since he learned to pull himself up to a standing position, he'll just stand in his crib and cry till he's exhausted and finally falls asleep.

If I have mentioned in previous posts that he is a happy baby, I have to modify that statement. He is a happy baby only if I am carrying him or I am walking him around the house. Otherwise he's pretty cranky all day. This may have something to do with not getting enough sleep in during the day, but I'm at a loss as to how to fix that.

Despite that it's frustrating at times that Carter will only go to me and not Matt (very seldomly), I love that Carter loves me so much. He's always so excited to see me, and he's a fun cuddler as well. With Caleb preferring his Daddy over me anytime, it's nice that I have someone who I can snuggle with.


Carter does pretty well in preschool. The kids ignore him for the most part, but they can also be really cute with him. Carter crawled up to one of my students and then...

gave her some love :o)

It's been so fun to see him learn and grow. I can't believe he's approaching the year mark already! We all love having him as part of the family. I especially love watching him and Caleb play together. It takes a lot of patience on Caleb's end, because Carter is usually destroying anything that Caleb is building. Caleb's really sweet to him though.