Hello Crew: 9 months old

Age:

9 months old! 

Stats:

on 12/7/15, at 9 1/2 months he is.. 

28.5 inches long

and 18.5 pounds

Favorites:

• Loves standing more than sitting. He is always pulling up on things. 
• Loves the FaceTime ring and seeing himself in the phone. He always gets so happy and smily.
• Loves climbing all over me and pulling at anything I have, like my hair, hand, glasses, you name it. If I have something in my hand that he wants he does anything to get it. He pulls and pulls and reaches and reaches. 

Least Favorites:

• Hates being separated from mom. It's adorable and yet so exhausting. Is that bad to say? we are working through major separation anxiety.. and when you have been with someone all the time for your whole life and then they try to leave for a little while, I can see why that would be terrifying. 
• Doesn't like when you walk away from him.. he gets mad and usually crawls after you. If he is distracted with something else he is fine but if not he is like a little shadow. 

Sleep:

Exhausting. You would think three times the charm for sleep training but it doesn't seem to be so. We are taking a different approach now and we will see how it goes. wish us lots and lots of luck because apparently we need it. 

He stands up in his crib now. Luckily he doesn't do it too much at night but it was a shocker when he first did it. 

Eat:

• He is a snacker. Always hungry. always wanting to eat. never really eats enough that he is satisfied for long periods of time. Does great eating baby food for about five minutes and then he is over it and wants to get down. Still no bottle or sippy cup. Which makes me wonder what will happen when nursing ends..maybe by then we will just go straight to a cup. HA 
• He has gotten really good at picking things up with his pointer finger and thumb. So good that if any little thing is on the ground it goes straight to his mouth. and half the time I can't even see it when I am standing so it makes that fun. I have gotten better at keeping the floors extra clean...kinda.
• Gets really mad when we have food and we don't give him any. He starts making noise indicating that he wants some. 

Play:

He is officially, official crawling. He even knows to duck his head to get under something. 

Always on the move. finding new things.

He loves watching other kids. They are fascinating to him. I think we just need to make friends so that he has other kids to play with. 

We went to a Christmas fair with my sister Kjerstin and her daughter Haizlee. They were loving Crew and Crew loved playing with them. 

During Crew's 9 months...

He took his first trip to Kansas. It was quite the adventure getting out there. We had a connecting flight going through Dallas and the same weekend there was a hurricane going through Texas. The night before we were supposed to leave I got a call at 3:30am saying that the flight was cancelled and I am rescheduled to fly out on Sunday morning instead. I woke up to feed Crew so I ended up waking Andrew up and saying we weren't going to be able to go in the morning (He was headed to Idaho so after he dropped me off he was going to go straight there). I also texted my parents and told them the flight was cancelled. The problem with it changing a whole day is that I was going specifically that day to go to the ward Halloween party and then the next day was Nathan's Allegro concert. A few hours later I wake up to my parents calling saying they may have found a new flight. Although this one would only give me 29 minutes in my layover, now in Denver. So it was either take this flight and potentially miss my connecting flight and get stuck in Denver for the night or wait until Sunday to get to Kansas. I decided to take the risk and schedule the new flight. The other crazy thing is that when I got the confirmation it said the actual flight cost $5 and then there was $30 in fees...they were REALLY cheap flights.. cheapest we have ever seen. 

Crew got his own seat on one of the flights home. SO NICE! 

After we made the decision to go we had to rush out the door so that I could get to the airport in time. However once through security I learned that the fight was delayed a little, so I had plenty of time. Crew was doing great through all of this. He loves people watching. We left about 30 mins late and got to Denver right when my other flight was supposed to be leaving. I had to wait for the stroller and carseat so I was sure I had missed the connecting flight. I quickly speed walked to the gate. The gate was closed and it was completely empty except for two people working on the computer. I asked if there was any way the flight to Kansas was still there. They said well the gate is closed but we are still trying to get the paper work to go through so we will let you board!!! 

I was shaking at this point from the adrenaline. And kept saying thank you, thank you, you are amazing. I was shocked. They never open the door once it has been closed and they did for me!! 

I was really amazed that I had made it to Kansas at the time I planned. It was a miracle!

The week was awesome. I loved going to Nathan's concert. I was in Allegro all through high school and this was the first time I was able to sit in the audience and watch/listen. It was beautiful. I love music and am so glad it has been a large part of my life. 

Crew and I loved hanging out with my mom and dad and brothers, Nathan and Aaron. We had a fun time relaxing, shopping, and eating really good food that I miss and have to have every time I go home. It was nice having just hang out time with my family. Nothing really planned but just seeing how everyday went.

We were there while the Royals played in the World Series. It was really fun to watch the games with my family. They were so excited and it was fun to see everyone around town get so excited. I have never seen my mom get so into any sport. It was hilarious. 

It was Crew's first Halloween. Although he had no idea what was going on, he was adorable in all his costumes. He dressed as a skeleton all day and a puppy for the ward Halloween party and then a few pictures Halloween night. He then went to bed early and we passed out candy and watched the Royals game.

My mom, Crew and I went fabric shopping in Lawrence one day. It is such a cute town with some fun fabric stores. We could have spent hours in them if Crew hadn't gotten a little grumpy. We got some great ideas for future projects though. Then we went to lunch at a hamburger place and had the BEST onion rings of our lives. Yes, they were that gooood. and they were huge.. yum. 

Crew loved crawling around the house, chasing chester, and playing with all of grandmas toys. He got so much love, although he was afraid of everyone, especially when mom left the room. He definitely warmed up to everyone though. 

It was a wonderful trip. Luckily the trip home was much less eventful than the trip there. 

It was a busy and fun 9 month. 

We have so much love for this little boy! 

love, alex&andrew