9 months old

Ryder is 9 months old!  What a whirlwind this past month has been.  This boy is on the MOVE.  Ryder began crawling towards the beginning of March, and although the first day he tried it he was hesitant and needing lots of practice, by day 2 it was like he had been doing it for years!  He is EVERYWHERE! And within the last week he has started pulling himself up to a standing position off of anything he can.  The last few weeks have also been a little bit trying now that Ryder is finally sprouting a tooth!  Yup, just one tooth so far...on the bottom left.  This tooth has caused him and me some sleepless nights.  Ryder has always been really good about sleeping all night, but with this tooth he woke up several times throughout the night for several nights.  The only way to calm him was to go back to sleep on the couch with him.  Anytime I am on the couch with Ryder, I do not sleep well because I don't want him to go rolling off so I worry!  We have also been dealing with a runny nose and cough...all thought to be tooth related.  A little over a week ago, Lance had to take Ryder to the doctor because of a fever.  This was the first time Ryder has ever had fever.  I was worried all day at work of course, but the doctor couldn't really find anything wrong.  He said he thought it was mostly due to teething and possibly a small viral infection.  I do feel really lucky that Ryder still has not had a bad sickness yet. (*knock on wood*)
I feel like I say this every month, but this is the most fun Ryder has ever been.  He gets so excited to see us and reaches out for us.  He loves hugging and cuddling.  He is so sweet.  And finally, just the other day, he said "mama!"  Of course it comes out as "mamamamamamamamama" so I don't know if he's just found some new babble words or if he knows I am mama.  I will go ahead and just assume the second.  Here are the things/information about Ryder:
-He crawls everywhere
-He pulls up on anything he possibly can
-Still in size 3 diapers
-Not liking taking his bottles as much anymore.  The later we go in the day, the harder it is to make him eat a bottle. He does best if he's sitting up
-He still has no desire to hold his bottle!
-I am trying to get him to use sippy cups...sometimes he will make an effort to hold one, sometimes he won't
-He has started eating Mum Mums (loves them!) and the little Gerber Graduates snack things that dissolve...he is starting to like those more
-I've tried giving him fruit through the mesh feeder, but he didn't like that so much.  I will try again soon.
-He eats about a half a jar of fruit with 2 tbsp of cereal for breakfast with 8 oz of formula about 8 or 8:30, up to a full jar of a fruit and veggie with 6 oz of formula for lunch at about 11:30, 8 oz of formula at about 3:30, a jar of veggies and a 1/2 cup of cereal at dinner and drinks 4-6 oz of formula, then we are lucky if he will eat 5 oz of formula before bed.
-sleeping until about 8!!  Sometimes 8:30 and today he even slept until 9!  I love this...I hope he sleeps until 9 all summer
-Interacts with the dogs more.  He loves putting his finger in front of them so they will give it kisses.  He thinks it's so funny
-Weighed 23 lbs at the doctor when he was not feeling well (March 22) I believe
-Is so difficult to keep on his back to dress him or do a diaper change.  We usually have to give him something to play with so that he will stay on his back
-wearing size 4 shoes
-wearing 12-18 month clothes
-Still loves baths and has learned how to splash the water
-Loves to playfully scream
-Has been to the church nursery a few times and doesn't really seem to like it.  This makes it hard for me to focus in church because I constantly worry that he thinks we have abandoned him. 
-He is really fighting naps!  I tried the whole "crying it out" for naptime during spring break, and it didn't go very well.  Long story short....he won and no longer cries it out.  I fall into the bad habits and rock him to sleep.

Ryder had his 9 month doctor visit, and everything went great!  He weighs 23 pounds, 1.49 ounces which is in the 75 percentile for weight and is 32" tall which is off the charts for height!