9 months

It's hard to believe that in 3 months we will have a ONE year old.  Time really does fly by.

9 months old
Weight- 15 lbs (0.2% and 10% on preemie growth chart)
Height- 27 inches (10% and 40% on preemie growth chart)
Head Circumference- 17.2 inches (10% on both charts)
Eating- His eating is pretty much the same.  He drinks about 24 oz of bmilk/day and is eating cereal, a fruit and a veggie every day (when he's not sick that is).  I cut out the night time feeding, at 2am, on January 1st and he's done great.  He hasn't tried many new foods over the past month because he's been sick and not wanting to eat.  We did add one fruit to the mix...mangoes!  Green beans is next on the list!  2 weeks ago I gave him some yogurt and the poor thing was allergic!   He started coughing a lot and the area all around his mouth turned red.  I had a mini freak out.  When kids are about to have an anaphylactic reaction the first thing that happens is coughing.  Thank God Gordon was able to calm me down.  The redness went away after a couple of hours but I was a nervous wreck.  We now have benadryl at the house for emergencies!  The next morning Gordon told me he's decided that he's the one that keeps it together in scary situations (this was not the case during the delivery and NICU!)....I reminded him that I've seen a lot of scary things over the past 8 years as a nurse and I'm terrified of having them happen to William.  The images that were going through my head when William started coughing and turning red were NOT good.  Anyways, we'll try yogurt again later on.  I'm guessing this may mean William has a milk allergy (much like his daddy did at that age).  Looks like he'll be on breast milk for longer than I'd planned....which is fine by me....we have plenty of it and it's free!
Sleeping-  The past two weeks have been pretty rough since William has been sick.  Having a yucky nose and coughing makes sleeping hard for a baby.  I'll admit that I've been bad about putting William to bed at night once he's already fallen asleep.  I know I started a terrible habit but holding a sleeping baby is just so sweet.  So, in the middle of the night if William wakes up he has a hard time putting himself back to sleep (not fun for anyone).  As of Wednesday we are trying the crying out method which includes putting baby into bed awake and only going into the room for one minute after letting him cry for a designated amount of time (they differ each night).  The first night you let them cry for 3 minutes before going in and then 5 minutes, and every 10 minutes thereafter.  The second night you leave for 5 minutes, then 10, then 12....you get the picture. :)  I did it during his afternoon nap Wednesdsay and it took him about 25 minutes before he fell asleep.  Since then I've put him to bed awake (easier said than done) everynight.  He falls asleep so quickly after his night time bottle so this can be tricky!  I lay him down while he is wide awake, say I love you, give him a kiss and he's been asleep within 10 minutes.  Baby boy has slept through the night since then!  He will whimper some during the night but has put himself back to sleep within minutes.  YIPPEEEEE.  My fingers are crossed that this is the new normal.  I feel bad for starting the bad habit but hopefully we will all adjust quickly to the new routine and stricter bedtime of 8pm.  William was a newborn for so long that we were able to get away with no real routine or set bedtime.  Gordon and I both agreed that the time had come.  So, it's early dinners for us from here on out!             
Development- We had to answer NO to all the developmental questions this month.  Baby boy isn't crawling yet and can't pull up.  They asked if he is waving hi and bye and he actually kinda is.  He is always waving his hand and I think it's starting to become purposeful.  I'm not sure he'll ever be much of a crawler because he hates being on his stomach!  He rolls over onto his back within minutes of being put on his tummy.  He's always rocking back & forth when he's sitting up so I know he's anxious to get moving!  Willliam definitely knows who mom and dad are and would love it if I held him all day long.  His favorite thing to do is play peek a boo with Gordon.  The longer you do it the harder he laughs.  It's probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  :)
Clothing size- Size 2 diapers but once we run out we are moving up to 3 (Pampers tend to run bigger than Huggies so size 2 works great still).  He's still mostly in size 6 month but 9 month stuff isn't huge anymore. 
Things mommy loves- Everything!  He just gets better everyday.  It's so fun to hear him talk, discover new things and to see him smile!  My favorite is when he lays his sweet little head on my chest.  Such a sweet baby boy. 
Mommy stuff- The hair loss has slowed down thank goodness and has been followed by new hair growth.  So, I have these short little hairs all over my head.  Weird.  I've been below my pre-pregnancy weight since July and am not looking forward to gaining it back once the nursing stops.  I can't say I'm ready for my gym days to start up again!
The ultrasound I had done last month showed that I either have a bicornuate uterus or a septum.  I'll have a procedure done this summer to see which one it is.  If it's a septum they will hopefully be able to fix it during this procedure.  If it's a bicorunate uterus it will be left alone and the next pregnancy I will have a cervical cerclage.
Things WJG loves- Bath time is still one of his favorite times of the day.  He gets startled every time I turn on the water.  His new favorite thing is to put his hand under the running water.  It's funny how all of a sudden he notices something that's been there all along!  He is constantly grabbing my hair or necklace and touching my face.  His first word will probably be nose since I say it every time he touches mine. 
Things WJG doesn't like- W is a lot like his daddy.  He is super quiet when he's around other people.  As soon as it's just the three of us he starts talking up a storm!  He will let anyone hold him but he's definitely starting to show a preference to his mommy.  He tends to wake up a little fussy after his afternoon nap but snaps out of it within 15 minutes.
When we walk outside into the cold he squeezes his legs really tight around you...it's like he's saying "Please hold me tight, I'm cold!"
Funny daddy stuff- Listening to Gordon talk to William still makes me smile.  After many yucky diapers on Monday G was bathing W and I heard him say, "uh-oh we forgot to wash your hiney and you have a stinky hiney!"  haha!  Sad but true.  Gordon is always reminding William to stay tough.  If he ends up being anything like Gordon he will be super tough and won't be a complainer! :)

We had a little bit of a melt down during the photo session so we had to resume it the next day!  As you can see he tends to stick his little tongue out when he's smiling.  Silly boy!