Theodore is less than 3 months from being ONE!!! I can't believe my itty bitty baby isn't going to be itty bitty anymore, but he'll always be my baby!

So much has changed this past month and I'm sure he'll continue to keep me on my feet even more now that he's mobile!

On that note, do you know how hard it is to get a clear picture of a mobile 9 month old?! I had to just let him crawl around and capture him as he went, but that's ok =)

Weight

As of last week he's 19lbs 13oz and 28 1/2 inches 

Routine

Ugh. I've tried every way possible to get this boy into a routine and all it does is stress us both to tears. So, no more trying to make a routine for now. If one naturally happens great, if not I'm ok with that. 

Sleep

Ever since Theo grew out of his rock and play sleep has been rough, but these past two weeks have topped the cake, he FINALLY cut his first tooth so our nights haven't been very smooth sailing but they're getting better... Now if we can just get him to sleep in his crib for longer than two hours that would be great because this kid is a serious bed hog!

Eating

Still breastfeeding, but we've been introducing him to a lot more food lately. Were mainly just doing veggies but occasionally we give him a piece of fruit or a cracker. 

Any advice for introducing solids? 

Sizes:

My itty bitty baby isn't so itty bitty anymore *cue the tears* he's in 9 month clothes but they're getting snug..

Milestones:

I don't know what happened this past month but Theodore has decided that he'd like a bit more independence in his life, so he's crawling, pulling himself up on anything and everything he can and walking along furniture. He's certainly keeping me on my feet! Maybe this is the cardio I've been needing.. HA

An Update on Us as a family (If you're interested =)

We've been trying to transition into a healthier lifestyle. That includes cutting out gluten and sugar, not completely but mostly... we've done pretty good, but we've definitely been cheating quite a bit on the Starbucks which has a lot of sugar! Tim's lost 5 pounds and I've lost about 3 which isn't much but it's something.

We need to be stricter and not allow ourselves too many cheats!

But we also know that if we tell ourselves we cannot have something then that's all we'll want. I know that's especially true for me... if I tell myself I can't have Starbucks I'll crash and burn in a pitiful heap in the Starbucks parking lot bingeing on Iced White Chocolate Mocha's (I'm barely joking! I have a problem! lol) We just need to find a healthy balance!

We've made some goals for this year, not resolutions but goals we really are trying to accomplish and we'd appreciate some prayers that we'll reach and exceed our goals.

Here they are in no particular order

1) Get out of debt

2) Get healthy and lose weight

3) get our home organized and get rid of things we don't need

4) Grow deeper in our relationship with Christ

If you'd like us to continue updating on how we're doing with our goals just let us know =)

So first off, we still have no teeth...

Really all I wanted for Christmas were his two front teeth!!

They're definitely on their way. His gums have been swollen, he's biting everything, and I really mean  EVERYTHING, and drooling like a puppy!!!
When will these things every come through?!

Weight

He's right around 19 pounds... although somedays he seems wayyy heavier!

Routine

We tried a routine in the beginning and it totally didn't work. It actually caused us all more stress then was needed. However now that Theo's older I think he's ready to try again.
Since he's outgrown his sink bath we've been giving him a bath in our tub upstairs which has been the beginning of our new bedtime routine.
So far we just have a bedtime routine, which starts after we all have dinner at the dinner table.
Theo plays for a little while after dinner then we head upstairs and give him a bath and let him play in the water for a while. After he's has his fun we take him out, lotion him up, put on his diaper and jammies, and I nurse him to sleep. As we get His bedtime routine more firmly established we'll try a day time routine.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to successfully start a daytime routine?

Sleeping

Oh dear sleep how I miss you!

We've started transitioning Theo into his crib (which is in our room right now) He does ok for the first hour or two but then wakes up crying and rubbing his gums. I usually pick him up, nurse him back to sleep and try to put him in his crib, but he just wakes up again an hour or so later. Most nights he winds up in our bed where we all sleep better but we really want him to start sleeping through the night in his crib. Any advice on how to get a teething baby to sleep?

Eating/Diapers

We're still exclusively breastfeeding. However the past month or two we've made it a point to eat dinner at the table as a family every night. With that Theo has become very interested in food and especially feeding himself, so we have been giving him steamed organic vegetables, (cut into bite sized pieces) for dinner, his favorite by far is sweet potatoes! He likes avocado and green beans but sweet potato he devours!

We're still doing cloth and seventh generation diapers. We switch up depending on the day.

Sizes:

Theo's in 9 months clothes now... is it just me or is it incredibly sad when you have to pack up the small clothes to make way for the bigger clothes? 

Milestones:

Theo is so close to crawling! He's got the hand movements but he just can't get his knees to cooperate with him. But either way this kid finds his way around to get what he wants... which is usually what we don't want him to have, such as the dogs tail!



Without further ado here are is 7 Month and 8 Month Pictures






8 Months