9 Months

This is terribly late. Oh well.  Here's my recap of month 8.
The biggest milestone of our little family's life happened at 8.5 months.... sleeping through the night!  Glorious sleep.  Maybe that's why I'm late in blogging.  I'm too busy enjoying all this sleep!  I pretty much happened on it's own.  First it was every few nights.  Then all of a sudden, each night he just slept and I didn't hear from him until 6 the next morning.  I am a true believer in the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  I've bought several copies... ready to handout to my favorite people when they become preggos!  Our strategy was nothing all my advise-givers gave.  It had nothing to do with solid foods, or filling his belly full before bed, there was no crying-it-out.  I simply learned typical sleep patterns of healthy babies his age and followed the tips to capitalize on Holden's natural sleep rhythms.  But I do have the follow the rules.  I can't let him get over-tired, I need to allow him ample time and place to take his naps, I have to be consistent.  This translates into- make sure we are home to allow him to sleep when he needs too, don't do shopping trips of over 2 hours, keep to the schedule as often as I can.  The result- I have a super happy baby.  The only time he is fussy is on the rare occasion that we have to be somewhere and skip a nap.  This is only for extreme circumstances such as doctor appointments.  I really am a stickler about it.  I protect his sleep cycle.
Anyways- he is developing his motor skills pretty well on track.  He seems to be a couple weeks later than the average age given in handouts. 
Here's what he's up to these days: crawling... well, Holden style.  He is more efficient at army crawling.  But he will crawl on his hands and knees.  He prefers to extend his left leg when doing it.
Food- He's started feeding himself.  Developing a pincer grasp has been fun and he likes to eat Organic Sweet Potatoe Puffs.  He's eating sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears, blueberries, green beans and peas and oatmeal.
Weight- He weighs 18 lbs and 1 oz at his 9 month check up.  And 28 3/4 inches.  So that puts him at 12% for weight and 70% for height.  And completely perfect in my books!
Sleep- He goes to bed at 6:30- 7:00 pm and wakes usually around 6am.  He takes three naps: 8 am and Noon for usually 1.5 hours each.  Then a shorter one around 4pm lasting 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Clothes- He's wearing his 6-9 month clothes.  The little things are just because of the lovely long torse he got from mom and dad!
Talk- he babbles a lot.  He also likes to force air out his nose.  Some of the videos demonstrate that!
Health- The pediatrician said she could still hear a heart murmur.  We go back to the cardiologists in May sometime.  But he is not showing signs of struggling.  He's a champ!  He's also not been sick yet.  I'm nervous writing that.  I'm so scared for the first time.  We've gotten a few more vaccines. But we are still behind, and I'm happy to be.  Each time he's gotten two-four vaccines and hasn't had any of the temp, crankiness, etc later.

Eating an Apple

Taking a bath and being very loud!

Cause and Effect

Tight spaces!

Pincer Grasp

Holden and the Dishwasher

Eating