9-month Well-Check

Last week was Blake's 9-month well-check.  Everything went perfectly!  He's lost some weight over the past month since he's been sick almost the whole time but nothing to be worried about.  The poor guy has been through some pretty nasty colds, croup, and most recently bronchiolitis over the past several weeks.  Needless to say, we are ready for spring!!!  The 25 degree difference between days and nights is taking its toll for sure.  Aaanywaaaays, all that matter is that he is incredibly happy and developmentally perfect.  As you can see by the following measurement, the boys were all about the same at 9-months old.
Kaelan  =  20 lbs 9 oz,   28" long,  head circumference 18 1/2
Max  =  16 lbs 5 oz,  27 3/4" long,  head circumference 18 1/4
Blake  =  18 lbs 12 oz,   28" long,  head  circumference 18 1/3
Although very similar in size and appearance, Blake has been much quicker to reach gross motor milestones.  He of course crawls (both on his hands and knees as well as his hands and feet sometimes) but has also recently started pulling himself up to stand.  Just yesterday we watched a video of Kaelan's 1st Christmas and he had just then started to pull himself to standing at more than 11 months old.  Of course he was delayed because of the infantile spasms.  Max, either because he's a little nugget or because of his laid back personality was also a little behind with these types of things.  Well, I shouldn't say behind.  They were all within what is considered to be the normal or average range of development, and you're never supposed to "compare" kids, but let's be honest, we all do. :)  Blake has simply done all this stuff a little quicker than the other 2, probably trying to keep up with his big brothers.  His personality is also different.  He's more curious, playful, and active than Kaelan or Max were at this age so the ability to move is more important to him.  All of these traits are super fun right now but I often wonder if they'll lead to extra mischief later on.  ;)  I can't say enough about my baby boy.  He is the BEST!  I was saying to Dad this morning (they're here visiting for Max's birthday which will be my next post) that I don't know how we lucked out with 3 great babies.  I said this of course as I was KNOCKING ON WOOD!  He's a great sleeper, smiles constantly, contently plays independently (in fact it's usually only when he sees me that he cries - isn't that some crap!  Well, it's really that he forgets about Mommy when he's playing but once he sees me, he thinks, "Oh ya, there she is, I want her to hold me."), eats well, talks, laughs, and LOVES his brothers.  He has also started biting EVERYTHING (including my shoe this morning while it was on my foot).  Hopefully it's only because his top 2 teeth are coming in and NOT because he is turning into a "biter".  We've lucked out by not having one of those so I'm really hoping he follows the trend.  Here are some of the most recent pics and video of our precious baby boy!

He's trying to look around me to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, one of the only things on TV that keeps his attention.  He also loves Bubble Guppies (thanks Max) because of the music.

Loves his puffs

Proud of himself for learning to stand...

Uh-oh!!!!  Luckily he hasn't learned how to get the other leg up there yet.  WHEW!!!

Kaelan wanted to include Blake in our game of Headbandz.   Blake happily obliged.  ;)

Cute baby in a basket

Not sure there's anything cuter!!!

1st time at Monkey Joe's

"All that bouncing is exhausting!"

Since poor Max still can't reach the pedals, he kindly shared his bike with his baby brother.

This is how I found him when I went to get him out of bed one morning.  

And this is what he did next.  Not sure if you can see them, but there are already bite marks left by Kaelan when he was Blake's age.  Max never did this to his bed thank goodness.  Luckily there aren't any teeth yet to do any damage.

Trying to get Max's feet

Loves the dishwasher (and anything else he knows he's not supposed to be doing).  haha

Papa and Nana took us to Cracker Barrel recently (Kaelan's favorite restaurant).  After eating, of course we checked out the store.  Everyone loved this doggy hat, including Blake!  ADORABLE!!!

All 3 boys at around 9 months (Kaelan, Max, then Blake)

Max is Next

And last but not least is my little buddy Max.  As you all know, he goes to school 2 mornings a week now.  I think I also mentioned that it was a little bit of a rough start for him.  However, I'm extremely happy to report that, thanks for a new friendship with a little boy named Gibson, Max now loves school.  In fact, he wishes he could go every day I think.  He tells me nearly every day, "Mommy, I wanna play with my friends."  He is a social, outgoing little guy who can brighten up a room with his positive attitude and smile.  Nana had the opportunity to hang out with him at school a little bit during a Grandparents/Valentine's Day celebration.  They played, had a little snack, distributed Valentine cards, and participated in "circle time."  During circle time, they sang a song that allowed each child to go into the middle of the circle and dance.  Apparently, he was the star of the "show," being the 1st kid to go right into the center of the circle (instead of just standing up where they were sitting) and dancing all-out.  My cheeks hurt just picturing this but I also thought maybe Nana was being a little biased.  But when I picked him up later that morning, another mom asked who my kid was and went on and on about his performance.  I was incredibly happy and proud.  I expect that kind of thing from Kaelan but knowing that Max (the middle child - who, by the way, has absolutely NO middle child tendencies) has that kind of confidence is so exciting!!!  Here's a video of him "drawing" a picture of his class.

You may remember that he has been delayed in almost every aspect of growth (height, weight, speech, teeth).  However, he is finally growing, getting more teeth, and will NOT stop talking.  :)  It used to be a break when Kaelan was at school and it was just me and Max (and Blake of course), but not anymore.  He talks just as much, if not MORE, than his big brother...UGH!!!  He still has trouble saying the "k" and "g" sounds, but I've been told by my cousin Christy, an elementary speech pathologist, that this is a common speech problem in young kids (thank you Chris!!).  So hopefully he can get it under control before he starts school in a couple years.  He continues to be ALL boy.  He and Kaelan (and Daddy of course) love wrestling and rough housing and playing with weapons and other role play stuff.  That is still their activity of choice - cowboys, pirates, super heroes, ninjas - you name it, they act it.  It's super fun, but super LOUD!!!  One of his favorite places is Monkey Joe's because he likes to jump, run, climb, and be as crazy and loud as he wants.  Both boys are playing soccer for the first time next month so we can't wait to see how Max does with this initial experience with organized sports.  LOTS of pics and videos to come of that in the coming months.  :)

His 1st time using scissors.  Of course this is at school (Mommy isn't brave enough to have attempted this at home).  :)

Helping "Baby Bleet" with his sippy cup

He now dresses himself and you never know what you're gonna get.  Apparently it was backwards day :)

Nana helping him divvy out his Valentines

Nana is always willing to get "down and dirty" to play with the boys.  These pegs seem to be one of his favorite things to play with at school.

Pressing the pedal to stuff his bear, "Dino" (don't ask, I have no clue).

Giving Dino his 1st bath

Ready to play in the snow

Too cute!!

A quick snap shot before school

So sweet!

Max had his 1st dentist visit a couple weeks ago.  The lady said we'd do his while he sat in my lap since most little ones are too scared to lay back in the chair.  However, we purposely scheduled at the same time as Kaelan's bi-annual check-up so he could watch "Bubby" and know what to expect.  As you can see, he was a PRO!!!!