Jude is 9 Months Old!

My baby boy has now been outside of the womb for as long as he was in! The past 9 months have just FLOWN by, and Jude is changing so quickly! He learns something new everyday, and he is just so so cute and fun!

-Jude is still a great nurser. He nurses about 4 times a day. (We aren't on a strict schedule, so some days he might eat an extra time.) He eats 3 solid meals a day. He has yogurt or cereal and a fruit for breakfast, and fruits and veggies for lunch/dinner. He isn't real picky, but there are some things that he doesn't like. He hates peas. He is also not a fan of mixed vegetables. He's never met a fruit he didn't like, though :) We tried puffs for the first time this past month, and he isn't so sure about them yet. I don't think he has actually swallowed one yet. Haha! He just doesn't know what to think of that texture! We're going to keep trying and maybe even introduce some table food this month. Ahh, scary (for Mommy)!

-He has been doing much better with his sleeping lately. He had been waking up a couple of times a night, and we would give him his pacifier or I would feed him once. Several weeks ago, we decided that he didn't need to eat at night anymore. He was clearly not hungry when I would feed him, and sometimes it didn't even work to get him to go back to sleep. So, David started going to him when he woke up and just giving him his paci, and Jude would fuss/cry for a very short time and then go back to sleep. He still wakes up some nights fussing, but I don't feed him anymore, and he usually goes back to sleep easily. I do end up feeding him at around 5:30 every morning, and then he'll go back to sleep for several hours. I'm hoping that we can drop that early morning feeding soon though. Jude's naps are SO much better now, too! He takes a great morning nap - usually about 2 hours. His afternoon naps are shorter and less consistent, but that's big sister's fault. Lately she has been in her room talking loudly keeping Jude awake during afternoon naptime :-/ There have been many days lately when I have wished that their rooms weren't right across the hall from each other!

-Jude is SO close to crawling. He spends a ton of time playing on the floor and he gets down on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He can move around on his tummy, too. I think he will definitely be crawling for real this month. I know how much busier life gets when your child is mobile, so I'm really in no hurry! ;-)

-Jude can go from his tummy to a sitting position now. Just the other day, I was telling David that I had looked back on the blog to when Aubrey was 9 months old. I said that she could go from her tummy to sitting when she was this age, and I hoped that Jude wasn't behind. Jude was playing in the floor as I was talking, and literally as those words were coming out of my mouth, he sat right up from his tummy. I told David that Jude heard me talking and wanted to prove that he could keep up with his sister ;-) Haha! He went from his tummy to a sitting position again right after that, and I was so proud of my big boy! (By the way, I try not to compare Aubrey and Jude. I know that they will hit different milestones at different times, and that's ok. However, it's just my nature to worry about whether my children are hitting the milestones that they're "supposed to" when they're "supposed to." Haha! I've actually been a LOT better about not worrying about this with Jude than I was with Aubrey.)

-Jude definitely knows who his mama is, and he prefers me over other people. He is a happy, easy-going boy and is usually fine with pretty much anyone holding him, but sometimes he just wants his mommy :) He gets really excited and kicks and smiles when David comes into the room, too.

-He hates to be left in a room by himself. He is good about playing independently in his exersaucer or on the floor, but someone HAS to be in the room with him or he gets very upset. If I'm running around the house trying to get stuff done, I'll get Aubrey to sit and talk to him, and he is usually pretty happy with that.

-Gone are the days when Aubrey could take a toy away from Jude without him noticing/caring. Now he puts up a fight and gets MAD when you take something away from him. Haha! It's been good for Aubrey to learn that she can't take stuff away from her brother when he is playing with it ;-)

-Jude is a pacifier baby. He does love his pacifier, but I don't think he is as attached to it as Aubrey was to her's. He is not a big fan of taking a bottle. A couple of times this past month, I was gone, and he just refused to take a bottle. But then he will randomly take one with no protest sometimes. He likes to mix things up ;-)

Jude is still just a sweet, happy baby, and we all love having him around :) We could not be more thankful that he is part of our family. Not only do we love Jude dearly, but we also just sincerely enjoy him. He is such a blessing and a delight!

And this is what I got when I asked David to take Jude's 9 month pictures for me :)