Andrew Update: 9 months

It's hard to believe our little guy is nearing 1 year old.  It seems like just yesterday we were planning on whether or not to have a third child, and now that third child is 9 months old!  Part of me wishes he wasn't growing so fast, and the other part of me (the part of me dealing with the teething and not knowing what all the fuss is about) can't wait for him to grow a little older.
As far as his daily routine goes.  He is doing wonderful.  He pretty much eats the same amount and at the same time every day (8:30 am, 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 7:30 pm).  When you have to be flexible with a baby, it is nice to have something predictable in life.  Now I definitely feel more comfortable going out in the evening with friends, since I know when his last feeding will be and when he'll go to sleep.  However, although he eats on a pretty regular basis, he isn't the best eater.  He's probably one of the pickiest eaters I've had.  He doesn't like most of the vegetables I've tried, and lets you know by shaking his head "no" and persing his lips shut.  I guess we'll just keep trying.

I have started to wean him off of nursing too.  I have kind of always had a love/hate relationship with nursing.  Nursing never went well with my girls.  I had infection after infection, and the process was mostly just painful.  The only reason I went as long as I did, was to save money.  But with Andrew, nursing has gone fairly smoothly (maybe it's a boy thing?).  I had periods of low milk supply, but I have just learned to suppliment.  But now that he is beginning to bite, and rips pulls off the bo*ob whenever he gets distracted (which is quite often), I think I am ready to start weaning him off.  The only problem is, I'm not so sure he's ready.  I thought he was ready, since it seemed to take him close to an hour now to nurse and that he seemed disinterested.  But now that I'm trying, his cues (ummm...turning his head in an obvious direction) tell me otherwise.  I guess we'll just take it slow and see how it goes. 

As far as Andrew's personality goes, he still seems to be a bit of a Momma's Boy.  Along with still being fussy in the evenings, he's also taken up the separation anxiety thing.  He will go to very few people, but if he does go to someone, he is very affectionate with them.  He has such a loveable, cuddly personality.  And the girls love this about him.  Katie has gotten much better about giving him space, but now Kyra seems to be giving him more kisses then ever.  I think his cheeks just have pinch me written all over them.  He has started to babble a little bit too...saying dadada, but in general he's just content to sit quietly and watch his surroundings. 

His favorite toy seems to be the Johnny Jumper.  This kid really gets going.  He jumps quite high, and reaches the door jams within seconds.  He still hasn't rolled on his belly yet, so who knows if he'll ever crawl.  But at the moment, I'm fine with that.  It's kind of nice that I can prolong the childproofing for just a little bit longer.  When I do put him on his belly, he rolls instantly back to his back.  I think he's going to just start scaling furniture throughout the house.  His legs are like tree stumps.  I mean this kid has some muscle.  Yes, our little boy is growing up fast.  Although I am easily frustrated by the bouts of fussiness.  The games of peekaboo, and "so big" are very rewarding.