9 Months

January is nearly gone, and since I was at Riley all this month February could not come fast enough. If nothing else, Riley reminded me everyday not to appreciate JJ and not take him for granted because taking care of him could be MUCH more difficult. It's interesting to think about my approach to kids now compared to when I was there 2 years ago. I'm more comfortable dealing with the kids, but having a boy to compare the patients with really helps when discussing milestones, development, and weird stuff normal kids do. I cannot count the number of times I told a mom, "that's nothing... my son did that." I wouldn't say that I hated my time at Riley, but I don't see me looking back fondly 5 years from now either.

Since I had a rough schedule at work, Sara had an equally rough month at home. She not only took care of JJ by herself for the vast majority of the month, but added in training for the Mini-marathon. I have been impressed with her dedication. She only missed one training day this month and that was because it snowed like 3 inches the night before and was like 2 degrees out.

Now that JJ is approaching the big 01, his milestones are falling almost daily. He has mastered going from crawling to standing while holding onto the couch. Most days we don't even need to get all of his toys out because he just plays with the couch pillows and coasters over and over - and of course his socks which spend more time in his mouth than on his feet.

In addition to all his achievements, JJ has also picked up a couple bad habits - most notably biting. Wasn't a problem when he was all gums, but now that he has almost 4 teeth he can really do some damage. The other night we were playing on the couch and he leaned over and bit me on the arm. I told him "No, you don't do that" in a fairly stern voice and he immediately made a face as if he were going to cry. It was so funny I started laughing hysterically - of course that lesson didn't set in so he bit me again. Another warning resulted in more crying and a few tears - hopefully that one stuck because I hid my laughing behind a pillow.

JJ had his 9mo checkup on Friday and sounds like all went well. He is now 21.3 lbs (65%), 30in (95%), and his head circumference was in the 99th percentile. The first two could be misleading, but with a head measurement like that there is no chance he isn't my kid. No shots this time - saving those for his 12mo visit.

February will again keep us busy, but we're that much closer to our April trip to Hawaii and June trip to Mexico. It'll be tough to leave JJ here, but I just look at it as there's at least two weeks where no one will bite my arm!

Till next time...

PS. My Super Bowl pick is Green Bay by 6. Go Packers!