9 and 10 Months

Oh, Wessy Wes. My chubby, 9 month old bundle of joy. It is so much fun watching him grow. Everyone in public comments on how fat big he is and he just grins in response. He sits up independently and is just starting to crawl. Little Wes loves singing songs and is pretty easy to make laugh. He is developing some serious sass and gets angry if you take something away from him or he doesn't get his way. I think he's learning that you've got to stick up for yourself when you're the little brother. This baby also loves to read, which is SO nice. Owen was never that interested (until at least 18 months) and I always felt like it was my fault for not reading to him enough.

He has six teeth, four on top and two on bottom. He needs them because he loves to eat. He's still obsessed with nursing but will take any solids he can get his chubby little hands on. He has no interest in being spoon fed, he wants to put things in his mouth himself, so I've started cutting up little pieces of whatever Owen and I are eating and letting him have at it. If Wes is eating something that Owen doesn't have, Owen automatically wants it and gobbles it up, so I've also been taking the opportunity to expand Owen's culinary horizon. Owen wasn't previously a big fan of avocado, now he loves it. Bam. Weston has had all the fruits and veggies, eggs, dairy, peanut and almond butter. Now I just have to remember to give him three meals a day. He is a messy eater, no matter what I serve him it ends up all over his clothes, the floor and the highchair. I feed him, he eats two or three bites, and I clean up for 15 minutes.

After 8 months of being an angel when it came to sleep, the 9 month sleep regression hit and restful nights are no longer a thing in the Rallo household. The previous routine was for him to go to bed around 6 and wake up around 2 to nurse. I  would nurse him in bed with me and we would both go to back to sleep. It worked like a dream because I didn't really have to wake up. But now having Wes in bed with me is keeping both of us awake. He tosses and turns and wants to nurse every 30 minutes. The problem is I can't make myself stay awake while I nurse him to put him back in the pack n play. I am strategizing how to teach him to sleep through the night but haven't yet taken the plunge. The kid is in the 87th percentile, I know he won't starve if he goes through the night without milk. He still sleeps in our room because we haven't figured out a way to make him and Owen sharing a room work (and unfortunately I don't anticipate finding one anytime soon).

Wes had two wub-a-nub binkis, an elelphant and a duck. Owen was obsessed with both of them. I lost the elephant and then a few days later Wes and I were running errands and the duck didn't make it home. There was no way we could bring another new binki into the house without fueling Owen's addiction, so that was it for Weston and his binki. It took him roughly two days it get over it. Now he uses his blankie for comfort and I am super glad we won't have endure taking it away from him at three.

Owen is going to preschool so now Thursday mornings are mommy and Weston time. We are both throughly enjoying it. The end of the true baby stage is rapidly approaching already so I am doing my best to savor the time my sweet little man.