Hutch Marshall - 9 months

This guy. He is so funny. And SO busy. It continues to amaze me how exactly like his sister he is. He LOVES his momma, and his sister and his daddy. Anytime he's been away from any of the three, he acts manic depressive upon their return - crying like he's so upset to have been left and smiling/laughing like he's ecstatic to be reunited.

Anytime he sees his sister's face, whether in the morning, after a nap, after school, his whole face lights up and he HAS to get his hands on her. Which usually means pulling her hair. When his daddy comes home from work he cries and cries until he picks him up, then he grins and pats his face over and over. Sometimes he rubs his head all along Jordan's beard for good measure. And I swear sometimes this baby acts like he wants to get back in the womb. I am constantly telling him, dude, seriously, you can't get any closer to me.

He makes us laugh all the time, which he loves. He loves to be loud, babble, drum on anything, listen to music, eat, move and see pretty girls. Any age - he doesn't discriminate.

He started Starbright, which has been a rough adjustment for a guy who refuses to take a bottle. He won't eat or sleep (much) but I think all in all he has a pretty good time. He just really misses his people. For the record, I miss him a lot, too. :)

Weight:  18.5 pounds
Length: 26.5 inches

New things:

• Still more new sounds. He says mamama often when crying, upset or tired. And when he's happy/playful, sticks to dadada. Seriously?? Sometimes I think he totally associates those sounds with us, but that may be wishful thinking. A few times I could almost swear he's said Izzy.
• Still no crawling. I know, right?? But his method of rolling, scooting, pushing himself backward (it's kind of like a crawl, just in the wrong direction), pushing himself in a circle and, my favorite, lying on his back and pushing himself around with his feet get him pretty much wherever he wants to go. He is getting all the way up on all fours and rocking ... and then promptly lying down and rolling. Some day. 
• Our first bout with croup. Not fun. But not as awful as I remember with his dear sister.
• The waving is for real. He's stingy with his waves, but oh my are they darling. Please mark that as one of the first (only?) milestones he's hit ahead of sister.
• Pulling himself up when holding my hands, or up to his knees on a musical toy. Other than that, no interest in that pulling up nonsense.
• Eating even more finger foods. Loves pineapple, watermelon, banana  and cooked apples. Blueberries remain his favorite. All manner of protein is immediately disregarded. He still does not love avocado. I keep telling him that must mean he's not really a Page, but he doesn't seem to care.
• Going to school. Which is, as noted above, interesting since he refuses a bottle for the whole five hours he's there. And a sippy. He just waits for me and then screams bloody murder when I arrive. So thankful he has such sweet teachers, who are kind and patient, and remember a certain baby girl who was similar.
•  Working on a sippy cup. Since that bottle thing is a no-go. Mostly he likes to play with/chew on it, but I think occasionally some liquid makes it's way to his tummy.

 

Likes: 

• Singing. Talking. Making any sort of noise with his mouth.
• Izzy and Mia, who tolerate him so nicely. He loves to pull on their fur. And ears. And tails.
• Playing with his kitchen toys while I cook.
• His stationery and doorway jumpers.
• Dancing. To all music. And turning anything into a drum to make music.
• Laughing. And making his people laugh.
• Books, although his preferred method of enjoyment is drumming on them or chewing them. He loves his nightly Goodnight Moon story.
• Nursing.  He's down to six times a day, and goes for about 10 hours overnight. Sometimes I worry he'll be nursing till he's 12 (don't worry - he won't), but then I remember his sister eventually weaned herself. And I'll be sad when it's over.
• Swimming and water in general.
• Watching his sister do anything. He does love to watch her at gymnastics.
• His lovies. Thankfully he's not partial to one in particular, but he does have to cuddle something to go to sleep. And has to have the paci.
• His bed. Though sometimes he likes to be rocked to sleep, there are lots of times when he's sleepy that he asks to just get in his bed and be left alone. He's usually pretty good at putting himself to sleep. That does not apply when he wakes up in the middle of the night, however.

Dislikes:

• Bottles.