Nine Months! Holy Moly!!!

Holy cow! You had your nine month birthday this past Monday...mama and daddy took off to spend the day with you! We went to the park with your Ma and Auntie and Kassidy! The weather was absolutely beautiful! You absolutely adore KassKass; you love Kendalyn too...but I think since Kassidy is so much smaller you feel extra close to her. You clap and laugh everytime she comes anywhere close to you! That love is definitely not one-sided though...she can not get enough of you either! She always says you are all the boy she needs, she is always picking out toys for you, and talks about you all the time! Kendalyn loves to play with you as well... Those girls love themselves some Lathan!!!!

We had nine month pictures/ Halloween pictures / family pictures in the pumpkin patch. I have only seen a few of them but from what I have seen...I LOVE!!!! You did great! Uncle Dave was in town so him and Sheena came to hang out and watch as well! I do not think it is possible to be any cuter than you already are... Everyone tells us that! :) We had pictures in your monkey costume and you were definitely less than thrilled...if looks could kill :) You eventually warmed up to the costume though; we will see how long it lasts on Halloween.

I took off work the day after your nine month birthday for your doctor's appointment as well! The appointment went really great; 19 lbs 5 ounces, and almost 30 inches long!!! You are not gaining weight but Dr. Parr was not too concerned with it; you are in the 35% for weight but 90% for height!!! You are so incredibly active that I think you are burning so many calories...he told us to just continue and feed you as much baby food as possible and really push the texturized foods. Lathan, you're quite dramatic though...anything that is not puréed, you act like you are choking to death and spit it out of your mouth as fast as possible! We will just continue to try! :) I do not want to be smashing you up fruit and carrots when you are 20 years old! :) You have recently started actually eating your "Puffs." You actually chew them up without a problem...in fact, you've gotten pretty good at picking them up yourself and you even fed daddy so e the other night! Such a big boy!!!! Dr. Parr was really impressed with your development...he said you have passed all your nine month milestones and even some twelve month ones as well! My genius baby! :) You had your flu shot done as well...oh I was so nervous! I always make your daddy be the bad guy...I was all ready to grab you up and comfort you afterwards but you never cried! As a matter of fact...you clapped for the nurse! Haha. So tough!!! :) Since this is the first time you have received a flu shot, you have to get a second dose in a month...I hope you do just as great with that one!

We have been pretty frustrated with your sleeping lately. We are so tired all the time because you still will not sleep through the night. You wake up to eat once or twice a night and sometimes you refuse to go back to sleep. You refuse to sleep in your crib, and you also refuse to go to sleep at a decent time. We try to start putting you to sleep around 830 but you fight it and are pretty spastic. It is exhausting!! We love you so much, but I definitely dread bedtimes. I just wish that we could go to sleep one night and get a good night's rest. Someday. Someday...we have to!

Mama has been having the hardest time with daycare lately...I am so mad that I have to go to work and I can not spend my days with you. It's getting harder and harder; I thought it should be getting easier. Nancy is great with you...but she is not your mama. I want to be there to cuddle you for every nap, I want to be there to kiss you every time you fall down, I want to be with you all the time. My mom stayed home with us growing up and we struggled financially...but I am realizing more and more that was the right thing to do. The materialistic items we have don't give me time with my baby like my mom had with us...we were poor but we were HAPPY! I had such an amazing childhood and I only hope that you look back someday and feel the same about yours...despite mama having to work. :( Just know that you are my entire world and I love you so so so so very much!!!

Well...you crawl all over the place, say dada all the time and mama (when you're sad or hungry), pull yourself up on EVERYTHING! In fact, sometimes you let go of whatever you are holding onto and just stand there for a few minutes before you fall on your cushioned little bottom. You give me a heart attack...but it never phases you! You being so mobile has allowed you to be even more of a messer! You pull things off the tables, throw anything you can get your little hands on... We have had to take down a lot of our picture frames and move anything fragile!

You love playing with your trucks...you sit there and push them around forever. Such a boy! It is just instinct for you to know that the trucks should be driven. You also will "drive" all your toys... everything becomes a car. You have a certain book that we just have to read to you every single day. You have your own little library, but the one you scream and cry for is the book "First Words," the free book we received from the pediatrician at your six month check up. It's just a book of random words: girl, boy, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, banana, leaf, etc etc. I know the reason you love the book is for the kitty cat that's at the end! You grab the book and kiss it...you pat it...and just get super excited! The next page is the doggie and you do the exact same thing! It's adorable! Sometimes when you are fussy, I'll just start saying those words and you immediately stop crying....even without the book!! Ha! So cute! Obviously, you love kitty cats...but you're also terrified of them at the same time!  We were at Ma and Poppy's house and they have Baxon; every time you see him you SHRIEK with excitement!  You try to jump off of our laps to get him!  The other day, I leaned down with you so you could pet him and you were not too excited to actually get to touch him....haha.  In fact, you will crawl as fast as you can to get him...and then just FREEZE!  Eventually, you just crawled around him and went to their cat statue instead.  Ma says you are a genius baby!  (Duh!) She says the fact that you can put two and two together that Baxon and the cat statue are both kitty cats, even though they look so different, is very impressive.  GENUIUS!!! :)

I scheduled your nine month pictures / Halloween pictures for next weekend... I can not wait to see you in your little monkey costume!  You are so cute in everything that you wear...but you are ESPECIALLY cute as mama and daddy's little monkey!   

