I find it crazy to think that Archie has been alive for longer than he was in my womb. Nine months is such a milestone in so many ways, and my baby is getting bigger, stronger and smarter by the day.
This last month has seen some changes, and we are having to relocate everything with buttons as my little man is now pulling himself up to standing. He can happily commando crawl across the room and stand himself up against the sofa (although the crawling is still rather a slow process), and he has been practising this new skill non stop, especially in the bath! He loves his new perspective and having always been strong on his legs, he is in his element being able to put them to good use. Sitting down is no longer considered fun, and he is desperate to stand all day. He hasn't quite mastered moving his feet once he is up, and he tends to fall down after a few minutes rather than squatting to sit, but I don't think it will be long before nothing is safe.
Breastfeeding is still going really well, although we did have a slight set back earlier in the month when my little monkey refused to feed for 2 days. He fussed and cried and point blank refused to latch on for nearly 48 hours causing lots of stress, but eventually went back to it as though nothing had happened! This did confirm to me that I am not ready to give up breastfeeding, despite stopping with Dylan shortly after he turned 8 months. I have no expectations of how long I will continue for, but all the while we are both enjoying it, I see no possible reason to give up.
Archie is curious, serious, ticklish, talkative, playful, loving and constantly hungry. He is still quite clingy and happiest when Mummy is within sight, and preferably reach too. He is growing tall, and his 9-12 month clothes are a comfortable fit with little growing space left. His hair is getting longer and has stayed the palest blonde and his eyes are as blue and beautiful as ever. He loves kisses and dives at you headfirst and open mouthed often.
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Despite this new found independence, Archie still looks like the baby I think of him as, as his first teeth are yet to appear. We have a very snotty nose and a few sleepless nights, but no rosy cheeks or dribble so I have no idea when they will make an appearance! He is having absolutely no issues devouring anything and everything we offer him though, so having no teeth makes no difference to baby led weaning! Weaning is going really well and Archie happily eats whatever we are having, (and an awful lot of it too!) I am pretty sure he can out-eat Dylan on a good day, and that is quite a feat!
Sleep is still as erratic as ever, and we can go two nights of 10 hours solid sleep, before a small feed and him going back down, to the next night waking every 2 hours. I am starting to struggle from so many months of broken sleep and I think we are going to get a bit tougher this month when he wakes so early. I find it very difficult to know if he is waking from pain or from habit though, so I usually offer milk every time still. I am not ready to do any kind of controlled crying yet, but we may offer water and teething gel and see if he will go for it rather than going for the easy option and settling him with milk every time.
Archie and Dylan's relationship is definitely changing as Archie grows, and I see further changes soon as Archie becomes more and more mobile and starts chewing all of Dylan's favourite toys. They laugh together more than ever and Dylan is desperate for Archie to play and interact with him. He talks to Archie, sings to him and can get incredibly protective of him when other children are around. Things aren't always smooth though and Dylan can be quite rough sometimes with him. Mostly though, they are just brothers, they love each other, they are learning to play together and of course they will have their squabbles.
It is crazy to think that Dylan was only this age when we decided to have another baby and conceived Archie. Dylan felt like practically a teenager at the time, but Archie is still so small, still a baby. There certainly won't be another one in nine months time though, I can assure you that much.
