9 months old!

Dylan is 9 months old!

(Sorry, this is a long post with no pics...

I'll post some seperately once I get a chance!)

I can't believe how fast time has flown by with him...he is now as old as long as I was pregnant with him! That means only 3 months until his first birthday! I have to start brainstorming some 1st b-day party ideas!

I had his pictures taken last week so we could have some fresh pics of him with his scar. His scar means a lot to us b/c it is a visible reminder of what he had to go through and how strong he is. I'm sure as he gets older he will think his scar is pretty cool, and I think it will be neat to show him some nice pictures when he is older of what it looked like right after his surgery.

Dylan is doing so great since he has had his surgery. He is sleeping and eating better and he's still pink! We're so looking forward to his first Christmas! His grandmas are still watching him, but he will be going into daycare once he turns 1 so he can have the social interaction with other kids. He loves watching and playing with other kids so I'm sure he'll do great. We are in the process of choosing between a couple here in town that we had looked at before he was born. (Any recommendations for the Brownsburg area are appreciated!)

Here's just a little bit of what he's been doing:

• Not crawling yet, but still rolling....he gets so close to taking off, but then he just falls to the side and rolls to where he's going instead. He's so independent...he kind of did the same thing when he first started rolling over....he would only roll over from his tummy to his back and for so long wouldn't do his back to tummy when we tried to get him to...he could do it, but just wanted to do it on his own terms.
• He can pull up to his knees.
• Loves eating solids and feeding himself! He's starting to get tired of the baby food and wants to eat whatever we're eating. We're pretty much giving him a little bit of what we're eating and other fun stuff (mac n cheese, avocados, Cheerios, graham crackers, pears, apples, peaches, cheese, crackers, Biter biscuits and of course his fav--PUFFS!!!) We'll be trying some meats (baby food meats) this weekend!
• He shares his food if you ask for a bite and he holds his toys up to share as well...such a thoughtful boy!
• Sleeping 11-12 hours at night...usually all the way through the night too!
• Still says num num when we ask him if he wants to eat or while he is eating.
• He goes to sleep on his own!!! This is a very big deal to us. We couldn't let him cry very hard or too long before his surgery so we would always have to rock him or feed him to sleep and when he would wake up at night I would nurse him back to sleep. Now he can cry without us worrying that he will pass out. While I was home with him, we did a little sleep training and he picked up on it really fast. We just lay him down now for naps and bedtime, turn on his lullaby CD and he goes to sleep! He sleeps much better now because of it.
• Is totally done nursing now. :) This was something I was going to stop when he was 6 months old, but I decided to keep going until after his surgery as a way to soothe him when he was in pain. I'm so glad that I kept it up b/c there was a couple of times in the hospital and when we got home that he was in pain and instead of pain meds, a little nursing helped soothe him.
• Can drink out of his Sippy Cup and a little bit out of his straw Sippy Cup, but he prefers to be a big boy and take the lids off his cup and do it the messy way!
• Says bababa/blah blah blah all the time in a way that sounds like a conversation. He says dadadada (when looking at daddy) and says mama when he's upset.
• Is getting a little bit of stranger anxiety. This was really bad when we got home from the hospital. We couldn't leave the room without him crying. He's gotten better, but before bed I can't go out of the room if Dustin is feeding him or else the tears start flowing. I guess he just wants to make sure he gets one last cuddle in with his mommy before he goes to bed (which I don't mind at all!) :)
• Loves bathtime in the big boy tub! Once he is the bathroom naked and sees the water running he practically jumps out of our arms to get in the tub.
• Waves hi and bye and gives fives.
• Loves music and loves to dance. His little dance is so cute!
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Has a few nicknames: goo, bubby, buddy, Dyl, D.
• Just got his third tooth this week! (Top left front tooth...if the one comes in next to it he'll look like a little bunny!) hehehe...So all he truly wants for Christmas is his two front teeth!
  HAPPY 9 MONTHS, DYL! WE LOVE YOU!

*I'll post more pics once I get a chance*