I might have ordered some stuff for your first birthday today....haha.  I am absolutely ridiculous!  You aren't even nine months yet.  We won't tell your daddy! :)

Your daddy celebrated his 30th birthday on the 5th... What an old man! :) It was a calm night at home... We went to dinner at the Topeka Steakhouse and then just came home and relaxed. We celebrated with my family that Sunday; your Poppy made chili and we had cake and presents. We bought him a new phone... As much as he loves you, he needed a phone he could keep videos and pictures on. Now he gets to show all the guys he works with all the adorable stuff you do!!

You continue to sleep in between daddy and I... you are like a little magnet!  You have to be right up against him or me... you do not like to just sleep in the middle...you basically like to be right on top of us.  I love cuddling with you though...I know that I do not have too much more time with you as a little cuddle bug.  You are just growing up so fast... although I love all the new stages you are reaching and milestones you are passing....I know that I will blink and one day you will be grown.

My Little Love!

Hey little man! You are all over the house...chasing the dogs, following your daddy and me around, going from toy to toy, and wanting to put everything in your mouth - from our shoes, to electrical cords (which we OBVIOUSLY do not allow.) Basically from the time we get home until you finally stop and relax...You laugh, clap, and yell as you make your way around the house. Especially when you are chasing the dogs around the house! :) You love being able to move around! Yesterday, while we were making dinner, we had you in your walker. You were running around opening any drawers you could reach, running into our legs, and of course...chasing Rocky!

You have eight teeth!!! Holy cow! You are still teething too...when you chew on things you stick them to the very back of your mouth so I wonder if your molars are already coming in too! You have been amazing though through the teething process... You've been fussy a little bit, but for the most part, you've been wonderful!

You have had a cold the past few weeks...I HATE when you are not feeling well. Yesterday, your daddy took you back to the doctor and you have your first ear infection. They said the congestion had settled in your ear :( I knew it too! I knew there was something not right with my baby! We took you to the doctor twice last week but your ears were clear then; the dr told us yesterday that it probably just started but it definitely was red and inflamed. My poor poor baby. We have given you two doses of Amoxicillin and I really hope you start feeling better soon!! You wake up screaming...it's heart breaking!t

Your Auntie went to the doctor and the baby's heart beat was 150...she hopes that means BOY! We find out the end of October! :) She had Kassidy there for the appointment and she informed Rebecca that "The only way she could have a boy was if he had Lathan's face, Lathan's arms and legs, and was named Lathan." Ha! How cute!!!! Those girls sure love you! Kendalyn calls you Lath-Lath and Kassidy is always trying to find you toys and stuff to play with. In fact, her and Kendalyn got in a fight the other day at Ma and Poppy's because Kass kept stealing her toys to give to you instead! They are absolutely great with you!

Your daycare lady, Nancy, feeds you baby food for breakfast and lunch because she says you do not like to take a bottle....but at home you absolutely do not want baby food for dinner! You want milk. So we are still trying to get you to eat with me but we are not having much luck. We tried you on Gerber number three foods last night- spaghetti - and you hated it. You pretended like you were gagging, choking, you acted like you were going to puke! Haha. So we stopped. A little dramatic! :)

You are such a blessing Lathan! There is nothing that makes me happier than getting home from work and getting showered with Lathan kisses. You grab my face and just pull it over and kiss, kiss, kiss! I love every thing about you and I truly wish I could freeze time...you grow and change everyday! You're always learning something new and you amaze us more and more!

Hey baby boy!! You're a lean, mean, crawling machine! You mastered it two nights a go and now you are constantly on the go! It is the cutest thing ever! The first time you fell and bonked your head...which of course breaks our hearts...but it didn't stop you from trying again! You always look around while you are crawling and just smile, smile, smile! You are so happy that you can do this new trick and you want to make sure the world is watching. It still amazes me to think that just seven months a go you could not do a single thing and you depended on us for everything.

Another big boy Milestone... You are holding your own sippy cup now too! I do not know what it is about you...but you are obsessed with drinking water! You get so excited and we end up hiding it from you because you throw a fit if we take it away. You are having an issue taking milk out of the bottle though; all of a sudden, you just slap at it and cry. That worries me because you need to be eating when mama is at work! We told your daycare lady to try milk in a cup and hopefully you will take that!

