9 months with Jack! How did that happen? It feels like these moments were just a couple months ago and now we are less than 3 months until he is one.

Jack is such a little light in our family. I talked about my fear of loving another child as much as Charlie and then this sweet babe made my heart double in size. I think it helps that Charlie and Jack are very different. Charlie has always been a fearless, strong willed, outgoing, determined and charismatic little boy – even from a few months old I remember thinking that he was going to be a trip (so true). Jack has the sweetest demeanor. He is bashful, cuddly, flirtatious, quiet and just so dreamy. He has the kindest eyes and idolizes his big brother. He loves to giggle, loves to explore and is just so content being held or watching Charlie play. Jack has created a sense of calmness and content in our family – a feeling that we all needed and makes me feel so proud to be their mom. 

Jack’s Schedule

Jack is an early riser and typically wakes between 5-6am. He tends to poop every morning at 5am (haha, TMI) and hates to fall back to sleep with a dirty diaper. If I get in there and change his diaper he will usually fall back to sleep until 6:30. If he poops a little later (5:30am) and I change him he is usually up for the day. It’s funny how babies have their little sweet spots of when they fall asleep, etc. I feel like my days are constantly trying to catch him in the right zone. Here is a typical schedule for Jack:

5:30/6am – wake

6:30am – 6oz formula bottle

7:30am – breakfast

PLAY

8:30/9am (depending on when he wakes up) – nap

*depending on how much breakfast he has had I will sometimes give him 4oz bottle before nap)

10:30/11am – wake 

11:30am – 6oz bottle

12:15am – lunch

PLAY

1/1:30pm – nap

3:30/4pm – WAKE

4pm – 6oz bottle

5:15pm – dinner

PLAY

6:15pm – bath (usually every other night)

6:30pm – 6-8oz bottle 

SLEEP

I think I have mentioned this with every single update blog post I’ve ever done for both boys but I really utilize this awake chart when it comes to sleep. It has helped both of my kids get on a strong nap/sleep schedule and I still use this to catch them before they are overly exhausted. I swear that this has helped us avoid true crying it out methods (although we have used this for both boys and it has been effective for both) because if you catch them at the right time, they usually settle in 10-15 minutes. We have always tried to put Jack to bed sleepy to teach him to self soothe and he is a great sleeper! Because he goes to bed so early (6:30pm), he is an early riser. I find if we push it later he still manages to wake up early – I think 5/6am is his body’s natural wake up time. But he gets around 11 hours of sleep at night so I can’t be upset! His naps also always average around 2/2.5 hours (yesterday he took a 3.5 hour nap! – growth spurt I think!) so I know he is well rested. 

About a month ago we introduced a mini blanket that he loves and really comforts him at sleep. I wouldn’t recommend doing this until you know your child is strong enough to push himself out of a situation. But we love the size of these blankets because they can’t really get tangled! He also sleeps with a pacifier but isn’t heavily reliant on it. If it falls out he doesn’t wake up and if he needs it in the middle of the night to help soothe him – he can find it himself.

*If it is cooler in his room, we will put him in this sleep sack at night.

What Jack Eats

Up until Jack’s 9 month doctors appointment we were still giving him mostly purees with some puffs/cereal to help him get used to picking up his own food. Once my doctor reminded me to start introducing more foods into his diet we have been letting him try anything and everything! For breakfast he loves peanut butter toast, fruit, chicken sausage, oatmeal and cereal, scrambled eggs, etc.. For lunch he will have pieces of peanut butter and jelly, avocado toast rotisserie chicken, string cheese, cottage cheese, frozen peas, strawberries, etc. For dinner he loves turkey meatballs, tater tots, spaghetti, avocado, steamed veggies. Obviously all of these things are cut up very very small and if he doesn’t consume that much (half of his food ends up down his chest or in the highchair) then we will offer him some purees as well. 

What Jack Loves

Exploring! Now that he is crawling, climbing up stairs, pulling himself up on everything and gliding along surfaces – all he wants to do is explore. I try to distract him with toys but he really just wants to be on the move. We laugh because if we pick him up while he is roaming around he will put his arms in the air and go completely stiff making it impossible to hold onto him. He is a little man on a mission! We recently pulled out this activity table of Charlie’s and Jack is obsessed (and now of course Charlie says “Mama, MY table!). He also loves these rings, this little drum and this piano. We also have this singing elephant that he thinks is his best friend.

These past 9 months have been the absolute best thanks to this cutie. Any self doubt I had about what my role in this life should be completely diminishes when I look into my kids’ eyes. Every moment of my life was leading me to this moment with these two babes. I could never ask for anything more than being their mom forever.

You can see Jack’s nursery here!