Cayden's monthly photos! (6-9)

So I was pretty good about taking these every month, but not very good about blogging them every month...so I'm playing catch-up!

6 months old!

Height: 27 inches (75%)
Weight: 14 lbs, 5 oz. (6%)
Head: 16 inches (0%)

7 months old!

-has 6 teeth! 2 on bottom and 4 on top.
-He still likes to be swaddled at night. (odd, I know). When he's not swaddled, his newest favorite sleeping position is on his tummy.
-He loves his veggies but is not a huge fan of fruit.
-He likes to roll around everywhere and grab everything in sight! He is almost crawling....he gets on all fours and rocks back and forth--but then gives up and collapses!!

Already practicing his touchdown moves!

8 months old!

-Has been crawling since the end of November (7 1/2 months) and has started pulling himself up.
-Just under 16 lbs and about 27.5 inches long!
-Loves his Big Sis! They are so cute when they play and laugh together! He loves to chase her. They both just giggle and squeal. so cute:)
-He loves to eat crackers, bread, mashed potatoes, squash, and sweet potatoes.

"helping" mommy wrap presents!

9 months old!

Weight: 15 lbs, 15 oz (1%)
Height: 28 3/4 inches (70%)
Head: 17 inches (5%)

-Has 7, almost 8 teeth.
-loves mac & cheese and soup.
-Waves bye bye!
-crawls the normal way (on hands and knees) and the stinkbug way (on hands and feet with bum in air--so cute)!
-Climbs stairs. pulls himself up. walks along the couch. keeps mommy on her toes!!

This kid loves to eat. He already out-eats Kinzie almost every meal!

A couple days after he hit 9 months, he weaned himself from breastfeeding. Richard was gone out of town for the week for work, and I wonder if that maybe had something to do with it. But on a Wed night, I fed him before bed just like always. He woke up during the night, but didn't want to eat like he usually does. He went back to sleep just fine, so I figured he just wasn't hungry or was too tired. I didn't mind! But then morning came, and again he wouldn't eat. I thought (hoped) maybe he was on a 24-hour strike like Kinzie had done a time or two. I kept offering, and he kept refusing. In fact, he would cry and scream and wriggle if I even tried putting him on my lap or in the feeding position. It made me cry. I wasn't ready to be done...I hadn't prepared myself mentally or emotionally to be done. 
I began pumping. He never had/would drink from a bottle, but we had recently started giving him water and such in a sippy, so that's what I had to feed him pumped milk in. It was a struggle, cuz he still hadn't mastered it real well. After a couple days, he would let me put him in the feeding position and he would play around for a bit, but never actually suck. He acted almost like it hurt him or he was scared to latch on and suck. For weeks and weeks, I kept offering and trying every tip I could find, and he kept refusing. He was done for good. He mastered the sippy pretty quick thankfully. Luckily, I had some pumped milk stored/frozen from when he was younger, which was good because my milk supply was shorting out. Once he got close to 11 months, we had to start supplementing a little bit with formula til he turned 1. 
Glad that obstacle is behind us now. It was stressful, heartbreaking, and upsetting. Like I mentioned before...I just wasn't prepared for it. But I survived, and so did he! I'm grateful that I got to breastfeed him for as long as I did and that he didn't wean himself sooner. I'm grateful that he's healthy and growing! I'm grateful that he's mine! I love him!