9 Months of Asher...And Counting...

So today is Ash's 9 month birthday so I thought I would do the run down for you all. I got a couple of extra things to add at the bottom but here's the boys stuff first.

Nicknames: Ash, Bubby, The Boy, Buddy.

Weight & Height: Last Friday Carrie took Ash to boob group to weigh him and he came in at 21 lbs 14 oz. As far as height goes we will find out on Friday when we see Dr. Neuman for his 9 month well baby visit.

Hair: He is still getting his hair and it remains the same color. He's just getting more of it and he likes it styled in a Mohawk. I kid you not!

Favorite Foods: Since last time we have introduced some new foods and he has discovered that he really enjoys Cheese and Baked Potatoes. He wolfs both of them down. The other day I did a test, I put bananas and toast on his high chair table and he very methodically picked out the bananas from the toast. It appears my son is developing his own likes and dislikes, or should I say preferences because he does enjoy toast as well.

Favorite Drink: I would still say that milk is his favorite thing to drink, but he's becoming less reliant on it and focusing more on solid foods. In fact I didn't even give him a bottle on Sunday and he didn't seem to mind. I did give him a little milk in his sippy cup, but he was kind of take it or leave it. He also really enjoys ice water. No other drinks have been introduced at this point and I don't see that happening for a long while. Our goal is to raise a son who makes healthy choices when it comes to food and drink.

Favorite Toys: Godzilla is still pretty popular but the soccer ball is quickly moving up the ladder. What his favorite toys seem to be though, is anything he isn't suppose to have i.e. TV remote, phone, cell phones, dog toys, you know all that stuff that's off limits!

Favorite Stuffed Animal: He just doesn't seem to be much of a stuffed animal fan apart from his bear, which is silky cloth on one side, fuzzy on the other with a bear head in the middle of the cloth that he sleeps with. Other than that we use a stuffed animal to keep him occupied when we are changing clothes or diapers. Maybe as he gets older he will like one better than the other but right now any one that you put in front of him gets equal attention.

Favorite Person: I still think Mommy is number one in his eyes but I do know that I'm a close second.

Bedtime: His bedtime remains the same as last month, we really try and get him down between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. Most of the time we are successful, except of course for the weekends. Carrie doesn't get home until 8:00 pm or after and Ash goes to bed shortly after she gets home.

Wake-Up Time: He continues to get up consistently between 6:00 am and 7:00 am although he has been sleeping in a little later during the week for mom, which makes mom happy!

Naps: His naps are still pretty consistent with what I wrote last time although right now he is getting teeth so his last nap of the day is a real struggle. Here's how it rolled for me last weekend. He got up about 6:15 am with mom and then I took over, we ate breakfast around 8:00 am and I put him down between 8:30 and 9:00. He slept until about 11:00 and then we had lunch around 12:00 pm. I put him back down around 1:30 pm and he slept until about 2:40 pm. He got up we played hard and had a bit of a snack around 3:15 pm then I put him down for his last nap around 4:45 pm. He woke up at about 6:00 pm screaming in pain and crying his poor little eyes out. Then mom got home and it was bedtime at about 9:00 pm. So that's how we roll on the weekends.

What He's Saying: Ba Ba Ba Ba is his latest, which we think he's trying to say Bye Bye, which on a few occasions he has actually said bye bye or something very close to it. He is also doing these screeching sounds when he is excited. Kind of like a velociraptor. He also does his Godzilla impression which is a monster growl, that I encourage regularly to which Carrie rolls her eyes. Agee or gee is still the go to phrase when he is unhappy or unwilling to stay still for a diaper change. All in all you can see his mind working on his vocabulary and he is learning. I think he knows what no means, or at least the tone of voice when it's said.

Latest Accomplishment: Lately the boy has been standing all on his own, now mind you not for very long, but he is giving it the old college try and standing up for a few seconds with out assistance. But I think he finds it pretty funny when he falls down and you catch him. Or at least that is the way it appears. He also has one tooth through and another one on the way! And lastly he is waving bye bye and calling the dog the same way. And he does it at the appropriate times!

Likes: Music, Dancing, Playing Soccer, "Walking", Being Tickled, Mouths, Teeth, Hugs and Tissies (Kissies pronounced by his mother), being wrastled, upside down baby, wall plug ins. I'm going to leave this the same because none of this has really changed much. The music and dancing have gotten a bit more pronounced though. This weekend I turned the TV volume off and just played music all day on Sunday and he had a blast just dancing and "conducting" which means flailing both arms wildly while the music is playing. It's awesome and I think I may have a little music lover on my hands.

Dislikes: Diaper changing, sometimes going down for a nap, getting his faced washed, Rice Cereal. Again not much to change to this list, these still remain his biggest dislikes.

What gets said most often about Asher: He is the cutest baby ever. Is he always this happy? Not much has changed here either.

Best Known For: His contagious smile, contagious laugh, sharing, excellent disposition and all round awesome baby.

Health: We are still dealing with the Renal Vascular Hypertension and probably will be for quite some time actually. Lately his blood pressuers have been a bit higher and we think that is due to his teething. Hopefully, I really don't want things to be going in the other direction for him after all this! Other than that Ash is the prefect bill of health and knock on wood still hasn't had a cold!

How He's Like His Daddy: Lately he has this thing when he gets frustrated where he kind of gets really really mad and makes this face and turns his whole head red and screams in frustration. He looks exactly like me and acts exactly like me when he does that. It's frightening. We are going to have to teach him other ways to deal with his frustrations as he get older.

How He's Like His Mommy: The newest thing that Ash has developed is his sharing nature. He tries to share is food and toys with anyone that happens to be near him when he's eating or playing, this is how I see Carrie, a very sharing person. I think Ash is really picking up on the best features of Carrie and her caring personality, sharing with others, and just general all around good natured-ness is what Ash and she share. I'm proud that he has such a caring, loving, compassionate and wonderful mother.

So there you go all the news that's fit to print on Ash. Here are a couple of things that I thought I would add.

I'm now down 28 lbs total. When we were in Kansas City for my brothers wedding that was a little hard on the diet, but I managed to keep in under control and came out ahead. I'm only 12 lbs away from my next goal.

My iPod is going to hell. The battery is totally screwed and my iTrip thing isn't working either. This is very frustrating for me since the music I listen to fuels my entire life, but at work I have a docking station to listen to my iPod which is cool, but when I'm working out in the mornings I have nothing to listen to on some mornings and that is killing me. Nothing worse than trying to work out with out any sort of motivational music. So if any one wants to you can get me this for my birthday or Christmas I'd be much obliged!

Well that's it, until next time.

Klaatu Verada Nictu