holy nine months!

Aldon is NINE MONTHS OLD! Can you believe it?? I can't. He's been out of me as long as he was in...  that's crazy. It seemed like I was pregnant for years, yet the time with him has flown by. So here's an update on his favorite things to do now that he's such a mature young man:

• He recently learned to crawl; but it's more of a kickstand scoot. Either way, boy is fast and gets into EVERYTHING. 
• He loves giving kisses! And they're big, sloppy baby kisses :) However, if you stop and he's not done kissing, he'll grab your face and make you obey. Go-getter? 
• Clapping and waving are still favorites of his, too.
• He has 5 baby teeth, with which he loves to eat pears, cut up green beans, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, baby Mum Mums, puffs, strawberries, and, of course, the foam tiles of his play mat. 
• Speaking of play mat, his favorite activity lately is to take apart every tile and the edge of said play mat and scatter the pieces. Keep in mind that each tile is also a puzzle of about eight pieces... I have foam everywhere.
• He thinks he is so stinkin' funny, too. He does random things (throws a toy, looks at Keegan and I in a goofy way, makes a silly noise...) and then hysterically laughs at himself like he's the best comedian ever. And he is. 
• He ALMOST says mama!! I so excite:) It comes out kinda like 'muba' or 'mumba' some days, but it's getting there.
• He stands on his own for a few seconds at a time, and has taken one or two accidental steps without realizing it. It scares the daylights out of me that he might be walking soon.
• Like all babies, he absolutely LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He'll take it a step further and crawl out of the room, look back and you, you say peek-a-boo, and he just about dies laughing. I'm sure if you just said the word without actually hiding he would probably get a kick out of it... 
• He has such an independent streak now- no matter what we're doing he wants to be in charge. He has to hold his own spoon when he eats, and hold his diaper and wipes when he gets changed, he never wants to be sitting or held for too long- he must be standing or trying to walk, and car seats? Biggest workout of my life- trying to wrestle him into his carseat and buckle the five points of the harness (darn you safety?) in 100+ degree weather... I swear it's tougher than Bikram Yoga. 

Everything seems to be going completely perfect, but I got some less than perfect news at his doctor's appointment on Friday. He's always been small for his age, but he dropped about 20 percentiles in the weight category. He just isn't gaining weight anymore like he should be. Which floors me because he eats three 'solid' meals a day plus I'm still breastfeeding him about 4-6 times a day. We're on strict orders with the doctor and have to go back to have his weight monitored. Needless to say, it's put me in a mood and I don't wanna deal with anything other than making my baby better. Life can just go away for the moment, please. Just gotta stay positive and fatten that babe up, I suppose!