We have you in the Gerber Generation Contest. You can win 50,000 towards college! I know you are, by far, the cutest baby in America... That would be pretty neat if those good looks could help you get into college :) Everyone has been voting for you...David, Rebecca, me, Great Aunt Debbie, Sheena, and your Ma have been posting and telling everyone to vote for you!

You have won the sleeping battle...you have slept with us the past week. I could hang my head in shame for doing the big mama no-no...but you definitely wont see that! I love having you in bed with us...I love cuddling with you, waking up to that precious little face, and just having that extra time with you...sleeping or not! I absolutely HATE leaving you at daycare each day, so I love I can be there at bedtime. The last few weeks have really gotten to me; I really want to spend all my time with you and I get so nervous you will fall in love with Nancy instead of your mama :( I treasure each minute I have with you and I know that you truly are such a blessing!

You're scooting everywhere! You get up on your hands and knees, then rock forward, lay down and inch...then repeat! You move from one side of the room to the other doing that! Such a little inch worm! I wonder if you're ever going to crawl...you do pretty darn good inching and bear crawling!

You still love the dogs! Each morning you look and look until Rocky peeks his head up at you from the floor...then you get the biggest smile! He gives you lots of kisses...you do not know what to think about those though. You flinch and turn your little nose up...but you just keep going back for more!

You recently started taking a pacifier to help fall asleep... You look pretty cute with it! You still wake up several times a night...sometimes to eat, sometimes because you peed out your diaper, but most of the time you just want to be in bed with us! We have broken the rule we always said we wouldn't...you have ended up in bed with us A LOT! It is so hard not to...we know that's what you want, we are so tired, and honestly - I love cuddling with you! You only like to cuddle with me...you cry on Lance's pillow. It makes him sad...but me HAPPY! :) So you lay on my pillow with me and your face is pressed up against mine. It's really hard to try and keep you in your crib when you look like such a little angel in ours. You do not want to stay in your crib either...you are really struggling with separation anxiety at night time. You do not want to be alone at all!

You are such a little messer! You are into EVERYTHING! Your little head just goes back and forth trying to find something to get into! Goofy kid! You love playing with my cell phone and the remote... You change channels, turn it off, change the volume. You're so funny. You like to help turn off the lights and close the garage door. You definitely let us know when you want something!! You have mastered the temper tantrum!

You are doing a lot of interactive play- Kass coughs, you cough. I laugh, you laugh. Poppy claps, you clap. It's soooo cute!!!!! You mimic us a lot; it's amazing to see each new thing you learn each day!

Still no crawling!!! You will move your knees...but no hands. Then you get lazy and end up rolling! Ha. You think that you can walk though; you try to wiggle and squirm to get off our laps...not sure what you plan on doing if we let you. :)

Seven teeth!!! Four on top, three on bottom. They are REALLY hurting you too... I can not remember the last time we slept more than just a few hours. You just wake up screaming!!! You always end up in bed with us, but even then you cry and cry and cry. It breaks mama's heart!

Still wild as ever. You want to jump and bounce, you want to "bam bam" everything, want to wiggle and dance... Basically anything that involves you moving everywhere! :) Just a wild little guy!

You are still loving baby food! You have had squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, pears, and bananas! You love them all! You still make a nasty face sometimes when you first take a bite, but that does not last long. Also, for some reason you think it is funny to breathe it up your nose...so you have sneezed out peas a time or two. The other day, Ma tried to let you lick a Popsicle and you couldn't spit it out fast enough...haha. It must have been too cold for you!

Today, you were rolling at Ma and Poppy's and you rolled to their couch and pulled the bottom flap over your face. We heard you laughing and giggling... Ma would say "Where is Lathan?" and you would laugh and laugh! You were so cute!!!

Now...let's be cute tonight... And SLEEP!!!! :)

Kissy Kissy!

You are such a little kisser these days! You give me the best hugs and kisses and each one completely melts my heart!!!! You have given Ma and your Aunt Rebecca a kiss before, but you usually do not kiss your daddy. We think it's because of his beard...you will hug him, but usually no kisses! He tries so hard to get one though! No luck! You have not been sleeping very well lately; we take turns going to rock you or soothe you back to sleep. The other night, you gave me the biggest hug and several kisses when I went in there! I came back to bed and told Lance how cute it was...he said "That's nice...he slapped me in the face when I went in there!" I laughed the whole next day when I thought about it!!!

You are so intrigued with Kendalyn and Kassidy...you just stare at them and get super excited when they come over to talk and play with you! They absolutely adore you...and Mama absolutely adores watching the three if you together! You also really love the dogs! God help them when you start walking!! :)

You love screaming back and forth. You'll make a noise, I'll mimic you. You laugh and make another...I do the same. It's a little game you think is so funny!

We went back to the zoo today...you liked it more than last time...but you were tired and fussy so we didn't get to stay too super long! Tomorrow, we are going to the park and possibly to feed the ducks!

Love you!!!