9 Months

This little guy is 9 months old! And as my friend K. aptly said about her 9 mo old, "I think he is finally decided it's okay to be on earth" Porter has been so different from Brooke. Brooke was so patient, easy going, played by herself or was content to sit in her high chair and just watch, rarely cried when she woke up from a nap or in the mornings (things obviously have changed since she has entered the toddler years). 

Porter does the opposite of that. If he is in his high chair he wants to be eating. When he's done eating he lets you know by screeching at you. He also wakes up from his nap and in the mornings by crying because he is so dang impatient and wants to eat RIGHT NOW! A lot of people comment to me that Porter seems like such a happy, easy-going baby. I just smile and think to myself, "Yes, he is because you are holding him right now and giving him undivided attention." At home, He wants my attention all the time. That is why Brooke has been such a huge lifesaver in that department. That, and his jumperoo have saved me. 

But, that being said, I wouldn't say he is bad. He's just a baby. He's just himself. And since Brooke's toddler personality is the exact opposite of her baby personality, I am hoping the same will be true for Porter and we will have it easier than we have with Brooke :) And he has been getting better about being more content and patient about things. Like I said, I think he's decided that being on Earth is not so bad.

9 month milestones:

• is 28.3 inches long (50%) and 18.8 pounds (25%)--long and skinny, just like his sister!
• army crawls! This happened as of Tuesday (Nov. 13). He does the "wounded Indian  crawl as my mom calls it. He will stretch forward with one arm, then dig his elbow into the carpet to kind of propel himself forward. He only will do this if there is something he really wants that is out of reach. I think being able to get to where he wants has also helped Porter feel more content about life.
• is eating lots of table food--in fact, he prefers table food to his baby food most of the time
• is FINALLY sleeping until a decent time in the morning. And by decent, I mean 6am. But seriously, this is so huge that it feels like a huge luxury to be sleeping in this late. Daylight savings set us back for a few days, but now he's back on schedule and I love it!

Porter decided this week that he was done nursing. It definitely was his decision and not mine. I think his giant appetite caught up with him and I just don't produce enough for him. 

There are many things I love about our backyard. One of them is that anytime I feel the urge to do a photo-shoot it offers the perfect backdrop, no matter what time of year.

Serious Face

This past Saturday (Nov 16) Porter was able to meet some new baby friends. Two of my best friends and I were all pregnant at the same time. We aren't able to get together very often, but were excited when a weekend worked out that we could introduce these kiddos, post-utero, for the first time.

BEFORE: September 2011

AFTER: November 2012

Our original plan was to meet at the new outlet malls at Traverse Mountain in Lehi. With 5 kids between the 3 of is, that was an ambitious plan. We quickly found out that there was only ONE place to eat in the entire area--it had a 40 minute wait and the line stretched outside. In the chilly November weather, no thanks. Luckily, the outlets share the same parking lot as Cabela's. We walked over there and ate lunch, then the two toddlers (Brooke and Monroe) had fun looking at the fish and all the animals. We were all laughing that on our first girls weekend in over a year, we ended up at Cabela's, a place our husbands usually have to drag us to!

Lochlan (8 mo), Porter (9.5 mo), Elliot (11mo)