9 months: Say Cheese!

Graham turned 9 months on Spencer's Birthday! Gwen was so excited about getting a cake and ice cream, but only ate some frosting. Graham is super close to crawling. The last few weeks he has been restless at bedtime and rolls over onto his belly, pops himself up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Sometimes he tries to nurse during all this, but Mama has her limits- no acrobatics while nursing. Because of this restlessness (he is actively trying to crawl off the bed), and the fact that Spencer has spent 9 months sleeping on the floor in Gwen's room, we are attempting to move Graham out of 'our' bed. The idea is that Graham will sleep on the futon on the floor in our room so I can nurse him as needed, while everyone has access to their own beds. But so far, this means I sleep on the futon with Graham. Last night was the best night so far, and he went from 3am when I woke up and realized I could hop up to my bed, to 5:15am without noticing my absence. It is doable. But I must say, I was getting better sleep when I just let him nurse in bed with me all night long; alas, that is not a long term solution. Graham is also really starting to take to solids. He loves eating from the spoon and opens his mouth like a little baby bird. He still doesn't eat much in one sitting, but I assume he will eat as much as he needs. He can also feed himself little bits, as well as gnaw on bigger bits. A typical menu is homemade baby oatmeal with fruit, homemade teething biscuit or rice cake, asparagus risotto (yes I made him risotto, seasoned with tarragon no less), Sweet Potato, puffs or Baby Mum Mums. I can't believe my little guy is going to be one at the end of the Summer....

We did a family photo shoot with Julie Kalua in Elizabeth Gamble Park in Palo Alto, Julie did a special through Bright Beginnings Preschool and 10% of our sales will go back to the school. It was great, but Gwen has developed her "cheese" smile which often looks like she is in mortal pain. This is our first time doing professional photos as a family, and it is hard to decide which ones to get. I am looking forward to having some polished photos in which we don't look as ragged as we often feel. Of course the babies are always beautiful. *The photo of us standing in front of the bushes is after spending the day at my Uncle's in Sonoma.